Al-Vista Panoramic Camera 4G
Category
Photographic technology
Date
1896 - 1903
Materials
Wood, Leather, Metal, Glass
Measurements
130 x 242 x 150 mm
Order this imageCollection
Fox Talbot Museum, Wiltshire
NT 1524902.1
Summary
Al-Vista Panoramic Camera 4G. Dual format model. Morocco leather covered wood body and a detachable black leather handle on the top. Box-form camera for panoramic exposures of varying lengths. Lens is attached to a soft leather cone and a mechanism which pivots the lens 180º degrees. Various levers and attachments on top include a gauge for measuring exposure length, a lever for regulating the amount of sweep of the lens, an attachment which rotates 180º for the brilliant viewfinder, and a film counter marked in inches. A ball-bearing type 'spirit' level on the top of the camera. Wooden and metal spools for the film which can be turned by two levers on the top. On the underside a small compartment possibly for storing film. Attached to the inside of the door is a paper sheet giving the exposure times. Markings - on the back a metal plate with "Al-Vista Panoramic Camera MFD Mutiscope & Film Co, Burlington, WI, USA, Pat Sep 8 1896 - April 2 1901"
Provenance
Part of the Fenton Collection. A gift from British Film Institute in 2017. From 1986-1999, part of BFI collection for the Museum of the Moving Image. BFI purchased collection in 1986 from James Fenton's Museum of Photography, Port Erin, Isle of Man 1976-1986.