Posted by Les Newcomer on January 20, 2001 at 20:24:01:
In Reply to: Folmer Multiple Camera and Century Stand posted by Uncle Al on January 19, 2001 at 18:37:15:
this camera would have been the envy of any studio photographer from the 20s to the 50s.
Before enlarging became the norm, every photgraph was contact printed. The Multiple camera allowed the photographer to take multiple photographs on a single sheet of film-- a lot like the "thumnail" option on your laser printer allows multiple pages to be printed on one sheet of paper.
A sliding back is a simpler version. The image available is the the full width and half the length of the film, usually 5x7. Slide it one way, take aphoto, slide it the opposite direction take another pose.
With the Muliple back you can not only shift the film right to left but up and down as well. The inserts must be put in, in front of the Ground glass to mask the rest of the film. Then its just a matter of figuring out what bar to use with that mask, and what position the film should be in-- The images are always vertical but on 2 up the film is horizontal, 4 up the film is vertical.
You can quickly see that this camera is not fast to operate. You also have to decide ahead of time, what size the prints will be.