Scovill detective Camera
First Model

American Optical Company
Scovill Manufacturing Company
New York, New York
Ca. 1886

Ex-collection Michael Kramer

The Scovill Detective Camera was a leather-covered camera in the 4” x 5” format. It featured a red internal bellows and had a rotary string-set shutter and two separate viewfinders. Controls for focusing, cocking, and setting the shutter speed were located within the camera’s recessed base. This camera is equipped with its original R. Morrison 6-inch lens with a set of Waterhouse stops.

The Scovill detective Camera made its first appearance as early as 1883, in Scovill’s The Photographic Amateur, Second Edition. Early Scovill advertisements for this camera intentionally showed little detail in an effort to preserve its “detective” identity.