Antique & 19th Century Cameras
Antique & 19th Century Cameras
Pony Premo E, c.1898
Rochester Optical Company. Rochester, NY.

The Pony Premo E is a leather covered 4 x 5" format, folding-plate camera made of polished mahogany. Like the Sears Plate Camera, it is interesting because the shutter is "concealed" inside a carefully crafted wood lens board. The concealed-shutter lens board does not have a high gloss polish but has a nice decorative windowpane look. According to an 1898 Rochester Optical Company catalogue listing, the camera sold for $8, or about $322 in year 2026 currency.
Concealed-shutter folding-plate cameras are somewhat scarce compared to others with external lens/shutter assemblies. This was possibly due to the amount of laborious "hand-fitting" required to assemble the shutter inside the polished lensboard and that the shutter was very limited; having only one speed. (Also refer to the Sears' Delmar Folding Camera.)
This camera was purchased in 1898 for family photos. The owner was a long shoreman who worked at the Jersey City docks in Secacus, NJ.

Turning the brass knob below the lens to either the right or left tensions the shutter. The shutter blade has a small "L" or "R" engraved on it to remind the photographer which direction to turn the shutter tensioning knob for the next exposure.
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