If you wanted to take a coin photo in 1843 you would have used *this*

ambro51

I just finished it up and Im proud of it!
1843 chamfered front American daguerreotype camera

LanLord

<< <i>I just finished it up and Im proud of it!
1843 chamfered front American daguerreotype camera



>>



These were used for my senior class pictures in highschool

fivecents

Wow...that is KEWL!

partagas

This thread is worthless without pics of the coin photos it takes.

That is a cool device you got their. Do you have any pictures of the photos or tin types it takes?

LanLord

<< <i>This thread is worthless without pics of the coin photos it takes.

That is a cool device you got their. Do you have any pictures of the photos or tin types it takes? >>

Daguerrotypes were taken on activated copper plates and I imagine those are difficult to get. I imagine the development chemicals aren't easy to get either.

ziggy29

Next up: a picture of a bright, new 1843 coin?

GoldenEyeNumismatics

I'd actually be quite interested to see some coin photos from that thing.

Bayard1908

What are those white knobs made of? Unless it's ivory, they look odd. I don't even think celluloid was invented until after the Civil War.

notwilight

<< <i>I'd actually be quite interested to see some coin photos from that thing. >>



Edit: I take back what I said about not being able to focus up close. I don't know what optics it has but looks to have a lot of focal travel.... --Jerry

ambro51

That camera can do daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, or tintypes. There are actually hundreds of people doing dags, and thousands doing the wet plate process. What this camera done was allow enlarged images, since the dag plates were an image that was one of a kind, to get a copy you would need to rephotograph the original plate. So, this camera had an extension which allowed the operator to slide the front of the camera out a few inches. Together with the fact you can put the plate holder in either the front or rear slot, you could take an image which was true to life size, 1 to 1.

I have done wet plate shots of coins, once I used a print from a shot of a double eagle as a cdv card, it was my "gift certificate" good for $20.
edited to add";
ohhh noooooo beg to differ once the camera is focused, a dag plate will beat anything on crispness of resolution. the image is made up of globules or mercury 1/200 of a mm in diameter.

the knobs are turned antler. It is made on a body of spanish cedar, with indian rosewood veneer. just like the orginals.

coinkid855

Cool!! It looks awesome!



-Paul

coinsarefun

Very cool!!!

I love these things




You could have bought your daguerreotype materials from Scovill Manufacturing Co.link here

This is their Merchant Card(business card)



Stefanie

halfhunter

Man that is some gorgeous work.
Is the lens from an original? Looks old.

Regards,

John

mgoodm3

Good stuff.

Sounds like the images were more dependent upon the lens since compound-lens technology was still in it's infancy.

ambro51

That is a C.C. Harrison petzval portrait lens. It used a four lens design, a cemented achromat in the front and an airspaced doublet in the rear. It works at f 3.6 and is pin sharp for about the cental 2/3 of the image circle, then has a bit of swirl and bokeh. Very artistic lens when used at its coverage limits, but in this case, the 1/4 plate image (3.25 X 4.25") is in the sweet spot so the image this camera gives is as good as or better than any modern large format camera. This lens formula was in production until well into the twenties. It lacks any antireflection coatings and transmits a lot of UV light, which the early processes needed for decent exposure times.

A close up of a coin, with the lens pulled away from the film plane, would be about 10 seconds in average light.

BTW that lens on the open market today is about 800$. It cost, when new, in the 1840's, about $100. (very expensive)

mgoodm3

First achromats - 1830's?

crazyhounddog

Here's a coin to go with that awesome camera!! You did a great job,WOW!!

ambro51

Optics were quite evolved by that period in time. Achromats go back to Dolland and the late 18th century. The Petzval portrait lens was designed over a 1 year period with the aid of two 'computers' (mathematicians) on loan from the Austrian army. A very good lens indeed.

firstmint

That's a real neat optical machine. Thank you for posting it.

For those interested, Joseph Saxton, who worked at the US Mint in Philly (1837-1843) took the oldest known Daguerreotype image in America. From his office on the second floor of the Mint, he pointed his camera to the northwest and made a shot of the Central High School for Boys, and the Pennsylvania State Arsenal buildings in October 1839.

He and his fellow workers (Gobrecht, Du Bois, J.R. Eckfeldt, Peale, etc.) read about Daguerre's process, and assembled the necessary eqipment (from Mint materials) and eventually developed a relatively clear image which is now located in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Saxton's image was not the first image made in America, but it is the oldest known survivor.

Broadstruck

Thanks for posting, I've enjoyed this thread so far!

illini420

I vote for taking some pics of moderns with that baby!!! Maybe some modern commemorative proofs?? That would be sweet

D

Very neat, I have a few old Daguerrotypes myself. Not cameras, just 'pictures'.

-D