Timmers Loc: San Antonio Texas.

The bellows are in fairly good condition given their age. This is a standard size bellows and there are suppliers who will sell replacement bellows made from partly leather but mostly modern synthetic material (it is called pleather). 5X7 holders are available and not hard to locate. This camera follows standards at the time it was manufactured. The light trap where the holder goes in was a depression that takes the raised light seal of the film holder, it is designated as the "A" placement. Some holders that were nit conforming to this placement are now referenced as the "B" location. A slot can be cut inti the film holder back so it can accept both "A" and "B" slotted holders.

If you are knowable on sheet film cameras you would know that a sheet of 4X5 film can be placed sideways into any 5X7 film holders septum (holds the film), the holder adjusted with simple tape. The condition of the wood-finish is vary good.

The lens is Bash and Lomb, US version of Zeiss, it is a good lens. The patina on the lens surface is also good and adds to lens performance. The shutter is of a type typical of the period and is good/reliable type.

Over all this camera and optics was considered state of the art at it's time and is still a vary good camera. As a museum piece it is goes. In the hands of a good view camera photographer it is vary good.

As to a heads up, master photographers like Edward Weston or Ansel Adams the lens and similar cameras of like design are what they used both as the standard of their craft both as 4X5 and 8X10 cameras. The old maxim rings true, it is NOT the equipment, it is the photographer that makes the image.

Basil_O Loc: Minneapolis, MN

I see the potential for a really cool reading lamp to go in a corner behind a chair. A socket, bulb, switch and wiring and you are good to go. I have turned some old inoperable film cameras and ratty lenses into desk lamps that way. If I had room in my office for it, I would be all over that!

Michael Neidich Loc: Tucson, AZ 85739

I should clarify: those are images of the actual camera I want to sell locally. I've assumed it would be used as a conversation piece, not as a user. New bellows are available, but I opted to leave it alone and just reduce the price until it sold. My heirs wouldn't want it, and I'm getting along in years.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

While I agree with you that this rig will probably end up displayed rather than used, 5x7" is actually a common and popular sheet film format. Just looking at how many different brands and types, it's 3rd behind 4x5" (39 varieties), 8x10" (28 varieties)... with 20 varieties of 5x7 being offered at B&H. All other formats of sheet film... both larger and smaller... are only offered in one, two or three varieties.

The reason most end up just being displayed is people today don't have the patience to work with one shot at a time or have means of developing the film and making prints from it.

Plus vintage gear like this is even more challenging. These days you can buy a much more modern and easier to use kit for pennies on the dollar.

That's certainly not a hard and fast rule, of course. A friend of mine used to shoot B&W still life with an 11x14 format camera fitted with a 100 year old Kodak lens. His enlarger took up an entire garage! i only ever made it as far as 4x5 format, myself!

That Seneca is a nice example and probably was a fairly high-end camera in its day. It looks like it might be made of rosewood. It is rare to see such a complete rig.... camera, lens and stand all appear to have spent their lives together. Often stuff gets separated. The only thing missing is some film holders, and those can probably be acquired if someone wants them.

I could only find one similar camera recently sold on eBay... https://www.ebay.com/itm/364118995364?hash=item54c72ef1a4%3Ag%3AmsEAAOSwCBFjzF22&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4H42yYZhKDxQEATk2UbIBTm6R5d9tE6jhTGKFxvNPTBYPnhtkDVTfYwB5C%2B0MqM%2BuLVqkac2mZgkxrGaPVtFLfKw26PVcFiVhUKponCI7jPXkmKeYp2l9D%2B2lCqZNpGyoIEIC7wk2QyXNAALlmC3182DkvC%2BW2SABqAwgYgvDv7hH4DfX3qt427fzJUtmTYiFLodccC0SvPRs7WyidowfFo0HqCb0yEkOKBIVPhHSvCWiMXlkFGTUjxcnMD9hL%2FN3q9zuU29DUSXg%2BLOjUKwygpd3Y5uDFgU2AeFaMQ%2FM5Of%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR87yj5flYQ&nma=true&si=veYICS%252FIWnlM0QMToWrvytxKhUY%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

That eBay camera is all black finish instead of stained wood, appears to have newer bellows, but needs some other repair. It comes with a couple film holders, but doesn't have a stand. Sold for $550 (free shipping, probably $25 to $50).

4x5" and smaller format Seneca are more common and tend to sell in the $75 to $150 range. A nice example of 8x10 (also black, like above), without lens, brought $700.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Send a private message on UHH to Bob Malarz. He is an accomplished view camera user/owner/photographer who lives in Tempe, AZ.

http://malarz.com/contact.html has more contact information.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Hmmm, 3rd out of 3 - sounds un-popular to me ......

Rayart

This is more of a collector's item. Value will depend on its condition and rarity. The right buyer might pay well for it. Older wooden Deardorfs are going for an outrageous amount of money.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Sheet film format "popularity", as determined by how many types of film in each format are currently offered at B&H Photo:

4x5........... 39
8x10......... 28
5x7........... 20
11x14......... 7
8.5x11........ 3
16x20......... 3
2.25x3.25... 2
3.9x4.9....... 2
12x20......... 2
2.5x2.5....... 1
3.25x4.25... 1
4.9x6.9....... 1
6x7............ 1
6.5x8.5....... 1
10x12......... 1
12x18......... 1
14x17......... 1
14x20......... 1
20x24......... 1
24x30......... 1
30x40......... 1
9x12cm...... 1

Note: all the sheet film formats are in inches, except as noted.

"Third most popular" out of 22 sheet film formats seems like a pretty high ranking to me. Two are more popular... while nineteen are less popular. In fact, third place has nearly triple the number of films versus what's available for the fourth most popular size (11x14). Or, out of a total of 119 types & sizes of sheet film, 20 are 5x7. So, yeah, I'd call 5x7 a pretty popular format!

Besides, with many 5x7 format cameras you can pretty easily adapt them to use 4x5 film, the most common and popular sheet film format of all.

And, this particular camera will more likely be a show piece than a user. At a minimum the lens and shutter would need updating, and the bellows need repair or replacement before it could be used.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

And, you would need correct film holders ......OK, so it is 3rd out of 4 IF you count 11X14