English
Arabic
Chinese (Simplified)
Dutch
French
German
Italian
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
H. Mackenstein Field Camera
The Mackenstein company was founded in 1872 in Paris by Hermann-Josef-Hubert Mackenstein (born in Doveren, Germany). In 1915 the company went bankrupt
At the beginning, it was just producing small mechanical parts for photographic cameras. In 1888, the H.Mackenstein’s factory assembled the very first film camera equipped with a single-lens, fully operational, able to film up to 20 images per second.
This film camera results from the works of Augustin Leprince, brilliant inventor who was never credited with the the invention of the cinematograph.
Made from solid mahogany, this field camera takes pictures on plate instead of film.
Photography has come a long way since the Mackenstein camera, but the engineering that went into this piece is quite amazing.
Despite being almost 200 years old, it’s still in amazing quality, with no tears in the leather.
The lens is a feat in itself, with adjustable exposures, and adjustable shutter speed which can be adjusted by turning this screw.
The shutter is then trigger with a bolt action type mechanism
The Mackenstein camera in itself is very special, however, this camera is even more special, because it comes equipped with everything you need to take an incredible picture
For starters, it has the original packing crate, which resembles something out of the ‘Ark of the Covenant’.
Inside the crate, is a double lined box, with removable felt lined segments.
Inside each segment is piece of photographic history.
The original tripod
6 roll back plate holders, that hold the plate that captures the image
multiple plates for exposures
the original development case, which you would take to the developers to have your photos developed.
lambs wool pad to protect the camera.
Mackenstein cameras don’t show up that often, even less so are they found with so much additional equipment.