1888 Escopette camera gun

Escopette translated means Blunderbuss. The name stems from the gun bearing the same name, because of its shape: the camera was mounted on a pistol grip, and a trigger served as the shutter release. It was easily hand-held but could also be stood up using the two movable legs. Like the Kodak Original, the camera did not have a viewfinder, but had lines of sight drawn onto the body instead. The Escopette was the brainchild of Albert Darier and manufactured by E.V. Boissonas in 1888, the same year as the introduction of original Kodak camera. It had polished brass support legs to serve as a tripod and brass hardware to mechanise the film advancement. This camera was fitted with a Steinheiil Periscopic f6 90mm lens and spherical shutter with trigger release. This camera was one of the first cameras to use George Eastman's flexible film designed for the original Kodak, thus capable of capturing 110 exposures 68 x 72mm in size. In 1889 Geneva photographer Frédéric Boissonnas took a series of photographs of the Vevey Winemakers’ Fair using the Escopette. They were gathered together as a photograph album, which was published as a limited edition.