The Demon Detective camera

PART OF:
The Kodak Museum Collection
Made:
1889 in London
maker:
The American Camera Company
The Demon Camera The Demon Detective camera

The Demon Camera
The Kodak Collection at the National Media Museum, Bradford

The Demon Detective camera
The Kodak Collection at the National Media Museum, Bradford

O'Reilly's Patent No 10823. Conical metal camera for 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 inch plates, uncemented achromatic lenses c.F:1 1/2 inch fixed aperture and focus. Flap and shutter before lens work by elastic band. The American Camera Company, c.1890.

The Demon Detective Camera, made in England by the American Camera Company from 1885.

The Demon was intended to be cheap and simple to use, and was for 2 ¼ inch square plates. It was priced at 5 shillings (25p) when first released. It was designed to be concealed within the user’s garments, and an advert of the time boasted ‘No movement is too rapid for it – the racehorse at greatest speed, the flight of birds, even the lightning flash itself’.

Details

Category:
Photographic Technology
Collection:
Kodak Collection
Object Number:
1990-5036/1196
Materials:
glass, wood, ebonite, white metal (unknown) and elastic
Measurements:
overall: 82 mm x 70 mm x 56 mm,
type:
concealed camera and plate camera
credit:
The Kodak Collection at the National Media Museum, Bradford