Information on "Brand Camera"

Does anyone have information on the Brand View/Press Camera, its quality, movements, usability as a field camera? It was apparently made in the 1940s in Los Angeles by the Brand Camera Company, but I can find no further information on it. Thanks!

Brand became NuView. They are actually fairly nice. The big regret is

that they do now fold flat. They have front tilt, swing, rise, shift,

and back tilt. The back rotates...a great feature. The focusing is by

a large screw thread which can become a little sloppy with age. The

rails are actually double extension. They have little lock knobs at

the front which release an entire other length of rails that hide

inside the main ones. I bought one of these cameras very cheap

because the store thought it was 3x4". The ground glass was a little

undersized on the 4x5. Since I have other cameras, I do not use it

for normal work. Except for the lack of folding flat, however, it has

great features. Mine originally had a rangefinder and sports finder,

but these are gone. I have always wondered if the camera is supposed

to fold up better, but I have never been able to figure out how.

I think many more of them were made under the NuView name than under

the original Brand. A friend who attended the Fred Archer School in

LA during the late 1940s said they used them there as the main camera

for the students. I love the cast aluminum they are made from. It

probably came from melted WWII bombers!

OK, they don't fold up, but aside from that they are great. Get it.

Tons of movement and solid. Not wobble like the Graflex that you could

get for the same number of loonies.

 

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Go for it.

 

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Dean