Summary

The front section of the main camera body, containing the panoramic lens and the attached hood or flap. The camera was designed by Thomas Sutton (1819-75) of St. Brelade, Island of Jersey, in 1859 and manufactured by Thomas Ross, London, circa 1861.

The curved-back camera is made of wood and designed to take curved glass wet-plates which, coupled with the wide angled lens, produced panoramic photographs. The camera was fitted with a Sutton achromatic panoramic lens, the earliest panoramic wide-angle lens ever produced and patented by Sutton on the 28th September, 1859 (patent no. 2193). It consists of a globular sheet of flint glass filled with filtered distilled water when in use, and divided into two equal compartments by a brass diaphragm. The angle of field is 140 degrees. Includes curved vessel for sensitising the plate, curved printing frame and a curved wooden plate holder.

The Museum holds another, larger Sutton panoramic camera (ST 029632), which was used by the pioneering fieldwork photographer Richard Daintree during the Victorian Land Survey of 1864.

Physical Description

This part record is for the thin, front-facing section that fits into the main camera body and to which the wooden lens box and flap is attached. The wooden components are varnished and mid-brown in colour. Small brass nails and screws join pieces of the lens flap. A brass hinge with knobs at either end allows the flap to swing open. The section is secured into the camera body using brass knobs fitted through two vertical slots either side of the top edge. (The proper right knob is missing). The lens itself (behind the flap) is attached or held in by a brass ring or plate. It appears the lens would need to be removed in order to detach this section from the camera body. Note: The non-original small brass plate visible on the front hood or flap in many images was removed in 2026 as part of conservation treatment.

More Information