Conley Folding Dry Plate Camera, Model IV, 1910-1918

Folding cameras were designed to be portable and rugged. The lens sits at the end of a collapsible bellows system, often adjustable to provide better focus. The back of this camera held glass plates for exposure; some models contained cartridges with multiple plates. Once user-friendly roll film cameras were perfected around 1900, plate cameras began to wane.