BoxCameras.com - The Eastman Company No. 3 Kodak Jr. Camera, 1890-1897

	The No. 3 Kodak Jr. is historically important since it is the first Kodak camera to accept plates as well as rollfilm. It is also significant as it is the first model that allowed the photographer to handle the film itself. Up until this point, the Original Kodak, No. 1, or No. 2 Kodak Cameras required that the owner return the camera to Kodak for removal of the film and reloading. The No. 3 took 3¼ x 4¼ inch exposures on Eastman celluloid rollfilm, which had to be loaded and unloaded in a darkroom. Usually, the camera was sold with a rollfilm back, essentially a modified Eastman-Walker holder (picture below), but it could also be purchased with a plate back. This made it similar to the Eastman 'C' Ordinary Glass Plate Kodak of 1891-1895.
In addition to the No. 3 size, the same camera was also made in a No. 4 size for 4 x 5 inch images on rollfilm or plates. In either case, when the camera was sold with the plate back, it was called the Junior Glass Plate Kodak Camera. Like its predecessors, this camera featured a string-set shutter; unlike its predecessors, the camera had a large metal dial on top for focusing - essentially a box-in-box fashion which moved the shutter and lensboard forward or back. There was no ground glass on the rollfilm model, so the photographer had to rely upon engraved distance marks on the focus dial.
Sample Kodak snapshot of Niagara Falls made with No. 3 Kodak Camera, circa 1890-1892