This very rare and beautiful Moy & Bastie camera and unique tripod are a very striking set up. This would be one of the greatest lobby or office display sets ever and it is a perfectly good, original working camera. Thecamera is in nearly pristine condition and the tripod is in the same condition.  Another camera that doesn't seem to have a match for quality in any of the fine museums or collections of Europe. Because of the serial number an educated guess would place this camera as having been made around 1910 or 1911.

The tripod and gear head are made by the Koehler Optical Company, New York. I have never seen another like it. I have researched this tripod with other collectors and museums. None of them have ever seen anything similar either. There are more places to crank from than usual. It is a great machinist's effort to make a more versatile gear head. It is a fine, quality head and its manufacture must have been a shot at taking the high end market away from whomever was in first position. For some reason, unknown to me, they didn't succeed. Too bad as this is a beautiful, unique gear head. I'd love to have more of them.