THE M&H NONAPREIL CAMERA

Miller & Company, 442 & 444 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, New York 1890

Field camera marketed by Miller & Company of Brooklyn, New York, offered in sizes 3-1/4 x 4-1/4, 4x5, 5x7 and 6-1/2 x 8-1/2.

Miller & Company, formerly Miller & Hopkins, was a photographic supply house. At least two advertisements have been seen for the company in E. & H.T. Anthony & Company's The International Annual of Anthony's Photographic Bulletin, Volume III, 1890, and in Scovill's The American Annual of Photography and Photographic Times Almanac for 1890 seen below:

From Scovill's The American Annual of Photography and Photographic Times Almanac for 1890

The M&H Nonapreil Camera appears in a 16-page catalogue from Miller & Company titled Photographic Specialties and copyrighted 1890:

From Miller & Company's Photographic Specialties, copyright 1890

The catalogue confirms that Miller & Company private-branded at least some of their apparatus and supplies, as reflected in their "M&H Compactum Shutter" which was actually Hopkins' Pneumo Shutter:

From Miller & Company's Photographic Specialties, copyright 1890

Ad from Scovill's The American Annual of Photography and Photographic Times Almanac for 1891

As depicted in the engraving, this M&H Nonapreil Camera's construction resembles the European-style of field camera with its fixed vertical front, folding bed and tapered bellows. With Miller & Company having been a distributor and known to have private-branded some American products, they may have also marketed foreign products under their own label. Cameras either made or sold by Miller & Company are not listed in McKeown's Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras 12th Edition 2005-2006, or seen in any other camera collecting reference book that I'm aware of.

Pending more information, the camera's 1890 production date is based solely on the Miller catalogue's copyright. And in reality, production may have preceded or succeeded this date. But with no trade journal references or advertisements found to help narrow its timeline, this all suggests that the M&H Nonapreil Camera along with Miller & Company's other cameras and products was very short-lived.

Like many obscure cameras that were briefly produced by smaller companies during the early 1890's, the M&H Nonapreil Camera will be hard to locate. Having been offered in four different sizes, though, may increase the odds of finding one. Collectors of American apparatus might typically pass over this camera given the style, not realizing that it was marketed here under an American name.

For more information on two detective cameras also sold by Miller & Company, look for "The $5.00 Detective Camera" and the "M&H Popular Detective Camera" under the "Antique Cameras" section of this website.