A Little Information about Bender Photographic, Inc. Bender Photographic was started in 1977 by Jay Bender, then an undergraduate photography student at Southern Illinois University. He needed a view camera for use in his photography classes and could not rationalize spending the kind of money most manufacturers were asking for their ready made cameras. After all, they are really just a dark space with the lens at one end and the film at the other. After studying all the current models out at the time he concluded that they were, basically, very simple devices with very simple controls. He built his first camera, a 5x7, as an independent study project under Professor Charles Swedlund. His next camera was a 4x5, with some refinements of things he'd learned from the first camera. The design was simple, but elegant. Fellow students saw his cameras and expressed interest in building their own cameras, too. At first Bender thought of drawing up a set of plans and selling those to others who wanted to build a view camera. But he realized that, in order to shape the wooden parts properly, they would need access to a table saw, router, and drill press. Knowing most people do not have access to these tools, the idea of a kit was born. Bender could, himself, cut the parts, rout the slots, and drill the holes, leaving sanding and assembly work for the kitbuilder. He could offer the makings of a beautiful, functional view camera for a fraction of the cost of the ready made cameras! The first Bender View Camera Kits were built by SIU photography students around 1979. Bender was available to them during the construction process to answer questions and find weak areas in the instruction booklet. Each new batch of cameras incorporated minor design changes and revisions in the instruction booklet. In 1980 Bender sent a small photograph and a paragraph about his cameras to every photography magazine he could think of. Perhaps, if even one obscure magazine published a product announcement, he could sell enough cameras to keep going. A few weeks later he got a call from Bob Schwalberg, who just happened to be the editor of a photography magazine with the largest circlulation in the world - Popular Photography. Schwalberg told Bender that he liked the looks of his camera and that he was going to run a photo of it in the December issue as a product announcement. Thrilled with the prospects of launching his business, Bender set about producing more cameras. He did not have much money and turned to his room-mate, at the time, Steve Lind for help. Lind, a fellow photography student had student loan money in the bank earmarked for the coming semester of school. He loaned it to Bender, who provided his stereo system and scuba equipment as collateral. In retrospect, this is a truely incredible thing! Bender produced a batch of 100 kits which, when the product announcement appeared on the last page of Pop Photo (you can't buy ad space that good!), were gone in a short time. Over the years the production runs have gotten a little larger, but Bender still cuts all of the parts himself. It's the only way he feels he can really control the quality of the parts. Bender Photographic is still, today, a one man operation. When you call Bender Photographic with questions you talk to the owner, the designer, the bookkeeper, the President. Bender's customers seem to appreciate this personal attention and product support.