Manhattan Optical Night Hawk (Detective)

{"overview":"The Manhattan Optical Night Hawk is a late-19th\/early-20th-century American detective camera, a class of compact box-form plate cameras designed to be used discreetly. With only one wholesale saleroom data point available, the price a Night Hawk fetches at auction now would depend heavily on completeness, cosmetic condition and whether the original case and plate holders are present.","buying_guide":"On any detective-pattern camera of this age, inspect the wooden body and leather covering for splits, shrinkage and lifting, check that the shutter and any internal bellows are intact and light-tight, and confirm the plate holders and ground glass are present.

Generated summary, 29 Apr 2026 — not checked by hand; prices on this page come from the sales, not from this text.