The Ansco No. 9 Model C, prominently named on a plate beneath the lens, is a large and beautiful folding camera in the postcard format, meticulously crafted. It features leather covering, a red leather bellows, and well-nickeled metal parts, all assembled in cherry wood according to McKeown. The camera's bellows are elegantly varnished.

The shutter is a Winner by Wollensak, and the lens is likely of the Rapid Rectilinear type. The aperture ranges from 8 to 128 according to the former American numbering system, which corresponds to f/11 to f/45 in the current standard.

This camera's particularity lies in its attachment of a Vidil film back, which can also be found on several other models within the same family such as the No. 4, 5, 6, and 7.

Vidil is the name of a highly specialized film invented and patented between 1903 and 1904 by Hugo Fritzsche. It was designed to combine the advantages of large-format focusing on a ground glass and the use of film. This unique film was constructed with alternating spaces, each the width of a photograph: some spaces were translucent, creating the effect of a ground glass, while the others consisted of a piece of light-sensitive film protected by black paper at the back to capture the images.

The camera back has a hinged door that covers a transparent glass window of the photo's size. By opening it, one could use the equivalent of an integrated ground glass on the film for composing the image when the corresponding portion aligned with the door. Then, upon closing the door, one had to advance the film to position a light-sensitive portion in front of the lens to capture the photo. A small non-actinic window allowed for the correct advancement of the film and also the use of regular non-Vidil films when the back door was shut.

The Vidil film was a commercial failure and was only available between 1904 and 1909, mainly distributed by Ansco in the United States. In Europe, Lumière, among others, acquired the rights for France and produced around fifteen different formats of this film, according to advertisements of that time. Some rare European cameras were manufactured for these films, such as the "Le Rêve Idéal" by Girard and Boite.

Ansco also separately sold adapted backs for glass plates for its cameras designed for Vidil film. The cameras initially equipped with Vidil backs were later produced with standard backs from around 1909 onwards.