The progression of this warm summer evening was not out of the ordinary for Doug. He had arrived home after a session with the band as this was one of four nights a week in which they played delivering any of a number of country hits, new and old, to those seeking relaxation and enjoyment. There was no portent of the fate idly lying in wait for him on this particular evening.

As Doug had passed through the double gates into his backyard taking care to step over the occasional hole which had been dug by his pet dogs, rather than proceeding into the living room, as the door was accessible from the backyard, his curiosity focused on the studio, which was a separate building in the backyard set up for band practice.

Doug proceeded to the entrance of the studio which opened into the mixing room, separated from the recording studio itself by a door by which resided the light switch. As he stood at the entry of the dark studio, nothing seemed amiss. He felt no caution about proceeding into the mixing room toward the light switch on the wall.

Doug had stepped casually into the room when suddenly, off to his left, came a blinding momentary light followed by a low growl. His eyes became wide as he clutched his racing heart which could now be felt to the top of his head. A slight scream passed through his lips as another momentary, blinding light rushed forth with that noticeable, low growl to follow.

Staggering to the door gasping for breath, Doug dared to face the source of this nightmare thrust upon his senses. His eyes caught a glimpse of something recognizable as the nature of this night’s horror came to face him. Yes, Bob has a camera.

Film in a box

The simplest expression for what defines a camera is a device made to hold a photosensitive substrate for controlled exposure through a defined opening. It seems obvious that the design of that box has advanced beyond that, yet the basic function still remains the same.

With considerable advancement in design and materials, the simple camera has seen many incarnations through the passage of generations, in which the very camera itself has provided reflections upon its evolution.

In this article, I will not be providing a history of cameras as such, rather a guide to the different types of cameras and occasional highlights within the history of that development.

They come in twos

Despite the variety of cameras, they can be broken down into two basic categories by means of their method of focusing and framing: those which are focused and framed through the taking lens; and those which are focused and framed through any external apparatus other than the taking lens. SLRs and View Cameras are examples of cameras which are focused and framed through the taking lens, while the Viewfinder and Rangefinder cameras are examples of cameras focused and framed through an external apparatus.

Camera types

Pinhole: The pinhole camera is the most basic type of camera taking from the oldest models of cameras from the 1830’s. The pinhole camera has just that, a pinhole on the front, which could be a wooden box or a paint can. The size of the hole determines the exposure and depth of field. As the hole is tiny, thus giving a large f-stop, the depth of field (where objects are generally in focus) is extreme, from close-up to far away. The camera can be made from any container that is lightproof and has a way to put film or photographic paper in the back, or in the path of the pinhole. Since there is little standard for the size hole you can make in the camera, the exposure time is often a matter of experimentation.

Add a lens in place of the pinhole, a shutter, a film transport, a finder, and you will see the development of the camera taking place which has lead to the other camera types discussed here.

Viewfinder: A viewfinder camera offers the simplest method of framing the image without any method of focusing incorporated into the viewing method. This type of camera can be focused by means of: zone focusing, which is often represented by symbols on the lens barrel which represent a desired perspective in relation to distance; guess focusing, simply guess the distance of the subject in relation to the camera; fixed focus, in which the focus is set to a predefined range (around 5ft) by the manufacturer and cannot be adjusted; and autofocus, which uses an active infrared system or a passive contrast reading system.

Autofocus cameras which use active infrared systems send out an infrared beam which is reflected by the subject back to the camera. The camera then adjusts the lens for a preset range that matches the distance of the subject (yes, infrared autofocus systems use a preset zone focus and not exact focus). Since infrared cannot penetrate glass, and other reflective substances (yes, the majority of window glass reflects 40-60% of the light which strikes its surface), the focus will be thrown off if an attempt is made to take a picture through a window.

Autofocus cameras which use a passive system such as reading the contrast of the image (contrast increases with focus) is not fooled by glass, but does require a minimum light level in order to work which means it may not be able to focus in low-light situations, whereas infrared cameras can focus in complete darkness.

Since a viewfinder camera uses a finder which is separate from the taking lens, this causes parallax error, which means that the taking lens and finder do not see the exact same view. With distant shots, this becomes negligible, however, as the subject to camera distance becomes shorter, the parallax increases. Most viewfinders have lines in them which are parallax correction lines. As the subject to camera distance shortens, use the line closer to the lens as the left edge of your frame.

Single-Lens Reflex: The single-lens reflex (SLR) camera offers the most flexibility and creative control of the different camera types. It allows the photographer to view and frame the subject through the taking lens. This is most often accomplished through the use of a mirror positioned between the taking lens and the shutter (focal plane) which allows the photographer to view an image, from the taking lens, which is reflected off the mirror. When the shutter is tripped, the mirror flips up, out of the way, then the shutter opens.

The image reflected by the mirror can be viewed with a waist-level finder, which also means that it is a mirror image and thus is inverted left to right (the right side of the image appears on the left and vice versa). This can be disconcerting to someone just using this type of finder as there is a tendency to follow the movement of the subject and you may find yourself moving the camera in the wrong direction. A pentaprism finder corrects this by reversing the mirror image, thus giving a proper perspective. The pentaprism finder additionally allows the use of the SLR at eye-level.

With the creativity and control of an SLR, also comes limitations due to its design. With the use of a focal plane shutter, there is a maximum shutter speed at which flash can sync with the shutter, due to the fact that a focal plane shutter can only expose the entire film-frame at once, up to a maximum speed, before it has to expose the film in a partial sequential movement. The movement of the mirror can also cause vibrations which, in long exposures, can cause blur due to camera shake. Additionally, since the mirror has to move out of the way of the shutter, this creates a blanking of the viewfinder which can make it difficult to follow action sequences.

Due to the design of the SLR, true wide-angle lenses cannot be used on them if below a certain focal length. With 35mm SLRs, this translates to any wide angle lens with a shorter focal length than 35mm. This is due to the space used by the mirror which prevents the rear element of the lens from being any closer to the film plane. The solution to this is to design wide-angle lenses as reverse telephoto lenses, or retro focus, which allows them to be further from the film plane, yet provide a wide angle of coverage.

There are, of course, variations on a theme as some SLRs have been made using leaf shutters rather than focal plane shutters, allowing flash sync at any speed. Some SLRs have used a beam splitter in place of a mirror. A beam splitter, in common terms, has a 50% light transmission factor. This means that 50% of the light is reflected to the viewfinder while 50% passes through to the film plane, allowing the SLR to be used without the need to move the mirror out of the path. The downside is that the beam splitter reduces the exposure by one stop and makes a poor mirror in low-light situations.

Twin-Lens Reflex: The twin-lens reflex (TLR) is an older design than the SLR, which uses two separate chambers; one for the film, which is larger; and one for the viewing mirror. Each chamber uses a corresponding lens, which are coupled (they move together) for the purpose of focusing. The TLR is most frequently a medium format camera using 120/220 film providing 6X6 or 6X4.5 exposures. There have been variations using other film sizes including 127 and 35mm.

The TLR uses a leaf shutter, which is part of the lens and opens fully at all speeds thus allowing flash sync at all shutter speeds. Being that the TLR uses a separate viewing lens, it allows constant viewing of the subject during exposures. Although pentaprism finders are available for a select few TLRs, the common finder used for a TLR is a waist-level finder. This additionally means that the viewing image is a mirror image, inverted left to right.

Rangefinder: A rangefinder camera is similar to a Viewfinder camera except that it uses a rangefinder to focus the camera. A rangefinder uses two windows, one of which contains a mirror controlled by the focusing ring on the lens. This produces two images in a finder. As the focusing ring is turned, the mirror is moved, causing the images to come together until there is a single image, thus the lens is in focus.

The rangefinder can be coupled or uncoupled. Coupled means that the rangefinder uses the viewfinder window as the rangefinder window allowing simultaneous focusing and framing. Conversely, an uncoupled rangefinder uses a separate finder for focusing, which makes the camera slower to use.

Rangefinder cameras generally offer more features than Viewfinder cameras. This usually means a greater selection of shutter speeds and aperture settings, as well, on some models, interchangeable lenses. Models which offer interchangeable lenses either have viewfinders which automatically adjust to the focal length of the lens and/or a separate finder for the specific lens.

Rangefinder cameras most frequently use a leaf shutter offering flash sync at all shutter speeds, although there are a few models with focal plane shutters. A rangefinder camera can make an ideal second camera for a photographer who primarily uses an SLR, as its ability to sync at all shutter speeds gives flexibility to the photographer who does not have such with their SLR.

Rangefinder cameras can be found used and still in great shape. Minolta Himatics and Canon Canonets are excellent rangefinders which can be found used at a reasonable investment. Ricoh and others have also made excellent rangefinders. The models I have mentioned offer x-sync for use with electronic flash. I carry a Minolta Himatic and Ricoh 500G, but the Canonet is one of the easiest rangefinders to focus.

View Camera: The basic design of the view camera is simple, yet offers incredible flexibility is its use and superb image quality due to the large size of the sheet film used. The view camera uses a lens/shutter combination mounted in a lens board, or front standard, on the front of a bellows (accordion style, flexible, lightproof body). A film holder back is mounted on the rear of the bellows, the rear standard, which accepts sheet film and a ground glass focusing screen. The focusing screen is inserted for the purpose of focusing the camera, then removed so the film holder can be inserted. The entire assembly is mounted on a monorail, hence a monorail camera, which is mounted on a tripod.

The view camera offers front and rear movements allowing each to be tilted up or down, and to be swung left or right. This allows correction for convergence in architectural photography and creative enhancement or distortion in other types of photography.

There is also a flatbed view camera which is portable. This type folds out from a case, also the rear standard which holds the film holder. The front folds down, forming a flatbed rail. This type of camera is also known as a field camera. The flatbed camera lacks rear movement and has less front movement compared to its monorail counterpart. The field cameras do offer finders and rangefinders for framing and focusing. Perhaps the best known type of this camera is the Graflex Pacemaker Speed Graphic which was often associated with photojournalists and is the same camera used by Jack Larson when he played Jimmy Olsen in the original Superman TV series which starred George Reeves.

Continue on to What Kind of Camera is That? Part II