Camera Chap

“ Moreover, the man with a camera will not present his public with a twelve-pounder firing from the carriage of a howitzer.
There is something more to be said for the man with a camera. Now-a-days he is in the habit of screwing a telephoto lens to the front of the camera, and with that lens he can immensely outdistance the vision of even that all-seeing man with the pencil. ”

“ To use the camera place the tube with the lens on it opposite to the object, and having adjusted the focus, the image will be thrown upon the ground-glass as above stated, where it may be easily copied by a pencil or in colors.
The camera obscura used in a public exhibition is a large wooden box stained black in the inside, and capable of containing from one to eight persons. It contains a sliding piece, having a sloping mirror and a double convex lens which may with the mirror be slid up or down so as to accommodate the lens to near and distant objects. ”

“ A camera is a splendid thing to have along on one's trips abroad. No matter how vivid an impression a certain scene makes upon one's mind, it is bound to fade with the passing of a year or so. But a clear snap-shot taken of that scene will keep it fresh indefinitely, for one needs only to glance at the picture to have all associations with the scene recalled. ”

“ In the rear of the camera is a small hole which connects with a tube running straight through the box so that the operator looking through can sight it like a telescope, before the film is exposed. When the sighting and focusing are completed the opening is closed with a light-tight cap, and the film can be threaded through the camera. Having no bellows for focusing like an ordinary camera, the lens of the motion-picture camera is moved back and forward a short distance in the little tube in which it is set, to aid in the focusing. ”

“ The operator is not trammelled with a bulky outfit. He carries his camera in his hand or slings it across his back in the manner of a knapsack. When he wishes to film an incident he is not harassed even by the crowd. He is not compelled to set up a tripod or to climb to an elevated point to get clear of the sea of heads. He can hold the camera above his head, and by means of a second and special view finder placed on the under side of the instrument he can sight and follow the subject while pressing the button. ”

“ The mirror and lens at the top of the apparatus are made to revolve, so as to bring every part of the landscape into view in turn. A camera obscura in a position commanding a view of moving objects, such as ships sailing to and fro, or the busy streets of a populous town, is an unending source of amusement, and may be easily and cheaply constructed. ”

“ The camera has rising and falling front, actuated by rack and pinion, and this can be locked solidly at any point by merely pushing in the pinion. The front board is removable and is large enough to accomodate any lens. ”

“ At the point of greatest clearness the image is said to be focused. Such being the principle of the camera, it is evident that in practice the instrument may assume many forms, provided always that it consists of a darkened box or chamber, having a hole at one end for the insertion of a lens or combination of lenses, and at the other a screen, generally made of ground glass, on which to receive the image. ”

“ One of the 146first home-made cameras I remember seeing was constructed by a boy friend many years ago. In it he used a lens from an old ship’s spy-glass, which still remained incased in its brass tube. Fig. 1 gives a view of this form of camera. As every boy is not as fortunate as my friend in having a brass mounting for his lens, it would be well to inclose it in a small tube of papier-maché or pasteboard, so that it may be moved in or out of the opening at will. The box itself was made of cigar-box wood, with the cover sawed in two parts. ”

“ The practice is to point the camera to the zenith if need be, to focus sharply, to to use the smallest stop, develop and select for final use according to the lighting, indeed, not always being very particular on that point. But, by elevating the 198camera a point of sight is taken different from that employed in taking the landscape; by focussing sharply, often using a lens drawing falsely, the clouds are rendered false in tone and false in drawing. ”

“ The camera is opened either at the point where the lights are housed or at the lens point, whichever is most effective. Then, opening the shutter, the operator moves the camera either toward or away from the finger or skin to the point where the ridge detail is sharpest in the ground glass. The camera is held firmly, the ground glass is removed, the film is inserted and the photograph taken. ”

“ Lester Drake’s detective camera first created the idea of photography in my mind. Before that, I hadn’t the slightest inclination toward the art whatever, but when Lester purchased his neat little leather-covered box, and went around merely pressing a button, and getting dozens of pictures by no other means, I immediately decided that I, too, must have a camera. ”

“ Another is to keep a list of the apparatus to be used and check it every morning before starting out, or to keep everything likely to be wanted in the rucksack, as it is most annoying to find the absence of a small thing, such as a tripod screw, ruining a whole day's work. I use a Lancaster half-plate camera with Mackenzie Wishart envelopes. My favourite lens is one of fifteen-inch focus, because it gives a good-sized image, as I see no sense in going to the trouble of getting the camera within six feet of a shy bird and then being content with an image the size of a postage stamp. ”

“ On the main shaft is also arranged the shutter, E, which rotates [509] with the film-moving mechanism. Fig. 2 shows the simplicity of the camera. On the upper end of the box is the sensitized ribbon, which passes downward between guides before the lens opening. The bent ends of the cam operating bar, which give the fork, D, its reciprocating motion, are shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 4 is a general view of the instrument, showing the driving gear and film support. Fig. 5 shows the cinematograph camera in operation. It will be seen that the camera is very portable. ”

“ A very important point to be observed, is to keep the camera perfectly free from dust. The operator should be careful to see that the slightest particle be removed, for the act of inserting the plate-holder will set it in motion, if left, and cause those little black spots on the plate, by which an otherwise good picture is spoiled. The camera should be so placed as to prevent the sun shining into the lenses.
In taking portraits, the conformation of the sitter should be minutely studied to enable you to place her or him in a position the most graceful and easy to be obtained. ”

“ I shall place the camera on the parapet of the Embankment. I have fitted the shutter with a specially long pneumatic tube, and the bulb will do its double work as usual when my fingers relax. I have long had it all in my mind. I have written full instructions on the envelope which I shall stick by the flap to the open slide; if we are found by a reasonably intelligent person, the slide will be shut, and the camera handed over bodily to the police. They, I think, may be trusted to honour one’s last instructions, if only out of curiosity ”

“ The hunting man who is interested in photography will find endless opportunities when out with the fell packs of recording incidents of the chase. It is needless to say that a small light-weight camera should be selected, anything larger than quarter-plate being too much of a handicap on steep ground. ”

“ A simpler method of obtaining the same result is to have a pinhole in the bellows of the camera; a brightly illuminated object at the side and rather in front of the camera will then throw an image on the plate. A considerable exposure will be needed to give a fair extra; but this will present no difficulties, as the pinhole will be open all the time the plate is in position, and not merely during the few seconds that the lens is uncapped for the photograph of the sitter. ”

“ A camera has a light-tight compartment within which a fresh strip of film passes and stops intermittently back of a lens that is focussed on a subject, a rotating shutter with an open and an opaque section makes the exposure. (When the strip of film is developed it is known as the negative.) (2) A printer pulls the negative, together with a fresh strip of film in contact with it, into place by an intermittent mechanism before a strong light. A rotating shutter flashes the light on and off. (The new piece of film, when it is developed and the pictures are brought out, is known as the positive.) ”

“ And in your camera you take a picture on a short strip of celluloid film, or on a glass plate, but in the moving picture machine the pictures are taken on a narrow strip of celluloid film perhaps a thousand feet long.
The camera consists of a narrow box. On one side is a handle, and there is a lens that can be adjusted or focused. Inside is varied machinery, but I will not tire you with a description of it. Sufficient to say that there are two wheels, or reels. On one—the upper—is wound the unexposed film. One end of this film is fastened to the empty, or lower, reel. ”

“ Next, as I expected, he brought it up to his eyes and proceeded to scan the landscape. Unhappily for the camera, the branch, having swung rather too far beyond its limit of elasticity, gave way, and down came the man and precious instrument, bounding from branch to branch until they bumped with some might upon the solid ground—the man, of course, on the top of the camera. The camera he picked up in fragments, besides destroying eighteen excellent negatives it contained. ”

“ A motion-picture camera of the most approved pattern is an exceedingly complicated and finely adjusted instrument. Its principle of operation can be understood easily if it is remembered that it is practically a snap-shot camera with the addition of a mechanism that turns a revolving shutter and moves a length of film across the exposure field, holds it there for an interval while the photographic impression is made, and then moves it away to continue the process until the desired length of film has been taken. ”

“ The subject was placed in front of the screen, the room darkened, the camera being placed in front of the sitter and screen. A Blitz-lamp exposure of five to six seconds was then made. Result--not a single specimen that equals our old silhouette. So much for our Viennese photographic cousins. In these great United States we simply tack a piece of muslin in front of a window, place the subject directly in front, shut off all other light in the room, focus, fire, and develop. Result--a good sharp profile almost all the time. ”

“ When the sliding door of the compartment is down, the compartment is sufficiently light-tight to fulfill all the requirements of a camera. The movable carriage of the lens is mounted on two small glass tubes and runs between guides. A spring at its back end pulls it toward the position of focus for distant objects, where its motion is stopped by a pin. A long screw is passed through a, hole in the bottom of the camera box and enters the bottom of this lens carriage, so that an automatic arrangement outside and underneath the camera can regulate the focus. ”

“ Having satisfactorily arranged our image as regards composition by shifting the camera nearer to or farther from the negative—because it will be obvious that the nearer the lens to the negative, the less of the negative we shall include, and vice versa—we fill our dark slide and are ready for exposure.
For daylight work the arrangement of frame and camera should be placed near a window, and if anything but sky is seen opposite the negative, place outside the window a large sheet of white cardboard at an angle of 45°. ”

“ If one placed in the small hole in the shade a glass lens to give a sharp image, and substituted for the wall a movable screen, on which the projected objects could be focussed, one would have the essential elements of a modern camera. ”

“ The weight of the camera, too, is in itself a hindrance. It is not every one who can handle a 13 × 18-cm. telephoto camera. Even a 9 × 12-cm. is heavy enough. It must be remembered that on one’s journeyings through the wilderness it is almost as much as one can do to carry with one a sufficient supply of water—that most essential thing of all. And one has to be most careful of the apparatus, for mischances may occur at any moment. ”

“ PHOTOGRAPHIC NOTES AND QUERIES.
Portable Camera for Travellers.—Your correspondent E. S. asks for a clear description of a camera that will supersede the necessity of a dark room. Mr. Stokes has invented one; and in the early part of the photographic exhibition at the Society of Arts it was exhibited. The weight of the camera is only nine pounds, including focussing-glass, lens, shutter, &c. The shutter is so arranged that it will contain from twelve to twenty pieces of prepared paper, each piece between separate sheets of blotting-paper. ”

“ Then there is the swinging camera, by means of which a wide sweep of view can be included in one plate. A device of great practical value is photo-telegraphy, by which portraits for purposes of identification can be sent by cable and by wireless. In modern warfare the uses of the camera are many and varied. They include panoramic photography, photographing by moonlight, photographing of projectiles in the air, even photographing the noise of a gun by recording the vibrations due to the displacement of the air, photo map-making, photo surveying from the air, and the aviation gun camera. ”