The Lamar register., 1893-06-10
PASSING THE BUTTON.


Greenhorn Mny study with Profit
Even after dry plates came out it
was some years before the hand cam
era and the roll films were put upon
the market Their introduction dates
back only about five or six years, but
when they came they simplified the
process o: amateur photography in
its application to landscape and tour
ist purposes to such an extent that
they brought it generally within the
comprehension of any person of aver
age ability.
The question has more than once
been asked. can really good results
be secured with hand camera?
There is no doubt about it that fail
ures mountain high. overtop the com
paratively few successful amateur
experiments in this direction Am
ateurs consequently blame the camera
and its manufacturers, when the real
truth of the matter is, in nine cases
out of ten. that they are the ones at
fault 1t is a great mistake to sup
pose that a person can purchase
hand camera, no matter what The
make may be or whether glass plates
or roll films are used in it. and start
out to take pictures 1t is imma-
terial what make the hand camera
may be, the operator must have some
knowledge of its workings before he
can reasonably expect TO secure good
results.
An error which is constantly made
is the purchase of a hand camera
with roll film one day and starting
to Europe with it the next. without
having chance to test the box or
without any previous knowledge
whatever of photography. yet with
the firm expectation of bringing
home some attractive views Arriv-
ing On the other side they proceed
energetically to press the button"
sending their films home TO have the
rest done. i. e. for development
What is the result? Generally very
discouraging, weak. thin, foggy neg
atives. which make bat poor prints
and still worse reminders of travel,
or, as is often the case, no impress
sion appears on the films at all, and
yet. generally speaking, the blame is
not TO be laid where it is usually
laid. on the camera There is only
one way in which. the camera can be
blamed for poor negatives, and that
is by not being perfectly light tight
Whether box is light-tight or not
can soon be determined by the simple
test of exposing plate in the box
from three to five minutes without
opening the lens. then taking the
plate out in the dark room and care
fully developing. II it quickly fogs
up and assumes grayish look. or If
it is streaked with dark rays. then
the box leaks light and good pictures
cannot be taken with it until the
matter is remedied. Generally this
is easily done.
To obtain good results many exper-
iments and tests of the camera must
be made without at first any hope OF
reward The proper exposure aud
the best plates to use can only be
found out by practical test. but to
make the test the amateur should de-
velop his own plates 1t is hardly
possible to take satisfactory pictures
unless the operator does his own de-
veloping. for the matter of develop
ing a picture is something which
must be largely regulated by the ex-
posure. The time of day and the
atmospheric condition which exists
when the photographs were taken
have also to be carefully considered
in the use of the chemicals, aud un-
less a plate is thus developed it is
almost sure to be disappointing in re-
suits
Anyone contemplating trip
abroad with hand camera should
purchase the camera several months
before and begin by taking pictures
around home, thus getting used to
the box and its workings. determin-
ing the time of exposure. focus and
other matters necessary for the pro-
duction of a good negative. II this
is done. the chances are that when
the trip is made and the photographs
taken, the results will be creditable
to the photographer and the camera
alike.
For travelling purposes and for
out-of-door work a 4x5 hand camera
has many advantages over a larger
sized box with a tripod attachment
Snap shots at street scenes and other
incidents along the line of travel can
be taken with a hand camera, where
they would be utterly impossible to