The Arizona copper camp., 1919-02-22
WHAT KODAK FOLKS
OUGHT To KNOW

'What gorgeous cloud effect!" we
hear an embryo camera enthusiast
exclaim, as he (or she) levels The
camera at the scene, snaps the pic
ture, and .fondly hopes for good re-
suits. When the prints return from
the professional finishers, the beauti-
full clouds are not to be seen, and the
distant mountains blend with the
sky-altogether different effect from
the one witnessed.
The reason? There are many. reas-
ons; all may be summed into one:
lack of knowledge. 1t is true that
Jim Jones, with a box camera, may
have obtained sharper pictures than
Sally Smith, with more expensive
equipment, and neither may have had
any knowledge of photography. That
was luck, not science.
Photography successful photog
raphy-as applied to the average hand
camera, may be reduced to an exact
science. In fact, one who has the
knowledge, may with certainty rely
upon getting them "all good"
Copper Camp plans to furnish it's
readers with such help as it may feel
of value to the budding camera ar
tist, by publishing series of articles
each week, covering the steps in
photography with the simpler cam
eras, from taking the picture, to fin
ishing the print In addition, Copper
Camp will be glad to furnish answers
to problems which may perplex the
amateur. This service will be rem
dered free of charge to our readers.
Questions of general interest will be
answered in this column.
Choosing the Camera
No attempt will be made to selecr
q camera suited to the amateur S
needs, nor do we feel it necessary to
go into the fine points of various cam
eras. 1t is necessary to state, how
ever, that a box camera of the fixed
focus type, while it may take a pic
ture satisfactory to the average eye.
under certain conditions, cannot do
the work of the higher priced, focus
ing, anastigmat and compound shut
ter equipped camera.
The average box camera, which re
quires no sharp focusing, has a shut
ter of the type known as rotary. This
shutter operates at a speed of about
1-24th of a second, and provides no
changes in the speed. The stop (siZe
of the opening which admits the
light to the lens) can be changed in
the larger sizes, to reduce the amount
of light admitted, and to increase the
sharpness of the picture. Such small
ler stops on cameras Of the box type
are usually not to be used except on
''time exposures, as will be described
later
The chief differences of the box
type of camera with those equipped
with better lenses and shutters are:
The. box camera will not furnish q
picture free from curvature of the
field, meaning, for example, that
straight lines may not be straight in
q picture taken with such a camera.
An architectural object, abounding in
straight lines, would present Difficult
ties to the worker with box camera.
A camera with rectilinear lens is sup
posed to rectify the straight lines, but
it may not eliminate astigmatism. AS
scribed as the inability to render, as
straight lines, any number of straight
lines, running in any direction, in the
picture This is not a clear definition
perhaps, but as a further illustration
we may take an object, such as a
wheel, with number of spokes, and
photograph it. An anastigmat lens
will photograph each of the spokes
with clearness and absolute straight
ness, whereas a rectilinear lens will
render some of them sharp, and other
will appear somewhat blurred. A men
iscus lens, such as used on the aver
age box camera, will not render the
lines straight, particularly if the lines
extend to the edges OF the film or
plate.
Shutters are many and varied. We
have spoken of the rotary, with it's
limited field. Other shutters, having
several speed adjustments, and ar
rangements for bulb and time expos
ures, are superior. The class of shut
ter known as Compound" is still
better, as it provides greater speed
and also slower instantaneous speeds
automatically. The latter types OF
shutters are usually standard equip
ment with anastigmat lenses. 1t
would not be well for the amateur to
use an inferior shutter with a high