Evening star., 1950-12-10
Camera Angles
Photo Equipment Solves Christmas Problem
By Alexander J. Wedderburn
,onder J. Wedderburn
Curator Of Photography
The Smithsonian institution

You are not in a class by your
self if you still have most of your
Christmas shopping to do. If you
are still working on your gift list,
we suggest that you fill the gaps
with items Of Photographic equip
ment and supplies. We have yet
to meet the camera fan who has
all the gadgets he wants and film,
paper, chemicals, etc, are always
welcomed by the amateur.
This year the stores are loaded
with all kinds of cameras and re-
lated equipment. Some are ex-
pensive, but most are not and no
matter the size of your budget,
you will have no trouble finding
something for your shutterbug at
a price that you can well afford.
First, find out what he needs.
This shouldn't be hard to ac-
complish, because camera fans will
talk for hours about what they
have and are also prone to COM
plain how much better their PIC
lures would be If they only had
q certain lens or piece IT dark
room equipment. You will learn
quickly that most photographers
who specialize in still pictures
will want equipment or supplies
that will help them in that line.
The amateur movie fan will be
wanting a new screen or supple
mentary lenses for his camera.
If no one on your shopping list
has succumbed to The lure OF
photography, you can always
start them off on the right track
with a camera. A camera will be
welcome in any home because
occasions are always cropping up
when a picture record is IN order.
Birthdays. holidays and vacations
are just a few Of the times when
a camera is a necessity.
Photographers who have al
ready learned the rudiments OF
photography will be happy to re-
ceive one of the more advanced
cameras. The folding camera with
fast lens, shutter and such gad-
gets as the automatic rangefinder
and viewfinder falls in this
category. So does the twin-lens
reflex camera. And the 35-mm.
miniature camera. All are con-
siderably more expensive but any
can be purchased for less than
$1O0. They are designed to meet
the needs of those who wish to
make Photographic portraits or
stop fast action. Their speedier
lenses also permit taking pictures
when poor lighting would rule out
the cameras of the beginner.
Choice in Movie Cameras.
If you plan to give movie
camera you can choose either
8-mm. or 16-mm. instruments.
The 8-mm. machine uses smaller
and consequently less expensive
film. The projection equipment
used with the 8-mm. camera is
also less expensive than the 16-
nm. equipment. A magazine load
ing machine is the best to start
out with because there is less
danger of failures due to manual
loading. If your photographer
already has an 8-mm. camera
there will be little point in pre-
senting him with the 16-mm.
machine unless he wants one for
some special reason. In the last
few years 8-mm. cinematography
has progressed so much IN
camera and protector operation
that there is little that can be
done with 16-mm. that cannot
be duplicated with the smaller
8-mm.
Pick One Easy To Operate.
Buying a camera presents some
what of a problem to those not
familiar with them or the needs
of those for whom they may be in
tended. If you want to present a
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is to start him out with one that
is easy to operate. Some of the
more expensive items are covered
with all kinds of gadgets that are
more useful to photographer
who fully understands their use.
The novice will only have all kinds
of trouble trying to figure out how
they work and wind up with the
idea that taking pictures is more
work than fun.
So give the beginner something
simple to start with such as a
box camera or possibly one of the
inexpensive folding cameras. Even
a child can take good, sharp pic
lures with one of these. In box
camera the focus is set and re-
mains constant and there is no
chance of getting a shot that is
out of focus except at extremely
short range. Shutter and lens
combinations on these primary
cameras are simple and they can
be loaded and unloaded in day.
light by any one. They will take
all kinds of pictures except when
lighting conditions are very bad
or when fat motion is involved
Many are built for combining with