Evening star., 1951-11-04
By Alexander ]. Wedderburp
Curator Of Photoarophy

A week ago we were telling pros
pective cinematographers how to|
pick and choose from several types
of movie cameras. The agenda|
for today calls for a similar dis
cussion OF the relative merits of
picture taking devices in the field
of still photography.
For some reason or other many
who are about to buy their FIRST
camera either make it q major
problem or else 60 blindly about
the business and take the first
thing offered to them in q camera
store. Today's camera, regardless
of its deceptive appearance, is very
little different from the first sue
cessful model that Daguerre used
liz years ago. The modern cam
era and yesteryear's are still|
basically the same. each having al
Ilight-tight chamber, provided
with an opening to transmit a re-
fiected image to the sensitized sur
face within the camera.
Over the last century the most
significant changes have taken
place in the stepping up of the
Photographic process. Cameras
have been improved somewhat by
bringing them down to q usable
size. the lenses and shutters have
been speeded UP, flash has been
added. and a few other gadgets
stuck on to make things easier
for the photographer but basically
one camera is very much like any
other, past or present. Some are
laden with time-saving devices
that make it easy for you to focus
and frame the subject; most of
the others are preset for both
focus and shutter speed. There
still remain a few that demand a
modicum of attention.
The people who make the cam
eras have done just about every
thing within reason to make pic
iture-taking foolproof even in the
low-price field, so buying a cam,
era boils down to asking yourself
about two questions: First you de-
eide how much you can afford to
spend, then you ask yourself
whether you will be satisfied with
snapshots or whether you will wish
to take shots Of sports events and
other forms Of fast action. Once
you have decided these points you
should have little difficulty in
picking your camera.
/ Why a Precision Instrument?
The run-of-the mill snapshot
that seems to satisfy most people.
fcan be made just as well with an
expensive camera as 1t can with
one that costs only a few dollars.
But there isn't much point in
spending a hundred dollars for
a precision instrument that you
won't use more than few times.
For picture-taking program like
this. a box camera costing only
a few dollars will do splendidly.
This camera. for your information.
is the easiest of all cameras to
operate. Even child can load
it and take good pictures with it.
| The great appeal of the box
camera to beginners lies in its
! fixed focus and shutter speed.
With this camera you don't have
to give q thought to focusing or
calculating exposure. The focus is
preset and any pictures you take
with the box camera will be in
focus except for extreme close-ups.
Close-ups can also be made by
slipping a special portrait at
tachment over the lens. The
shutter speed on this type camera
is also fixed. Therefore all you
have to do to get a picture with
the box camera is load it. point
1t at the subject and release the
shutter.
II you expect to stop motion
such as will be encountered when
photographing children at play.
you will have to 60 a step higher
in the performance scale and get
Yourself a miniature camera, a
folding camera or reflex camera.
These differ from the box camera
in that they have variable focus
and shutter speeds. The lenses
are also faster. all Of which adds
up to q motion-stopping camera.
More Pictures Per Load.
The miniature camera takes q
smaller film than the others (gen-
orally 35-mm. in size) and shoots