Size Camera: To fill their needs, manufacturers began to introduce in the 1890s a new kind of finder: a second Camera mounted on top of the Camera with which the exposure was made. It was fitted with a lens of exactly the same focal length of the taking lens; both were focused together. On the top of the finder-camera was a ground glass the size Camera of the negative. Within was a mirror, fixed at 45° to the lens axis, which reflected the image upwards, like the eighteenth-century Camera obscura. A collapsible hood shaded the ground glass so that the image could be seen clearly.
The equipment Emerson recommended was the simplest: a view camera, preferably of whole-plate size Camera (6V2 x 8l/2 inches), a sturdy tripod, and a lens of relatively long focal length-at least twice the plate's longest side. He had no use for hand cameras. He condemned enlarging. He saw no relation between size Camera and artistic quality: "An artistic quarter plate [3V4 x 4'/4 inches] is worth a hundred commonplace pictures forty by thirty inches in size camera."
However, even though you don't sell your negatives, you should know that the agencies which buy them prefer the 4x5 size Camera or larger and will not purchase anything smaller than 2/4 x 2/4" unless it has spectacular value. If smaller negatives are not worth anything to the agencies, it should behoove you to use a larger Camera for your own stock picture work. The 4x5 press or view Camera is, all things considered,"If you are a beginner or interested in improving your work, our experience recommends the careful study of what the masters are doing as the best way to learn good photography.
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