The Camera Was Loadf: The Camera was loadf with twelve plates that were changed by pulling out at pushing in a brass rod. A sliding, spring-operated shu ter worked at a speed of 1/60 of a second. The lens w; set at fixed focus; Carpentier stated that photographe were incapable of focusing accurately enough to perm sharp enlargements to be made. A fixed-focus enlarg was sold as an accessory: he boasted that with it "tl original negatives are easily increased to Vi-plate si [61/2 x 434 in.]-a matter of considerable moment operators making views for practical purposes."
Containing the New Optical Laws of the Camera Obscura or Daguerreotype, demonstrated that converging perpendiculars of the Camera image were indeed mathematically correct and concluded: "Art has always represented objects geometrically, or as they cannot be seen in the perpendicular and visually, or as they can be seen in the horizontal direction."3 But his findings were ignored. Indeed, amateurs were warned in manuals and instruction books never to tip the camera. Many hand cameras were even equipped with levels to assure the viewer that he was holding the Camera horizontally.
This trick is never as satisfactory as getting the picture the way you (or your clients) want it on the negative, once and for all, at the time of shooting.Besides, the view Camera has other advantages which are than 4 x 5. I have shot thousands of pictures with an 8 x 10, and I can tell you that wrestling the dead weight of Camera and tripod makes every job fall into the category of hard labor. Also important is that the cost of everything, camera, holders, tripod, lenses and film, goes up when you go into 8 x 10.
|
|
Photography
