Tripod Cameras: Cameras were now so reduced in bulk they could be held in the hand. The photographer was freed from tb need to carry a tripod wherever he went. A bewilderinj array of hand cameras appeared on the market. Some hel( several plates in a magazine, so that photographers coulc take a dozen or more exposures in rapid succession. Be cause these cameras allowed exposures to be made sur repdtiously, they were often called "detective cameras.' They were given fanciful names. Here are a few of thi more popular mass-produced hand cameras of the lati nineteenth century:
To photographers who were accustomed to studying the full-size image on the ground glass of their tripod cameras before exposing the plate, the typical hand Camera finder was inadequate and lacked the precision they found essential to artistic success. Furthermore these photographers were not satisfied with focusing by merely estimating the lens-subject distance or by relying on depth-of-field tables. They wanted to see the image the way the Camera saw it before making the exposure.
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.
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Photography
