The Camera Body

This chapter addresses the construction of two types of camera, both adapted from sources dating to the mid-1850s. The first camera is a sliding box-camera. Focusing is achieved by moving either the front or back of the camera with the lens remaining in a fixed position. It may be used with wet-paper process or dry, waxed-paper negatives, as well as with symmetrical, asymmetrical, and landscape lenses (see Chapters 3 and 4). Depending on the lens used and how much negative material is eventually trimmed away, it allows for images ranging from 3-1/4″ × 4-1/4″ to 8″ × 10″ (see chapter 1 for more on negative formats). The second camera is a folding-camera. Focusing is achieved by moving the lens barrel back and forth with the ...

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