The camera box and lens in the hands of the competent photographer
are what the brush and colors may be in the hands of the portrait
painter. They are the means whereby he produces his portrait and
stamps his individuality upon his work. Therefore, when we look back
and consider the rude implements the pioneers in our art had to work
with, we are often surprised that the work they produced was so
really respectable in point of finish and excellence as it was.
Starting from a cigar box and a burning glass, not 50 years ago, the
progress made, as represented by [p100] the instruments in use at
this day, would seem to be fully equal to the advance from Fox
Talbot's paper negative to that made on the Gelatine Dry plate.
As late as 25 years ago the box in general use consisted of two
sections of square wooden tube, one sliding inside the other, in
telescopic style; to the front of the smaller section was attached
the lens, and the focusing glass fitted into a groove in the rear of
the larger section. The lens afforded the means of adjusting the
focus in its rack and pinion movement, and the ground glass had to
be removed from its groove before the plate holder could be put in
place.
This rude apparatus was considered in its time to be a very
ingenious construction, but if the shades of Morse and Draper could
contemplate the objects of art that have supplanted the rude
constructions they were so familiar with and knew so well how to
use, they might well wish themselves back among the living for the
pleasure of working with one of the latest camera boxes.
The cameras of the present time seem constructed to meet every
requirement of the most exacting intelligence. They are light, yet
firm and durable, they are rigid as wood and metal can make them,
and yet they are fitted to focus sharply all positions of the human
form. They are complicated, yet extraordinarily convenient, and they
are made in forms and sizes adapted to every possible use or demand.
There are four principal varieties of camera boxes in general use,
viz:
The camera for positives, which includes the multiplier. The camera
for negatives, wet or dry, for portraiture. The camera for copying,
and the camera for [p101] viewing and out-door work; descriptive
accounts of the several varieties will be given under their
appropriate heads.