ABSTRACT
When you look at most modern equipment it’s hard to believe that a camera is basically a
box with a lens at the front and some form of light-sensitive surface at the back. Yet the first
Figure 4.1 The main types and formats of current cameras using film. Back row: Large-format monorail and baseboard view cameras. Middle row: Medium-format rollfilm single-lens reflex and direct viewfinder cameras. Front row: Small-format 35 mm single-lens reflexes (manual and advanced), also APS compact camera
cameras were just that – wooden boxes put together by the local carpenter. A simple lens (often
a telescope objective) was mounted over a hole at the front, and a holder for chemically coated
material arranged to fit into the other end.
