Typical folding camera in unfolded postureTypical folding camera in folded postureA 1907 woodcut of a horizontal format folding cameraEnsign Midget model 22 miniature folding camera in relation to a modern type 135 film roll. Note: this model required unperforated film of the same width.
A folding camera is a camera type. Folding cameras fold into a compact and rugged package for storage. The lens and shutter are attached to a lens-board which is connected to the body of the camera by a light-tight folding bellows. When the camera is fully unfolded it provides the correct focus distance from the film. The key advantage of folding cameras is their excellent physical-size to film-size ratio when the camera is folded for storage.
Portable folding cameras dominated camera design from the 1890s to 1930s and were significant into the late 1940s. Specialized cameras such as the Polaroid SX-70Instant film camera, and the Speed Graphic press cameras used folding designs into the 1970s.
The typical amateur camera of the early 20th Century made various "postcard" sized negatives around 4" × 5". By the 1930s 6cm × 9cm cameras for either the 120 or 620 film size, were highly popular.
The use of folding cameras declined in the late 1930s with advances in lens technology allowing superior enlargement, high quality images on smaller negatives, and shorter distances between the lens and the film. 35mm film made small-sized cameras practical without using bellows. Lens technology allowed 120/620 cameras to use shorter focal distances, and the twin lens reflex cameras became popular. However, some 35mm cameras continued to be built as folding cameras, e.g., the original Kodak Retina and the Ensign Midget model 22 camera (image at lower right). Medium format folders were produced in USSR until the 1960s.
A single-lens reflex camera (SLR) is a camera that typically uses a mirror and prism system that permits the photographer to view through the lens and see exactly what will be captured. With twin lens reflex and rangefinder cameras, the viewed image could be significantly different from the final image. When the shutter button is pressed on most SLRs, the mirror flips out of the light path, allowing light to pass through to the light receptor and the image to be captured.
A camera is an optical instrument used to record images. At their most basic, cameras are sealed boxes with small holes that let light in to capture an image on a light-sensitive surface. Cameras have various mechanisms to control how the light falls onto the light-sensitive surface. Lenses focus the light entering the camera, the size of the aperture can be widened or narrowed to let more or less light into the camera, and a shutter mechanism determines the amount of time the photo-sensitive surface is exposed to the light.
A field camera is a view camera that can be folded in a compact size. Modern designs are little different from the first folding field cameras from the 19th century. In general they have more limited camera movements than monorail cameras, but when folded are relatively compact and portable.
A twin-lens reflex camera (TLR) is a type of camera with two objective lenses of the same focal length. One of the lenses is the photographic objective or "taking lens", while the other is used for the viewfinder system, which is usually viewed from above at waist level.
A press camera is a medium or large format view camera that was predominantly used by press photographers in the early to mid-20th century. It was largely replaced for press photography by 35mm film cameras in the 1960s, and subsequently, by digital cameras. The quintessential press camera was the Speed Graphic. Press cameras are still used as portable and rugged view cameras.
120 is a popular film format for still photography introduced by Kodak for their Brownie No. 2 in 1901. It was originally intended for amateur photography but was later superseded in this role by 135 film. 120 film and its close relative, 220 film, survive to this day as the only medium format films that are readily available to both professionals and amateur enthusiasts. As of December 2018 all production of 220 film has stopped/paused worldwide. The only remaining stocks are from the last Fujifilm production run (2018) and they are mostly found in Japan.
Medium format has traditionally referred to a film format in still photography and the related cameras and equipment that use film. Nowadays, the term applies to film and digital cameras that record images on media larger than 24 mm × 36 mm (full-frame), but smaller than 4 in × 5 in.
The Land Camera is a model of self-developing film camera manufactured by Polaroid between 1948 and 1983. It is named after their inventor, Edwin Land, who developed a process for self-developing photography between 1943 and 1947. After Edwin Land's retirement from Polaroid, the name 'Land' was dropped from the camera name. The first commercially available model was the Model 95, which produced sepia-colored prints in about 1 minute. It was first sold to the public on November 26, 1948.
The instant camera is a type of camera which uses self-developing film to create a chemically developed print shortly after taking the picture. Polaroid Corporation pioneered consumer-friendly instant cameras and film, and were followed by various other manufacturers.
Large format refers to any imaging format of 4×5 inches (102×127 mm) or larger. Large format is larger than "medium format", the 6×6 cm or 6×9 cm size of Hasselblad, Mamiya, Rollei, Kowa, and Pentax cameras, and much larger than the 24×36 mm (0.95×1.42 inch) frame of 35 mm format.
Mamiya Digital Imaging Co., Ltd. is a Japanese company that manufactures high-end cameras and other related photographic and optical equipment. With headquarters in Tokyo, it has two manufacturing plants and a workforce of over 200 people. The company was founded in May 1940 by camera designer Seiichi Mamiya and financial backer Tsunejiro Sugawara.
Instant film is a type of photographic film introduced by Polaroid to be used in an instant camera. The film contains the chemicals needed for developing and fixing the photograph, and the instant camera exposes and initiates the developing process after a photo has been taken.
Rolleiflex is the name of a long-running and diverse line of high-end cameras originally made by the German company Franke & Heidecke, and later Rollei-Werk.
The SX-70 is a folding single lens reflex Land camera which was produced by the Polaroid Corporation from 1972 to 1981.
The history of the single-lens reflex camera (SLR) begins with the use of a reflex mirror in a camera obscura described in 1676, but it took a long time for the design to succeed for photographic cameras: the first patent was granted in 1861, and the first cameras were produced in 1884 but while elegantly simple in concept, they were very complex in practice. One by one these complexities were overcome as optical and mechanical technology advanced, and in the 1960s the SLR camera became the preferred design for many high-end camera formats.
The Fuji GX680 is a series of single lens reflex system cameras for medium format film produced by Fujifilm with interchangeable camera lenses and interchangeable film holders for the unusual film format 6×8cm on 120 and 220 roll film. The distinguishing feature of the Fuji GX680 is the articulating front standard, which runs on a rail connecting lens and camera body by a bellows; the interchangeable lens is permanently mounted to a lens board.
The Mamiya Press is a line of medium-format rangefinder system camera manufactured by Mamiya. The first model was introduced in 1960, and the final model was discontinued in the 1970s. It was targeted at the professional press photography market, and a wide array of accessories was offered. The maximum image size that can be captured is 6 cm × 9 cm, but images can be taken in a number of different formats, and using several types of film. All of the lenses have leaf shutters, which are released on the lens itself, not through the body as is typical with most cameras. The shutter is typically triggered from one of several models of removable grips, all of which have a built-in release cable. The lenses also have flash sync terminals. The camera lacks an internal dark slide, so one has to be inserted into the film holder before changing the lens.
Plaubel is a German camera maker, founded in November, 1902, by Hugo Schrader, who learned the technology of cameras and lenses as an apprentice at Voigtländer in Braunschweig in the late 1800s before being employed by a Frankfurt camera and lens manufacturer and distributor, Dr. R. Krügener, whose daughter he married. Hugo Schrader and his wife elected to open their own business, Plaubel & Co., as distributors and makers of cameras and lenses, naming it after his brother-in-law because he thought Plaubel was easier to remember than Schrader.
The Kodak Vigilant and Monitor cameras were popular folding bellows cameras made from 1939 to 1949. They featured an optical viewfinder without a rangefinder, adjustable focus lenses, and various models of shutters with speed up to 1/200 sec. Lenses available were a F/4.5 105mm, F/6.3 105mm and a F/8.8 100mm. They take 620 film, and produce a 2 1/4" x 3 1/4" inch medium format negative. The cameras can produce very sharp photos if used on a tripod and the manual distance setting on the lens is correct.
MiNT Camera is a company specializing in the Polaroid instant film cameras and its accessories. Founded in 2009, it provides products and services for instant photography. Its principal activities are the refurbishment and repair of Polaroid cameras, with two MiNT Polaroid Warranty Centers located in Causeway Bay and Kwun Tong, Hong Kong. MiNT Camera has partnered with Impossible Project, a manufacturer of instant photographic materials.
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