Pictures with old cameras: boxes

[Mark Z]

<p>Link to the Bert Hardy picture that was removed.<br>

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/photography/8360175/Mystery-of-the-Blackpool-Belles-finally-rings-true.html</p>

 

[tony_lockerbie]

<p>Thanks Mark.</p>

[dave_g1]

<p>I think the trouble with most box cameras is film flatness. The majority do not have any sort of pressure plate and rely either on the tension of the film to maintain flatness - or count on the curl of the film itself to keep the film in contact with the inside back of the box. Obviously neither of these designs is great for maintaining reliable film flatness. <br>

The other trouble is the fixed focus, which contrary to popular opinion is not set at the hyperfocal distance (which with a 100-110mm lens would be unuseably distant for average photos). The result being the cameras are neither suited to close up photos or to distant scenery. If you pay close attention you will find the far end of focus falls off usually around 30 to 40 feet.<br>

In both cases it meant little when the cameras were made since these were cheap cameras for making contact prints for albums, and not meant to be used for making enlargements.<br>

But if you're aware of these more subtle issues you can choose your subjects better and actually get away with some very sharp photos. </p>

[Mark Z]

<p>Dave, I agree that film flatness plays a crucial role. You also pointed out that the fixed focus lenses were not set to the hyperfocal distance, which makes sense. I suspect that Kodak loosened standards a bit when it claimed that its Brownie Hawkeye was sharp from 5 feet to infinity. The depth of field calculator that I mentioned earlier suggests that f/45 could get that kind of DOF. I haven't come across anything that conclusively shows where the Brownie focus was set. Depending on the assumptions one makes, the calculator says that the focus may be set somewhere in the 11 to 15 foot range. I would be curious to know if this is indeed the case. Does this match your observations?</p>

[dave_g1]

<p>My personal observation would seem to indicate that focus is set to about 20-25 feet. For a 100mm lens on 6x9 set at f/16 this would give a depth of field from about 12 feet to about 60 feet. Which on a contact print could easily be "stretched" to 10' to infinity for all practical intents and purposes. Only an enlargement would show that infinity is not actually sharp, nor is 10' quite sharp either. The distance covered in sharp focus would be appropriate for group photos, houses, most scenery, etc. so it also makes perfect sense that the actual focus would be set just slightly short of the true hyperfocal distance. Really old boxes usually had a second smaller stop for use indoors (seems counter intuitive but increasing the exposure time made it easier to count the seconds and get a good exposure) which would have allowed one to move the camera a couple feet closer still for seated portraits.<br>

Now I do have a couple of boxes which have the focus set a bit closer, maybe at about 15', but this could be by design or simply by loose manufacturing. </p>

[Mark Z]

<p>Dave, thank you for the follow-up. That is interesting about the smaller stop for indoor shots.</p>