The international photographer (Jan-Dec 1934)

Eighteen The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHKR December, 1934 What Is Photography? The Power of the Pinhole Camera By Karl A. Barleben, Jr., F.R.P.S. HOTOGRAPHV, as everyone knows, is the reproduction of a scene or object produced on 1 paper by means of certain physical and chemical combinations. The camera is the medium used. And the camera is, therefore, of prime importance to everyone who is at all interested in that most marvelous and interesting of processes, photography. However, I somehow feel that entirely too much importance is placed on the camera by many photographers. To them, photography means the ownership of the most expensive camera available. They believe that successful photography is impossible with an inexpensive outfit. The real photographer, on the other hand, loves photography for the results he can secure, the scenes he can reproduce with more or less faithfulness, taking into consideration the medium employed. He is your real photographer, and he doesn't give a hoot what kind of a camera he uses to get results. A few moments on the subject of cameras will not, therefore, come amiss at this point, for practically everything hinges upon this factor. There is no denying that the finest camera equipment should be had by the photographer. An old reliable rule for the beginner is to the effect that the best camera the purse can stand should be bought. This is very true. On the other hand, the beginner is often misled by such statements, with the result that because he cannot afford a good camera, he foregoes the pleasures photography offers entirely. Little does he realize that a single dollar bill will buy a dandy camera that makes real pictures ! True, it doesn't have a fast, or even well-corrected lens. Nor has it great flexibility. Yet it is capable of turning out excellent photographs — if that is what he is after, and that is certainly all that should concern him. Yes indeed, the lowly box camera, such as the Brownie, is capable of turning out salon pictures — if you know how to use it properly, and that means using it within its limitations. So from that standpoint of whether photography means making pictures or simply owning costly equipment, the latter can certainly be excluded. As a matter of fact, do you know that one of the finest cameras that can be had costs exactly nothing? And has no lens? And no bellows? The pin-hole camera is such an outfit. You can make one yourself in a short while at home with very little trouble. It's only a light-tight box with a holder for the plate or film, and a tiny pin-hole. The pin-hole or "lens" is the most difficult part of the whole thing to make, but even that is easily done. A perfectly round hole is drilled in a very thin sheet of tin-foil or tin. The hole is best made with a very fine needle, for the smaller the hole, the better the "lens." Properly blackened with soot from a candle (paint is apt to clog the tiny hole or at least give it an uneven edge) and the camera is ready for work. The beauty of such a camera is that diaphragm stops, focal length, and focusing can be entirely forgotten. The lens is truly a "universal focus" affair, for it is in sharp focus for any distance. The focal length can be altered at will by merely increasing or decreasing the distance between the "lens" and the plate or film. You can't do that with the most expensive camera on the market ! Obviously time-exposures are in order with such a camera. You can't expect to photograph speeding objects with it. But for landscapes and similar inactive subjects, the pin-hole camera is hard to beat, for the "lens" produces a wonderfully pleasing picture; not wiresharp, yet not out-of-focus. Just a faithful reproduction of the scene, very much like the manner in which the eyes see it in normal vision. Some of the finest salon prints have had their origin in a pin-hole camera! So it can be seen that expensive equipment is not entirely as necessary as it is claimed to be — but then, in this article I speak not for professionals, whom we admit from the start have certain requirements to fulfill, but for the amateur who enjoys making pictures for the joy of making them. I am trying to point out the fact that while costly cameras are desirable for many reasons, they are not absolutely necessary. Another factor which plays an important part is the one involving the individual. As I have pointed out previously in an article in this magazine, it is not really the camera that counts so much as it is the man behind the camera. In short, a photographer who really knows "his stuff" can produce masterpieces with a box camera and a single meniscus lens, whereas the inexperienced man will draw only blanks with the most highly developed outfit. Of course one cannot do the impossible, and for that reason the expert uses the finest equipment he can afford. The less expensive cameras limit one tremendously. For example, they require bright sunlight, not too fast action of the subject being photographed, and other considerations. It is in order to over-come these obstacles that the expensive camera is designed — fast, highly corrected lenses, fast shutters, all sorts of flexibility with regard to accessories, etc. No one should be discouraged at being unable to buy a really good camera at the start. Get a cheap affair, learn to use it within its limits, and you will be surprised what a lot of fun you can get with it. Later, when finances permit, you can blossom forth with a new and higher-priced camera, and at that time your experience with the cheap camera will enable you to better care for and handle the newer higher-priced cameras and their need. I personally have, among others, two of the finest and higher-priced camera, and at that time your experience with the cheap camera will enable you to better care for and these was necessary to the best results in photography. I am fond of both and would be sorely pressed if deprived of them, yet their loss would not by any means sever my picture-making activities. These cameras, and others of a similar type, can do tricks that few other outfits are capable of doing, but when they are used in the usual manner for casual, sunny weather shooting, they cannot easily show their superiority. The same thing holds true with regard to accessories. The market is full of devices and gadjets, many of which have real merit, but also a good percentage of which can easily be dispensed with. It is no wonder that the beginner becomes bewildered at the wide array in shop win Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers.