3 Cameras from: A History of Photography in 50 Cameras

 

Lately I have been really into photography and have been reading books with tips on taking photos. When looking for more books on photography, I stumbled upon A History of Photography in 50 Cameras. This book goes through the evolution of 50 different cameras ranging from 1839 – 2013. It has images of photos taken by each camera as well as detailed sketches/blueprint of the camera. So, to get a feel of the book, here are 3 cameras that I found interesting.

Reading this book, I found it fascinating that these camera inventors really loved making disguised cameras. A camera disguised as a revolver, a pocket watch, and a matchbox were all mentioned in this book, but I found the Scovill Book Camera the most interesting out of these secret cameras. Three leather covered books with a strap attached to it, was made in 1892 in the United States, by Scovill and Adams. Andrew D. Dobbs, the inventor of this camera, was really focused on making the camera into a realistic book, with titles on each book and the strap needing to be unbuckled for it to function as a camera. I found it funny that although Dobbs wanted to disguise the camera, by making it into a book it became obvious when used to take photos. I mean who wouldn’t find it strange if a person was looking into a stack of books while at Yosemite National Park. 

Moving on, if you are a person who brings their DCLR camera on trips, you probably know how much of a hassle it is to carry the extra weight and taking up space. Well, this camera, the Minox, is the complete opposite. 13 x 28 x 75 mm (1/2 x 1 1/8 x 3in), this camera is the same size as your average golf tee. It had been used as a spy camera in films including the James Bond series, and was actually used by spies such as Heinz Felfe, who took thousands of photographs for the Russians while employed by the West Germans, using this specific camera. While reading about this camera, I was wondering why cameras after this had still been large, although the camera “was built to a very high standard of precision” and “gave very sharp images” (Pritchard, 118), even though it was small. If only the inventors could’ve built on this, we wouldn’t have to be carrying big heavy DCLR cameras. 

Finally, the Coronet Midget got my attention because of its looks (and it’s name). This camera was priced at only $27 (in money today) and was announced in 1934 as “The World’s Smallest Camera for Fine Photography” (Pritchard, 102), which the Minox had to say something about 5 years later when it was invented. I liked how this camera had various possible colors, unlike others, and weren’t just a solid color but with different shades. Also I found it compelling how this camera wasn’t wide like most common cameras, which got me interested on the internal structure of the camera (although it didn’t have an image in the book).

To conclude, this book is (in my opinion) a book for camera maniacs, looking to learn about different unique cameras. If you just want to learn about the history of photography, I don’t think this is quite the book you would want, but it is still an interesting book with lots of information. Reading this has made me want to visit a camera museum, and further interested in photography.

- Yuto. I