The Amateur Photographer Handbook [antikvár]

Today there is such a profusion of cameras that you can't hope to know everything about all of them. Faced with row upon row of glittering equipment, how do you choose the item to suit you? if you've already got a camera, don't change it just because there is something new or different on the market. Only get a 'better' one if it offers real advantages in picture quality or versatility. It's a sort of upside-down way of doing things, but we are going to try and explain a bit about choosing the features you need rather than the camera, and eliminating those you don't before we discuss each one in any detail. If you don't quite understand the terminology, there is a glossary at the end of the book and it's all explained in detail later on. Cameras All cameras take pictures; almost all take acceptable pictures; most take good pictures and many take excellent ones. The quality is as much attributable to film size as it is to camera features. The major difference between the simplest, cheapest models and the most sophisticated, expensive ones is in versatility. Of course, you decide exactly what goes into your pictures. You choose your viewpoint, arrange your subjects, put people in the right mood, wait for the right moment and release the shutter. You do all that whether you're using an old Box Brownie or the latest super-electronic-wondercoated magnificent marketing miracle. The camera you need depends on just when and how you want to take your pictures. Films All cameras use film of one sort or another (see p. 41), and most cameras allow you a choice of types. Colour film comes in two forms - one is processed to make transparencies, and the other to make negatives. The transparencies are little coloured replicas of the scene. You can project them on to a screen, or look at them directly (with a magnifying viewer if they need it). Colour negatives are funny orangey things which seem at first sight to resemble nothing. Paper colour pnnts are made from them. Black-and-white film is usually processed to form negatives. You get black-and-white prints from them.