3 - Equipment

Summary

This chapter does not represent a complete catalogue and description of photographic equipment of all kinds, nor anything approaching it. It is concerned only with the types of cameras and lenses employed in archaeology and conservation, and with darkslides, shutters, light meters and light filters, some of which may be unfamiliar to archaeologists and conservators whose experience has been limited to 35 mm cameras. The use of camera movements is also discussed, since an understanding of them can be of value in all the aspects of photography discussed in the chapters that follow. For the same reason, some general points are made about the purpose and use of scales. Later chapters deal with the special requirements for equipment used in different fields, such as site photography and the photography of objects in the laboratory or studio.

Cameras and lenses

Cameras

There are two types of large-format cameras in general use: monorail cameras (Plate 18), in which a lens panel and a film (focussing) panel move along a central rail, the two panels connected by bellows; and baseboard or technical cameras (Plate 19), in which a hinged flap which carries the lens panel folds down from a box-like body to the back of which is attached a focusing screen. Both types are also known as view cameras.

Monorail cameras are the most widely used large-format cameras for architecture and for studio use. The commonest format is 5 × 4 in (12.5 × 10 cm, but known universally as 5 × 4 cameras), although larger sizes (23 × 18 cm (9 × 7 in) and 25 × 20 cm (10 × 8 in)) are also made.