Difference between revisions of "Folding"

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There have been folding cameras in all kinds of format, from 18×24 mm to at least 18×24 cm.
 
There have been folding cameras in all kinds of format, from 18×24 mm to at least 18×24 cm.
  
 +
===folder types, overview===
 
{|
 
{|
| colspan=2 | '''common folding cameras'''
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| colspan=3 | '''common folding cameras'''
 
| colspan=2 | '''special folding cameras'''
 
| colspan=2 | '''special folding cameras'''
 
|-
 
|-
 
|| [http://www.flickr.com/photos/89864432@N00/186689148/in/pool-camerapedia/ http://static.flickr.com/71/186689148_48cc1cbc5d_t.jpg] <br/> a folding bed camera ...
 
|| [http://www.flickr.com/photos/89864432@N00/186689148/in/pool-camerapedia/ http://static.flickr.com/71/186689148_48cc1cbc5d_t.jpg] <br/> a folding bed camera ...
 +
|| [http://www.flickr.com/photos/rebollo_fr/245332576/in/pool-camerapedia/ http://farm1.static.flickr.com/85/245332576_b61acb870a_t.jpg] <br/> horizontal variant, ...
 
|| [http://www.flickr.com/photos/89864432@N00/149845564/in/pool-camerapedia/ http://static.flickr.com/47/149845564_a2157dad10_t.jpg] <br/> ''a strut folding camera ...''
 
|| [http://www.flickr.com/photos/89864432@N00/149845564/in/pool-camerapedia/ http://static.flickr.com/47/149845564_a2157dad10_t.jpg] <br/> ''a strut folding camera ...''
 
|| [http://www.flickr.com/photos/erichz/97255477/in/pool-camerapedia/ http://static.flickr.com/39/97255477_68678572b7_t.jpg] <br/> modern Polaroid, <br/> unfolded
 
|| [http://www.flickr.com/photos/erichz/97255477/in/pool-camerapedia/ http://static.flickr.com/39/97255477_68678572b7_t.jpg] <br/> modern Polaroid, <br/> unfolded
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|| [http://www.flickr.com/photos/89864432@N00/230223933/in/pool-camerapedia/ http://static.flickr.com/76/230223933_14303e20b6_t.jpg] <br/> barn door folder, <br/> unfolded
 
|| [http://www.flickr.com/photos/89864432@N00/230223933/in/pool-camerapedia/ http://static.flickr.com/76/230223933_14303e20b6_t.jpg] <br/> barn door folder, <br/> unfolded
 
|-
 
|-
|| [http://www.flickr.com/photos/89864432@N00/186689140/in/pool-camerapedia/ http://static.flickr.com/75/186689140_e93cc17e1b_t.jpg] <br/> ... unfolded, hinged <br/> lid flapped aside
+
|| [http://www.flickr.com/photos/89864432@N00/186689140/in/pool-camerapedia/ http://static.flickr.com/75/186689140_e93cc17e1b_t.jpg] <br/> ... unfolded, hinged <br/> lid flapped down
 +
|| [http://www.flickr.com/photos/rebollo_fr/245332574/in/pool-camerapedia/ http://farm1.static.flickr.com/92/245332574_84d4ff4ce5_t.jpg] <br/> ... unfolded
 
|| [http://www.flickr.com/photos/89864432@N00/149850818/in/pool-camerapedia/ http://static.flickr.com/51/149850818_d8b45e2048_t.jpg] <br/> ''...unfolded''
 
|| [http://www.flickr.com/photos/89864432@N00/149850818/in/pool-camerapedia/ http://static.flickr.com/51/149850818_d8b45e2048_t.jpg] <br/> ''...unfolded''
 
|| [http://www.flickr.com/photos/89864432@N00/207294545/in/pool-camerapedia/ http://static.flickr.com/52/207294545_fb38bfc6f1_t.jpg] <br/> press camera, folded
 
|| [http://www.flickr.com/photos/89864432@N00/207294545/in/pool-camerapedia/ http://static.flickr.com/52/207294545_fb38bfc6f1_t.jpg] <br/> press camera, folded

Revision as of 18:25, 18 February 2007

For a list of folding cameras, see Category: Folding.

A folding camera, or folder, is a camera with bellows that can be folded so that the camera occupies less space when not in use.

Not all bellows cameras can be called folding: a monorail view camera has bellows, but it cannot be folded and instead provides flexibility for "movements" (as well as allowing some compression for relative ease of transportation).

Some press cameras (like the Busch Pressman) allow tilts and shifts but also fold for compactness. However, the great majority of folding cameras force the lens board and image plane to be parallel (no tilts), and force the lens and image frame to centre on an axis perpendicular to these two planes (no shifts). This reduces the function of the bellows to saving of space.

The scope of the term folding camera is unclear. While there is no dispute that the Agfa PB 20 is a folding camera, cameras such as the Plaubel Makina that employ bellows and hinges to collapse when not in use, but for which neither the lens assembly or its cover is hinged in relation to the body, are regarded by some people as strut folding cameras, but are not regarded by others as "folding" cameras.

Putting aside strut folders (if they are indeed folders), we can divide folders into two. A very small minority, exemplified by the Voigtländer Vitessa, have "barn doors": a symmetrical pair of doors. The others have a single door. A distinction is often drawn according to whether the bed hinges "vertically" or "horizontally" (that is, if the camera's longest dimension is vertical or horizontal when the bed is unfolded towards the bottom). The great majority of 6×6 folders are horizontal folders; the great majority of 4.5×6 and 6×9 folders are vertical folders.

The following description is necessarily simplified.

The typical rollfilm folding camera of the 1920s needs to have its lens assembly pulled out when the bed is hinged open. The leaf shutter has a small lever for cocking and another for firing; it also allows a cable release to be screwed in. (The screw dimensions are the same as those used in those of today's cameras.) Film is advanced with a key or knob; one stops winding when the new number appears in a red or orange window on the back. There is no rangefinder, and the only viewfinder is a swivelling brilliant finder attached to the front of the lens. There is no pressure plate to hold the film in the right plane.

Its successor of the 1930s is self-erecting: as one unhinges the bed, the lens pops forward. (It may be necessary to pull it a little further, so that it clicks into position.) The brilliant finder is supplemented by some other viewfinder, also very rudimentary even by the standards of the 1950s. There may be a mask to allow a choice between two formats (e.g. 4.5×6 and 6×9).

By the 1950s, the brilliant finder is gone and a viewfinder, perhaps with integrated rangefinder, is under a rigid housing. The shutter still needs to be cocked, but the shutter release is now on the body. There is certainly a film pressure plate; either this has one or more holes for red windows, or there are no holes and no red windows as film advance is semi-automatic. The lens is focussed in one of three ways:

  • the frontmost element alone is moved ("front-cell focussing"): optically the least satisfactory solution and normal in cheap cameras, but sometimes used for expensive and highly regarded cameras too
  • all the elements of the lens are moved forward and backward together ("unit focussing"): this can be achieved by mounting the lens and shutter assembly on an helical ("helicoid focussing"), or on a strut that moves along a rail or is displaced in some other way
  • the film is moved forward and back while the lens is kept stationary ("film-plane focussing"): the least common of the three systems

There have been folding cameras in all kinds of format, from 18×24 mm to at least 18×24 cm.

folder types, overview

common folding cameras special folding cameras
186689148_48cc1cbc5d_t.jpg
a folding bed camera ...
245332576_b61acb870a_t.jpg
horizontal variant, ...
149845564_a2157dad10_t.jpg
a strut folding camera ...
97255477_68678572b7_t.jpg
modern Polaroid,
unfolded
230223933_14303e20b6_t.jpg
barn door folder,
unfolded
186689140_e93cc17e1b_t.jpg
... unfolded, hinged
lid flapped down
245332574_84d4ff4ce5_t.jpg
... unfolded
149850818_d8b45e2048_t.jpg
...unfolded
207294545_fb38bfc6f1_t.jpg
press camera, folded

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