Plate camera
A plate camera is a camera whose light-sensitive elements are single pieces of glass coated with light-sensitive chemicals, or, later, single pieces of film, each one taking one photo.
The earliest of cameras were loaded in this single-shot manner - and had to be loaded in the dark. Later cameras could be loaded using a dark slide - a box containing the plate which could be fitted into the camera, then the side of the slide facing the lens could be opened for the exposure, and closed for the slide's removal. This way cameras could be loaded away from the darkroom, and photographers could carry slides for more than one exposure.
[Large format] cameras continue to be plate cameras, but smaller format plate cameras were superceded by roll film devices.
Attempts were made to automate plate loading, resulting in magazine cameras containing a number of plates and a mechanism for using each in turn.