The Evolution Of Folding Cameras: A Historical Perspective

The history of the camera is a long and fascinating one, spanning centuries and involving numerous inventors and innovations. The first camera, the camera obscura, was invented over two thousand years ago and was a small, dark room with a pinhole that projected an inverted image of the outside world onto the opposite wall. This ancient technique would capture images on plates and evolve into the first photographic camera in 1816, invented by French inventor Nicephore Niepce. However, it wasn't until the late 19th century that portable folding cameras became popular, dominating camera design from the 1890s to the 1930s.

The first folding camera

The Kodak No. 1 camera was a significant innovation that brought photography into the home. While the camera was refined over time, the Kodak No. 1 enabled relaxed shooting for the first time.

The camera obscura

By the 16th century, lenses were being used in camera obscura devices, and they became popular as drawing aids. Portable camera obscura devices in tents and boxes were introduced in the late 17th century. In the 18th century, more portable models became available and were used by both amateur and professional artists.

French inventor Nicephore Niepce, who is credited with creating the first photograph in 1816, had been experimenting with camera obscura for years. He used a wooden camera obscura box and a "film" made from "Bitumen of Judea" to create permanent images.

The first photographic camera

The first camera to take a permanent photograph was invented a hundred years before the portable camera was available to the middle class. A hundred years after that, the camera had become a part of daily life.

The first mass-marketed camera was a daguerreotype camera produced by Alphonse Giroux in 1839. It cost 400 francs (approximately $7,000 by today's standards). This consumer camera had an exposure time of 5 to 30 minutes, and you could purchase standardized plates in a range of sizes.

The daguerreotype was extremely popular, and the French government purchased the rights to the design in exchange for a life pension for Louis Daguerre and his son. France then presented the technology, and the science behind it, as a gift "free to the world". This only increased interest in the technology, and soon every wealthy household would take advantage of this new device.

The daguerreotype would be replaced in 1850 by a new "colloid process", which required treating the plates before using them. This process produced sharper images and would require a shorter exposure time. So fast was the exposure time required that they needed to invent a "shutter" that could quickly expose the plate to light before blocking it again.

However, the next significant advancement in camera technology came with the creation of "film". The first camera that used a single roll of paper (and then celluloid) film, called "The Kodak" in 1888.

The Kodak camera could capture negative pictures much like the Calotype. These pictures, however, were sharp like daguerreotypes, and you could measure exposure time in fractions of a second. The film would need to remain in the dark box camera, which would be sent in its entirety back to Eastman's company for the images to be processed. The first Kodak camera had a roll that could hold 100 pictures.

The first folding cameras appeared in the 1890s and dominated camera design until the 1930s.

The first roll film camera

The Kodak cost only $25 and came with the catchy slogan, "You press the button... we do the rest." The Eastman Kodak Company became one of the largest companies in America, with Eastman himself becoming one of the richest men. The Kodak's distinctive circular snapshots defined a new style of photography—informal, personal, and fun. Within a few years of its introduction, snapshot photography became a national craze.

The use of roll film in consumer cameras was largely superseded by 135 and 126 cartridges, but 120 and 220 (double-length) film are still commonly used in medium format cameras.

The first folding camera manufacturers

The history of the camera is a long and fascinating one, with many innovations and inventors contributing to its development over centuries. The first camera, the camera obscura, was invented by Han Chinese scholar Mozi around 470 to 391 BC. This early device was a small, dark room with a pinhole that projected an inverted image of the outside scene onto the opposite wall. While it was not a camera in the modern sense, it laid the foundation for future developments.

Fast forward to the 19th century, and we see the emergence of the first photographic cameras. Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, a French inventor, created the first photographic camera in 1816, using paper coated with silver chloride. However, these images were not permanent. It was not until 1826 that Niépce produced the first permanent photograph, using a technique he called "heliography." Unfortunately, Niépce passed away in 1833, and his camera did not gain widespread popularity.

The next significant development came in 1829 when Louis Daguerre invented a more efficient camera device. Daguerreotypes, as they were called, were created by exposing a silver-plated copper plate to iodine and hot mercury. This process produced detailed images but had a flaw where the pictures vanished quickly. This issue was corrected by American inventor Alexander S. Wolcott, who invented the mirror camera, which created permanent positive impressions.

In the late 19th century, portable folding cameras began to dominate the market. One of the first renowned strut folding cameras was the Folding Pocket Kodak, introduced in the late 1890s. These cameras were compact and easy to carry, making photography more accessible to amateur photographers. By the 1910s and 1920s, rollfilm folding cameras became popular, such as the Conley Folding Kewpie No. 2 and the No. 3A Autographic Kodak Junior. These cameras had features such as a lens that needed to be pulled out along rails and a leaf shutter with a small lever for firing.

Another notable folding camera from this era was the Voigtländer Vitessa, which had "barn doors" that opened symmetrically. The Agfa Isolette II, a typical folding camera of the 1950s, featured a viewfinder and a film pressure plate. By the 1970s, a new type of folding camera, the instant SLR camera Polaroid SX-70, became popular among the wealthy.

In conclusion, the history of the first folding camera manufacturers is closely tied to the evolution of photographic technology, with each innovation building upon the other. From the early camera obscura to the modern folding camera, each invention played a crucial role in shaping the future of photography and our ability to capture and preserve visual memories.

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