Speed graphic cameras
were one of the first big “press” cameras, Manufactured by Graflex, a Rochester, New York based camera producer it was the dominant portable
professional camera from the 1930's through the end of the 1950's. Photos were so important at this time because they were rare and cool to see. Back then in the newspapers only a few pages in a newspaper would have photographs, and those sold faster as opposed to ones without photographs. This is another reason why this camera became so popular, for its clearer photos. Though
it wasn’t popular as a press camera until the 30’s, it was created at the start
of the 1900’s and introduced the idea of having two separate shutters. Though
they couldn’t be used at the same time, they were both very useful and the most
skilled photographers knew how to change, and when to use both. The Speed Graphics
camera had 7 different versions, like the Crown Graphic and Century Graphic. These were great cameras capable of the best quality
of work, and still are known as great cameras today as one was even used by a
professional photographer at the 2012 Olympics.
The Speed Graphic was
originally made for general purpose commercial photography such as wedding, portrait,
advertising and landscape photography. The Speed Graphic looks complicated, due
to its size, and everything going on, but is one of the simplest cameras made
and was a miraculous camera of the time. Every version of the camera had new
and improved lenses, shutter speeds and more. The biggest innovations about
this camera though, was that first and most importantly, it could be used onthe go but also that the lenses were interchangeable, it accepted sheet film,it has a viewfinder, came equipped with an optical and has a ground glass focusing screen. Though this camera wasn’t
the only kind of “press camera” and there were other portable cameras, this one
was the most popular for its picture quality, and how easy it was to use, and
offered for an affordable price.
Before the press cameras like this one, just
to take one simple photo took a lot of time, work, and bulky equipment. In order
to take a photo, the photographer needed a whole van full of equipment. Photographers
had to cut the plates, put different chemicals on a plate, then put the wet plate into the camera, take the picture, then put the plate back in to chemicals to make them useable as real photos. And if this process isn't done right, and photos aren't processed carefully and correctly, they will be ruined and it will all be a waste. And not only is it a process, but the subject of the photo had to stay completely still,
sometimes even for 8 minutes to get the exposure right to take the picture.
Sometimes they would even have a brace to hold up the persons head. Also with these cameras photojournalism was difficult because you couldn’t move
around or take action shots. Many said this wasn’t even considered photojournalism
because you had to take a still photo. Like the picture Professor Nordell posted,
taken by Roger Fenton, in 1855 had to be taken with the subject
staying still. The Speed graphic camera was a revolutionary device specifically for
photojournalists because now photojournalists
actually had a good portable camera so they could move around without an issue.
When taking my
digital photograph and comparing it with photographs taken with the speed
graphic camera, there are some very obvious differences. First off the speed
graphic camera only took black and white images, while cameras today can not
only take color photos, but they can take high definition colored photos, with
lots of graphic detail. Today’s cameras can takes pictures in all sorts of
different modes, and different colors like sepia, or darkened, lightened, or
pretty much anything you want. Also this camera didn’t make a great view camera
like the professional cameras made today, and still nothing in the camera was
automated. Everything had to be set by hand so the photographer had to know
what they were doing. This could take a lot of time and effort, especially if you were a photojournalist on the move because that meant you had to change these things every time you moved the camera, to different brightness, settings, everything. One photographer who got the concept down was Weegee Feelig, a great photographer who's philosophy was “f/8 and be there”, "so simple, yet so elegant. It’s a window into the mind of a great photojournalist, and it nearly gives away all of his secrets in just five syllables." He made f/8 his standard to go by to always get a good, high quality photo. Like this photo below taken by him using a speed graphic camera.
photo by: Weegee Feelig
image source: getty images
Today even the most unskilled photographer could
click one button on their digital camera and get a way better picture then they
did with the speed graphic. This is because the aperture, shutter speed, everything had to be set by hand to even get a picture you could see. Though this camera did
have some great aspects and additions, making it able to still create a cool
and interesting photo today, it isn’t nearly like the technology we have today.
Now with digital cameras, there is faster
shutter speeds, a lot less work behind taking the photo, and a better result. I
personally felt taking my photo on my cell phone with just the click of a
button and getting a clear, bright, detailed photo was a lot less work for a clearer
photo then what people had to go through with the speed graphic cameras. As you can see in my photo taken below, I just used my digital camera without really having to adjust anything and using auto focus I was able to get a clear colored photo of my dog Patty without many adjustments.
Photo by: Jessica Callahan
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