CHAPTER 4
STILL CAMERAS AND CONTROLS
Cameras have gone through many changes in
design over the years. Several of your chiefs and
division officers remember lugging around bulky,
cumbersome 4x5 Speed Graphic cameras with film
holders and tripods just to cover routine assignments.
Through the development of modern-day cameras and
film, small, hand-held cameras are commonly used. A
large variety of cameras are available in the imaging
facilities of the Navy. After learning the nature of your
assignment and the equipment available, you must
choose the equipment that will get the job done best,
whether it be a 4x5 view camera or a small, hand-held
electronic camera.
The human eye may be compared to a camera There
are several similarities. The eye is a physiological
optical instrument. The camera is a mechanical optical
instrument. The eye has a lens, and like the lens of a
camera, it forms an image on a light-sensitive surface
(fig. 4-1). The lens of the eye focuses light on the retina.
The camera lens focuses light on the film plane. The lens
of the eye focuses by changing its curvature, the camera
lens by changing its focal length. The diaphragm on a
camera is similar, like the iris of the eye. When the light
is bright, the iris closes down, reducing the brightness
of the image. Likewise, when the light is bright, the
camera diaphragm closes down When the light is dim,
the diaphragm opens up. The components of the eye are
held together by the sclera, the components of the
camera by the camera body.
A camera in its simplest form (fig. 4-2) is a lighttight
box with a lens to form an image, a shutter to control the
length of time light is allowed to act on the film, a
Figure 4-1.–Comparison of human eye to a camera.
Figure 4-2.–A simple camera.
4-1
