Types of view camera View camera

a sanderson hand camera dating circa 1899



monorail camera - common type of studio view camera, front , rear standards mounted single rail fixed camera support. design gives greatest range of movements , flexibility, both front , rear standards able tilt, shift, rise, fall, , swing in similar proportion. these made of metal leather or synthetic bellows, , difficult pack travel. sinar , toyo popular manufacturers of monorail view camera systems. arca-swiss produces monorail cameras field use in addition models more conventional studio applications. many manufacturers offer monorail extensions move front or rear standards farther away each other facilitate focusing on close objects (macrophotography).
field camera - these have front , rear standard mounted on sliding rails fixed hinged flat bed can attached camera support, such tripod. these cameras made of wood, or lightweight , strong composites such carbon fiber. bellows retracted, flat bed folds up, reducing camera relatively small, light, , portable box. trade off portability standards not mobile or adjustable on monorail design. rear standard in particular may fixed , offer no movement. these large format transportable cameras popular landscape photographers. tachihara , wisner examples of modern field cameras @ opposite ends of price scale.

extremely large field cameras use 11×14 film , larger, or panoramic film sizes such 4×10 or 8×20. these called banquet cameras, , once commonly used photograph large, posed groups of people mark occasions, such banquets or weddings.
studio , salon cameras similar field cameras, not fold portability.
before introduction of rollfilm, folding plate cameras limited movements described here used. example goerz taro-tenax 9x12cm.


press , technical cameras true view cameras, of them have ground glass integral film-holder mechanism allows critical focus , full use of limited movements. more expensive examples had wide array of movements, focusing , composing aids rangefinders , viewfinders. made of metal, designed fold portability, used press photographers before , during second world war. technical cameras have more adjustment capabilities, including ability tilt rear standard, , can either hand-held or attached tripod support.
a more modern development highly portable sinar artec view camera, doesn t fit within of above criteria. designed architectural photography. has novel ability take panoramic stitched images means of built-in step , repeat mechanism.

view cameras use large format sheet film—one sheet per photograph. standard sizes in inches are: 4×5, 5×7, 4×10, 5×12, 8×10, 11×14, 7×17, 8×20, 12×20, , 20×24. (it usual list short side first in americas, , long side in many other countries, 4×5 same 5×4). similar, not identical, range of metric sizes used in many countries; 9×12 cm similar to, not interchangeable with, 4×5 inches. used format 4×5, followed 8×10.

a few rollfilm cameras have movements make them versatile sheet film view camera. rollfilm , instant film backs available use in place of sheetfilm holder on single-film camera.