Editing Box camera

{{Short description|Cardboard or plastic box with a lens}}
[[Image:2023 Aparat skrzynkowy Voigtländer Box (1).jpg|thumb|A classic box camera.]]<!--what type-->
A '''box camera''' is a simple type of [[camera]], the most common form being a cardboard or plastic box with a [[Photographic lens|lens]] in one end and [[Photographic film|film]] at the other. They were sold in large numbers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The lenses are often single element designs [[Lens (optics)#Types of simple lenses|meniscus]] [[fixed focus lens]], or in better quality box cameras a doublet lens with minimal (if any) possible adjustments to the [[aperture]] or [[shutter speed]]s. Because of the inability to adjust focus, the small lens aperture and the low sensitivity of the sensitive materials available, these cameras work best in brightly lit day-lit scenes when the subject is within the [[hyperfocal distance]] for the lens and of subjects that move little during the exposure. Eventually, box cameras with [[photographic flash]], shutter and aperture adjustment were introduced, allowing indoor photos.

== Purpose ==
The [[Kodak]] camera introduced in 1888 was the first box camera to become widely adopted by the public and its design became the archetype for box camera designs introduced by many different manufacturers. The use of flexible [[roll film]] meant that the cameras were light and portable and could be used without the encumbrance of tripods and the attendant difficulty of using glass [[photographic plate]]s which were typical of professional cameras. Before the introduction of the Kodak, photographers were responsible for making their own arrangements for the [[Photographic processing|development]] and printing of their pictures. The first Kodak came pre-loaded with film and the customer returned the camera to Kodak for processing and to be reloaded with film for the customer. In 1900, a Yale plate box camera cost US$2 (about ${{Formatprice|{{Inflation|US|2|1900}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}}{{Inflation-fn|US|df=yes|r=0}} dollars). and a Kodak rollfilm box sold for US$1 (about ${{Formatprice|{{Inflation|US|1|1900}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}}{{Inflation-fn|US|df=yes|r=0}} dollars)

== Typical box cameras  ==
*The [[Kodak]] introduced in May 1888 first commercially successful box camera for [[roll film]]—the advertising slogan being ''You press the button – we do the rest''.
*The Kodak [[Brownie (camera)|Brownie]], a long lasting series of classical box cameras using [[roll film]].
*The [[Ansco Panda]] was designed to compete directly with the Brownies. It used 620 film.
*The Kodak [[Instamatic]] using [[126 film]], later [[110 film]].
*The modern [[disposable camera]] using [[135 film]].
*The [[Carl Zeiss AG|Zeiss Ikon]] Box-Tengor for [[roll film]].

== Other box cameras ==
Although many cameras of the mid nineteenth century were wooden and "boxy" in appearance with a brass fitted lens on the front they should not be confused with the mass-produced box cameras that exploded in popularity after the introduction of the first Kodak.

===Le Phoebus 1870===
The "Le Phoebus" camera was typical, it was built of mahogany wood with a brass mounted lens in a [[rack-and-pinion]] focuser to adjust the projected image sharply onto a ground glass at the back. Most cameras like this used glass plates. The lens did not come equipped with a shutter; instead, the lenscap was removed and replaced to control the exposure time.<ref>{{cite web|title="Le Phoebus" camera, Etienne Carjat et Cie, circa 1878-1885 |url=http://www.boxcameras.com/phoebus.html |website=BoxCameras.com |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100115065244/http://boxcameras.com/phoebus.html|archive-date=2010-01-15}}</ref>

===Pocket Kodak 1895–1896===
Pocket Kodaks were small ({{convert|2+3/16|x|3|x|4|in|disp=semicolon}}) and lightweight ({{convert|6|oz|disp=semicolon}}), and took roughly {{convert|2|in|adj=on}} exposures on 102 size rollfilm. This camera had a new feature, a small view box that told how many exposures of film were left. They were first available in 1895 with either black or red leather covering.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pocket Kodak|url=http://www.boxcameras.com/pocketkod.html |website=BoxCameras.com |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100317155421/http://www.boxcameras.com/pocketkod.html|archive-date=2010-03-17}}</ref>

===Crown Camera 1896===
Patent  GB189602965 was granted on February 10, 1896 to Thomas Peter Bethell of Crown Works, Boundary Place, Liverpool for a "simple construction of camera to be made of cardboard of metal, or a combination of both". The Crown Camera had a quarter-plate cardboard-body with two waist level finders, cardboard rubber-band powered shutter, four-position rotary stops marked 1 2 3 4, a single meniscus lens, removable ground glass screen, rear sliding sheath and leather carrying strap.<ref>{{cite web |title= GB189602965A An Improved Photographic Camera and Dark Slide |website=Espacenet – patent search |url=http://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?FT=D&date=18960801&DB=worldwide.espacenet.com&locale=en_EP&CC=GB&NR=189602965A&KC=A&ND=7.html}}</ref>

===le Papillon 1905–1908===
Meaning "the butterfly," le Papillon was a small French [[stereo camera]] which made {{cvt|45|x|107|mm|in|frac=16}} stereoscopic images on glass plates in single plateholders.<ref>{{cite web|title=le Papillon|url=http://www.boxcameras.com/lepapillon.html |website=BoxCameras.com |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090528085909/http://www.boxcameras.com/lepapillon.html|archive-date=2009-05-28}}</ref>

===No. 00 Cartridge Premo Camera, 1916–1922===
The No. 00 Cartridge Premo was Kodak's smallest box camera ever. It was only {{convert|2+1/2|in}} tall. It uses a simple rotary shutter with meniscus lens, and does not have a viewfinder. The photographer must use the [[leatherette]] covering to attempt to see the subject of the photograph.<ref>{{cite web|title= Eastman Kodak No. 00 Cartridge Premo Camera, 1916-1922 |website=BoxCameras.com |url=http://www.boxcameras.com/00cartpremo.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090613002309/http://www.boxcameras.com/00cartpremo.html|archive-date=2009-06-13}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[List of camera types]]
* [[Diana Mini Camera]]

== References ==
<references/>

== External links ==
*{{Commons category-inline|Box cameras}}
* [http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2009/09/out-and-about-with-a-bent-and-a-box.html A photo essay made with an Ansco box camera]
{{Photography}}

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[[Category:Cameras by type]]