technology of photography

equipment, techniques, and processes used in the production of photographs.

The most widely used photographic process is the black-and-white negative–positive system (Figure 1). In the
camera the lens projects an image of the scene being photographed onto a film coated with light-sensitive silver
salts, such as silver bromide. A shutter built into the lens admits light reflected from the scene for a given time to
produce
an invisible but developable image in the sensitized layer, thus exposing the film.

During development (in a darkroom) the silver salt crystals that have been struck by the light are converted into
metallic silver, forming a
visible deposit or density. The more light that reaches a given area of the film, the more
silver salt is rendered developable
and the denser the silver deposit that is formed there. An image of various
brightness levels thus yields a picture in which
these brightnesses are tonally reversed—a negative. Bright subject
details record as dark or dense areas in the developed film; dark parts of the subject record as areas of
low density;
i.e., they have little silver. After development the film is treated with a fixing bath that dissolves away all
undeveloped silver salt and so prevents subsequent darkening of such unexposed areas. Finally, a wash removes all
soluble
salts from the film emulsion, leaving a permanent negative silver image within the gelatin layer.

A positive picture is obtained by repeating this process. The usual procedure is enlargement: the negative is
projected onto a sensitive paper carrying a silver halide emulsion similar to that used for the film. Exposure
by the
enlarger light source again yields a latent image of the negative. After a development and processing sequence the
paper then bears
a positive silver image. In contact printing the negative film and the paper are placed face to face
in intimate contact and
exposed by diffused light shining through the negative. The dense (black) portions of the
negative image result in little
exposure of the paper and, so, yield light image areas; thin portions of the negative let
through more light and yield dark
areas in the print, thus re-creating the light values of the original scene.

Cameras and lenses

Basic camera functions

In its simplest form, the camera is a light-tight container carrying a lens, a shutter, a diaphragm, a device for
holding
(and changing) the film in the correct image plane, and a viewfinder to allow the camera to be aimed at the
desired scene.

The lens projects an inverted image of the scene in front of the camera onto the film in the image plane. The image
is sharp
only if the film is located at a specific distance behind the lens. This distance depends on the focal length of
the lens (see below Characteristics and parameters of lenses) and the distance of the object in front of the lens. To
photograph near and far subjects, all but the simplest cameras have
a focusing adjustment that alters the distance
between the lens and the film plane to make objects at the selected distance produce
a sharp image on the film. In
some cameras focusing adjustment is achieved by moving only the front element or internal elements
of the lens, in
effect modifying the focal length.

The shutter consists of a set of metallic leaves mounted in or behind the lens or a system of blinds positioned in
front of
the film. It can be made to open for a predetermined time to expose the film to the image formed by the
lens. The time of
this exposure is one of the two factors controlling the amount of light reaching the film. The other
factor is the lens diaphragm, or aperture,
an opening with an adjustable diameter. The combination of the
diaphragm opening and exposure time is the photographic exposure.
To obtain a film image that faithfully records
all the tone gradation of the object, this exposure must be matched to the
brightness (luminance) of the subject and
to the sensitivity or speed of the film. Light meters built into most modern cameras
measure the subject luminance
and set the shutter or the lens diaphragm to yield a correctly exposed image.

Principal camera types

The simplest camera type, much used by casual amateurs, has most of the features listed in the previous section—
lens, shutter,
viewfinder, and film-holding system. The light-tight container traditionally had a box shape. Present-
day equivalents are
pocket cameras taking easy-load film cartridges or film disks. Typically, a fixed shutter setting
gives about 1 50 -second exposure; the lens is permanently set to record sharply all objects more than about five
feet (1.5 metres) from the
camera. Provision for a flash may be built in. Though simple to handle, such cameras are
in daylight restricted to pictures
of stationary or slow-moving subjects.

The 35-mm miniature camera

Perforated 35-millimetre (mm) film (originally standard motion-picture film) in cartridges holding 12 to 36
exposures with
a nominal picture format of 24 × 36 mm is employed in miniature cameras. Smaller image formats
down to 18 × 24 mm (half frame)
may be used. The 35-mm camera has a lens with a range of apertures and a
shutter with exposure times typically from one second
to 1 1,000 second or shorter, and it can focus on subject
distances from infinity down to five feet or less. A winding lever or built-in
motor advances the film from one
frame to the next and at the same time tensions (cocks) the shutter for each exposure. At
the end of the film load
the film is rewound into the cartridge for removal from the camera in daylight.

A 35-mm camera usually has a direct-vision viewfinder, often combined with a rangefinder or autofocus system for
accurate
distance settings. Most current versions incorporate a light meter coupled with the exposure settings on the
camera. Advanced
models may have interchangeable lenses and an extended accessory system. Many 35-mm
cameras are single-lens reflex types (see
below).

The ultraminiature or subminiature

This camera takes narrow roll film (16-mm or 9.5-mm) in special cartridges or film disks. The picture size ranges
from 8 ×
10 mm to 13 × 17 mm. These formats are used for making millions of snapshooting pocket-size cameras;
special versions may
be as small as a matchbox for unobtrusive use.

The view, or technical, camera

For studio and commercial photography the view, or technical, camera takes single exposures on sheet films
(formerly plates) usually between 4 × 5 inches and 8 × 10 inches. A front standard carries interchangeable lenses
and shutters; a rear standard
takes a ground-glass screen (for viewing and focusing) and sheet-film holders. The
standards move independently on a rail or set of rails and are connected by bellows. Both standards can also be
displaced
laterally and vertically relative to each other’s centre and swung or tilted about horizontal and vertical
axes. These features
provide versatility in image control (sharpness distribution, subject distance, and perspective),
though not speed in use.
The view camera is nearly always mounted on a tripod.

The medium-size hand camera

This type of camera takes sheet film (typical formats of from 2 1 2 × 3 1 2 inches to 4 × 5 inches), roll film, or 70-
mm film in interchangeable magazines; it has interchangeable lenses and may have
a coupled rangefinder. Special
types use wide-angle lenses and wide picture formats (e.g., 2 1 4 × 4 1 2 to 2 1 4 × 6 3 4 inches [6 × 12 to 6 × 17
centimetres]). The medium-size hand camera was popular with press photographers in the first half
of the 20th
century. Older versions had folding bellows and a lens standard on an extendable baseboard or strut system.
Modern
modular designs have a rigid body with interchangeable front and rear units.

The folding roll-film camera

The folding roll-film camera, now rare, resembles the 35-mm miniature camera in shutter and viewfinder
equipment but has bellows
and folds up to pocketable size when not in use. Generally it takes roll films holding
eight to 16 exposures; typical picture
sizes are 2 1 4 × 2 1 4 , 2 1 4 × 3 1 4 , or 1 3 4 × 2 1 4 inches. Some 35-mm
cameras were also produced with bellows.

The single-lens reflex

The ground-glass screen at the back of the studio, or view, camera slows down picture taking because the screen
must be replaced
by the film for an exposure. The single-lens reflex camera (Figure 2) has a screen, but the film
remains constantly in position. A 45° mirror reflects the image-forming rays from the lens onto
a screen in the
camera top. The mirror moves out of the way during the exposure and back again afterward for viewing and
focusing
the next picture. The image on the screen therefore temporarily disappears from view during the exposure.
Present-day single-lens
reflexes are either 35-mm cameras or advanced roll-film models. Most 35-mm reflexes
have optical prism systems for eye-level
screen viewing, built-in light-meter and electronic exposure-control
systems, interchangeable lenses, and numerous other refinements.
Often the camera is part of an extensive
accessory system. Advanced roll-film reflexes are even more modular, with interchangeable
viewfinders, focusing
screens, and lenses.

The twin-lens reflex

The twin-lens reflex is a comparatively bulky dual camera (Figure 3) with a fixed-mirror reflex housing and top
screen mounted above a roll-film box camera. Its two lenses focus in unison so
that the top screen shows the image
sharpness and framing as recorded on the film in the lower section. The viewing image remains visible all the time,
but the viewpoint
difference (parallax) of the two lenses means that the framing on the top screen is not exactly
identical with that on the
film.

Shutter and diaphragm systems

Principal present-day shutters are the leaf shutter and the focal-plane shutter.

The leaf shutter

The leaf, or diaphragm, shutter consists of a series of blades or leaves fitted inside or just behind the lens. The
shutter
opens by swinging the leaves simultaneously outward to uncover the lens opening. The leaves stay open for
a fixed time—the
exposure time—and then close again. A combination of electromagnets or electromagnets and
springs drives the mechanism, while
an electronic circuit—often coupled with a light metering system—or an
adjustable escapement in mechanical shutters controls
the open time. This is typically between one second and 1
500 second.

Focal-plane shutter

The focal-plane shutter consists of two light-tight fabric blinds or a combination of metal blinds moving in
succession across
the film immediately in front of the image plane. The first blind uncovers the film and the second
blind covers it up again,
the two blinds forming a traveling slit the width of which determines the exposure time:
the narrower the slit, the shorter
the time. The actual travel time is fairly constant for all exposure times. A
mechanism or electromagnet and control circuit
triggers the release of the second blind. Focal-plane shutters are
usually adjustable for exposure times between one second
(or longer) and 1 1,000 to 1 4,000 second.

Diaphragm and shutter settings

In the lens diaphragm a series of leaves increases or decreases the opening to control the light passing through the
lens
to the film. The diaphragm control ring carries a scale of so-called f-numbers, or stop numbers, in a series:
such as 1.4, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22, and 32. The squares of the f-numbers are inversely proportional to the
amount of light admitted. In the above international standard series, each setting
admits twice as much light as the
next higher f-number, or stop (giving twice as much exposure).

Shutter settings on present-day cameras also follow a standard double-or-half sequence—e.g., 1, 1 2 , 1 4 , 1 8 , 1

15 , 1 30 , 1 60 , 1 125 , 1 250 , 1 500 , 1 1,000 second, and so forth. The shorter the exposure time, the “faster” the
shutter speed.

Exposure values

An attempt to simplify the mathematics of f-number and shutter speed-control functions led to the formulation of
exposure values (EV). These run in a simple whole-number
series, each step (EV interval) doubling or halving the
effective exposure. The lower the EV number, the greater the exposure.
Thus, EV 10 gives twice as much exposure
as EV 11 or half as much as EV 9. Each EV value covers a range of aperture/speed
combinations of the same
equivalent exposure; for instance, f/2.8 with 1 250 second, f/4 with 1 125 second, and f/5.6 with 1 60 second. For a
time some cameras carried an EV scale and coupled the aperture and speed settings; at a given EV setting in
such
cameras selecting various speeds automatically adjusted the aperture to compensate and vice versa. Exposure-value
setting
scales became obsolete with exposure automation, but the notation remains in use to indicate either
exposure levels or—at
specified film speeds—lighting levels requiring a given exposure.

Automatic-diaphragm systems
On a camera with a viewing screen (view camera or single-lens reflex) viewing and focusing are carried out with
the lens diaphragm
fully open, but the exposure is often made at a smaller aperture. Reflex cameras (and
increasingly also view cameras) therefore
incorporate a mechanism that automatically or semiautomatically stops
down (reduces) the lens to the working aperture immediately
before the exposure.

Methods of focusing and framing

The ground-glass (now mostly grained plastic) screen is the most direct way of viewing the image for framing and
for sharpness control. The
screen localizes the image plane for observation. The image is also visible without a
screen, but then the eye can locate
the image plane of maximum sharpness only with a precisely focused high-
power magnifier. This aerial focusing method avoids
interference of the ground-glass structure with sharpness
assessment.

Focusing aids

The eye is not good at recognizing slight unsharpness, so focusing screens (especially in reflex cameras) often
incorporate
focusing aids such as a split-image wedge alone or with a microprism area, in the screen centre. The
split-image wedge consists of a pair of prism wedges that split an out-of-focus image into two
sharp halves
laterally displaced relative to one another. When the lens is correctly focused the image becomes continuous
across
the wedge area—a point that the eye can assess more precisely. The microprism area contains several hundred or
thousand
minute wedges that give a blurred image very ragged outlines and a broken-up texture; these clear
abruptly as the image becomes
sharp.

The focusing screen is often overlaid by a pattern of fine concentric lens sections. Called a Fresnel screen, it
redirects the light from the screen corners toward the observer’s eye and makes the image evenly bright.

Cameras without a screen generally are equipped with a distance scale, the lens being set to the estimated object
distance.
More advanced cameras have an optical rangefinder as a distance-measuring aid; it consists of a
viewfinder (see below) and a swinging mirror a few inches to one side of the
viewfinder axis. As the eye views an
image of the object, the mirror superimposes a second image from a second viewpoint.
On turning the mirror
through the correct angle, which depends on the object distance, the two images are made to coincide.
The mirror
movement can be linked with a distance scale, or coupled with the lens focusing adjustment. When the lens is
incorrectly
focused, the rangefinder shows a double or split image. In place of a rotating mirror, the rangefinder
may use swinging or
rotating optical wedges (prisms).

Autofocus systems

Some cameras evaluate the coincidence (or lack thereof) between two rangefinder images by image analysis with a
microchip
system. This signals electronically when the lens is set to the correct distance and often carries out the
distance setting
by a servomotor built into the camera. Such focusing automation makes the camera even simpler to
use. Alternative automatic ranging systems used in amateur cameras depend on triangulation
with infrared rays or
pulses sent out by a small light-emitting diode (LED), or on measurement of the time an ultrasonic signal takes to
be reflected back from the subject (sonar).

While these devices measure distance automatically, single-lens reflex cameras may incorporate electronic image-
analysis systems
to measure sharpness. The signal output of such systems actuates red or green LEDs in the camera
finder system to show whether
the image is sharp or not. The same signal can control a servomotor in the lens for
fully automatic focusing. These devices
are limited at low lighting and contrast levels—where the human eye also
finds sharpness assessment difficult.

Viewfinders
The sighting devices in cameras lacking screens are called viewfinders; they show how much of the scene will
appear on the
film. The simplest viewfinder is a wire frame above the camera front, with a second frame near the
back to aid the eye in
correct centring. Most present-day finders are built into the camera and are compact lens
systems. Bright-frame finders show
a white frame reflected into the view to outline the field recorded on the film.
An alternative form is the reflecting viewfinder
in which the photographer looks down into a field lens on top of the
camera. The upper section of a twin-lens reflex camera
is such a reflecting finder.

As the viewfinder axis in a camera other than a single-lens reflex does not usually coincide with the lens axis, the
finder’s
and the lens’s views do not exactly match. This parallax error is insignificant with distant subjects; with
near ones it is responsible for the familiar fault of a portrait shot
of a head that appears partly cut off in the picture
even though it was fully visible in the finder. Camera viewfinders may
have parallax-compensating devices.

The optical finder gives a direct upright and right-reading view of the subject with the camera held at eye level. The
traditional
reflex camera, held at waist level, showed a laterally reversed view. Modern reflexes have a pentaprism
arrangement that permits
upright, right-reading, eye-level viewing by redirecting the image from the horizontal
screen on top of the camera.

Exposure-metering systems
Exposure meters, or light meters, measure the light in a scene to establish optimum camera settings for correct
exposures. A light-sensitive
cell generates or controls an electric current according to the amount of light reaching
the cell. The current may energize a
microammeter or circuit controlling LEDs to indicate exposure settings. In
most modern cameras the current or signal acts
on a microprocessor or other circuit that directly sets the shutter
speed or lens aperture. The cell usually is a silicon or other photodiode generating a current that is then amplified.
In older cadmium sulfide cells the light falling on the
cell changed the latter’s resistance to a current passing
through it. Selenium cells, still used in some cameras, also generate a current but are larger and less sensitive.

Single-lens reflex cameras have one or more photocells fitted in the pentaprism housing to measure the brightness
of the screen
image. The exposure reading depends on the light coming through the lens (TTL metering) and so
allows for the lens’s angle of view, close-up exposure corrections, stray light, and other factors. Some TTL systems
divert the light from the lens to a photocell before it reaches the screen (e.g., by beam-splitting arrangements or the
use
of photocells behind a partly reflecting mirror), or they measure the light reflected from the film or from a
specially structured
first shutter blind at the beginning of, or during, the exposure. Such off-the-film (OTF)
measurement is also used for electronic flash control (see below).

View cameras may use a photocell on a probe that can be moved to any point just in front of the focusing screen,
thus measuring
image brightness at selected points of the image plane. This takes place before the exposure, and
the probe is then moved
out of the way. Professional photographers also use hand-held separate exposure meters
and transfer the readings manually
to the camera.

Flash systems
Flash is a widely used artificial light source for photography, providing a reproducible light of high intensity and
short duration. It can be synchronized with
an instantaneous exposure. Being battery powered, small flash units are
self-contained.

Electronic flash

The most common flash system depends on a high-voltage discharge through a gas-filled tube. A capacitor charged
to several
hundred volts (by a step-up circuit from low-voltage batteries or from the line voltage supply) provides
the discharge energy.
A low-voltage circuit generating a high-voltage pulse triggers the flash, which lasts typically
1 1,000 second or less. Small electronic flash units may be built into or clipped onto the camera. Larger units are
attached with
brackets. Large professional units with floodlight and spotlight fittings are used in studio
photography. Even small flashes
often have adjustable reflectors, for example, to illuminate an indoor subject by
the flash reflected from the ceiling or
walls.

Automatic and dedicated flash

Electronic flash units often incorporate a fast-responding photodiode that cumulatively measures the light reflected
from
the subject and switches off the flash when that light has reached a preselected amount (computer flash). This
flash-duration
control thus adjusts the flash exposure automatically as long as the subject is within a certain
distance range (typically
from two to 20 feet). At lower power or near subject distances the duration of a computer
flash may drop to 1 50,000 second.

With certain camera–flash combinations OTF metering inside the camera can control the flash duration by suitable
contacts
made when the flash is attached to the camera. These “dedicated” flashes (so named because their control
circuitry has to
match that of specific cameras) may also signal in the camera finder when the flash is ready to
operate and to set the camera
automatically to its synchronizing shutter speed (see below).

Flashbulbs
An older type of flash is an oxygen-filled glass envelope containing a specific amount of aluminum or zirconium
wire and means
for igniting the wire in the bulb. The wire burns away with a brilliant flash lasting typically about 1
100 to 1 50 second. Each flashbulb can, however, yield only one flash. Current flashbulb systems use four to 10
tiny bulbs, each in its
own reflector, arranged in cube or bar carriers that plug into cameras designed for them. The
individual flashes are fired
in turn by a battery and circuit in the camera through mechanically generated current
pulses or other means. In view of the
greater convenience of electronic flash, flashbulbs in their various forms are
largely obsolescent.

Firing and synchronization

Flash units are usually fired with a switch in the camera shutter to synchronize the flash with the shutter opening. A
contact
in the camera’s flash shoe (hot shoe) or a flash lead connects the unit with this shutter switch. The shutter
contact usually
closes the instant the shutter is opened. A focal plane shutter must fully uncover the film (generally
at a shutter speed
of 1 60 second or slower) for flash synchronization. With flashbulbs the shutter must also stay
open while the flash reaches its
peak brightness—about 1 50 second.

System cameras
From the development of the 35-mm miniature camera in the 1930s evolved the concept of the system camera that
could be adapted
to numerous jobs with a range of interchangeable components and specialized accessories. Today,
most moderately advanced 35-mm
miniatures take interchangeable lenses, close-up and photomicrographic
attachments, filters, flash units, and other accessories.
The most elaborate camera systems also include such
accessories as alternative finder systems; interchangeable reflex screens,
film backs, and magazines; and remote-
control and motor-drive systems. Modular professional roll-film and view cameras are
built up from a selection of
alternative camera bodies, film backs, bellows units, lenses, and shutters. This is the nearest
approach to the
universal camera, assembled as required to deal with practically every type of photography.

Characteristics and parameters of lenses

The lens forming an image in the camera is a converging lens, the simplest form of which is a single biconvex
(lentil-shaped)
element. In theory such a lens makes a light beam of parallel rays converge to a point (the focus)
behind the lens. The distance
of this focus from the lens itself is the focal length, which depends on the curvature of
the lens surfaces and the optical properties of the lens glass. An object at a very long distance (optically regarded as
at “infinity”) in front of the lens forms an inverted image in
a plane (the focal plane) going through the focus. Light
rays from nearer objects form an image in a plane behind the focal
plane. The nearer the object, the farther behind
the lens the corresponding image plane is located—which is why a lens has
to be focused to get sharp images of
objects at different distances.

Focal length and image scale

The image scale, or scale of reproduction, is the ratio of the image size to the object size; it is often quoted as a
magnification.
When the image is smaller than the object, the magnification of the object is less than 1.0. If the
image is 1 20 the size of the object, for example, the magnification may be expressed either as 0.05 or as 1:20. For
an object at a given
distance, the scale of the image depends on the focal length of the lens (Figure 4). A normal
camera lens usually has a focal length approximately equal to the diagonal of the picture format covered. A lens
of
longer focal length gives a larger scale image but necessarily covers less of the scene in front of the camera.
Conversely,
a lens of shorter focal length yields an image on a smaller scale but—provided the angle of coverage is
sufficient (see below)—takes
in more of the scene. Many cameras, therefore, can be fitted with interchangeable
lenses of different focal lengths to allow
varying the image scale and field covered. The focal length of a lens in
millimetres (sometimes in inches) is generally engraved
on the lens mount.

Aperture
The aperture, or f-number, is the ratio of the focal length to the diameter of an incident light beam as it reaches the
lens. For instance,
if the focal length is 50 millimetres and the diameter of the incident light beam is 25 millimetres,
the f-number is 2. This incident-beam diameter is often roughly the lens-diaphragm diameter, but it may be
appreciably larger or
smaller. The maximum aperture (f-number at the largest diaphragm opening) is also marked
on the lens, usually in the form f:2, f/2, or 1:2.

Angle of coverage

A lens must cover the area of a camera’s film format to yield an image adequately sharp and with reasonably even
brightness
from the centre to the corners of the film. A normal lens should cover an angle of at least 60°. A wide-
angle lens covers
a greater angle—about 70° to 90° or more for an ultrawide-angle lens. A long-focus lens covers a
smaller angle.

The angle of coverage depends on the lens design. Designations like “wide angle” or “narrow angle” are not
necessarily synonymous
with “short focus” and “long focus,” as the latter terms refer to the focal length of the lens
relative to the picture format.

Optical performance
A simple lens produces a very imperfect image, which is usually blurred away from the centre. The image may
have colour fringes
around object outlines, and straight lines may be distorted. Such defects, called aberrations, can
be eliminated—and even then not completely—only by replacing the single lens element by a group of elements of
appropriate
shape and separation. Aberrations arising from some of the lens elements then counteract opposite
aberrations produced by
other elements. The larger the maximum aperture, the greater the angle of coverage, and
the higher the degree of correction
aimed at, the more complex camera lenses become. Lens design for relative
freedom from aberrations involves advanced computer
programming to calculate the geometric parameters of
every lens element. Some aberrations can also be corrected by making
one or more of the surfaces of a lens system
aspheric; i.e., with the variable curvature of a paraboloid or other surface rather than the constant curvature of a
spherical one.

Lenses usually consist of optical glass. Transparent plastics also have come into use, especially as they can be
molded into
elements with aspheric surfaces. They are, however, more sensitive to mechanical damage.

Aberrations

There are a number of lens aberrations, each with its own characteristics. Chromatic aberration is present when the
lens forms imagesby different-coloured light in different planes and at different scales. Colour-corrected
lenses
largely eliminate these faults. Spherical aberration is present when the outer parts of a lens do not bring light rays
into the same focus as the central part. Images formed
by the lens at large apertures are therefore unsharp but get
sharper at smaller apertures. Curvature of field is present when the sharpest image is formed not on a flat plane but
on a curved surface. Astigmatism occurs when the lens fails to focus image lines running in different directions in
the same plane; in a picture of a rail
fence, for instance, the vertical posts are sharp at a focus setting different from
the horizontal rails. Another aberration,
called coma, makes image points near the edges of the film appear as
irregular, unsharp shapes. Distortion is present when straight lines running parallel with the picture edges appear to
bow outward (barrel distortion) or inward
(pincushion distortion).

Resolving power and contrast-transfer function

One way of testing lens performance is to observe the image it forms of patterns of increasingly closely spaced
black lines
separated by white spaces of line width. The closest spacing still recognizable in the image gives a
resolving power value,
expressed in line pairs (i.e., black line plus white space) per millimetre. Photographs of
such line patterns, or test targets,
show the resolving power of the lens and film combination. For example, a
resolution of 80–100 line pairs per millimetre on
a fine-grain film represents very good performance for a normal
miniature camera lens.

The visual sharpness of an image depends also on its contrast. Opticians, therefore, often plot the contrast with
which the image is reproduced against the line spacing of that image.
The resulting contrast-transfer curve, or
function, gives a more reliable indication of the lens performance under practical
picture-taking conditions.

Special lens types

Apart from general-purpose camera lenses of various focal lengths, there are lenses of special characteristics or
design.

Telephoto lenses
Long-focus lenses are bulky, because they comprise not only the lens itself but also a mount or tube to hold it at the
appropriate
focal distance from the film. Telephoto lenses are more compact; their combinations of lens groups
make the back focus (the
distance from the rear lens element to the film) as well as the length of the whole lens
appreciably shorter than the focal
length. Strictly, the term telephoto applies only to a lens of this optically reduced
length; in practice long-focus lenses
of all types tend to be called indiscriminately telephoto or “tele” lenses.

If a camera lens is interchangeable, an accessory teleconverter lens group can be positioned between the prime lens
and the camera. This turns a normal lens into an even more compact telephoto
system, which is less costly than a
telephoto lens but which reduces the speed of the prime lens and usually impairs sharpness
performance.

Wide-angle and retrofocus lenses

Short-focus, wide-angle lenses are usually mounted near the film. Single-lens reflex cameras need a certain
minimum lens-to-film distance to accommodate
the swinging mirror. Wide-angle (and sometimes normal-focus)
lenses for such cameras therefore use retrofocus designs. In
these the back focus is appreciably longer than the
focal length. Both a telephoto and a retrofocus lens must be specially
designed for its particular use to ensure
optimum image performance.

Fish-eye lenses

For image angles greater than 110°, it becomes difficult to bring the lens close enough to the film to allow the rays
between
the lens and film to diverge sufficiently. The fish-eye lens overcomes this difficulty by making the rays
diverge less behind
the lens than they do in front. The resulting image shows appreciable distortion, with image
details near the edges and corners
progressively compressed. Fish-eye lenses usually cover angles between 140°
and 210° and are used for unusual wide-angle effects
where the distortion becomes a deliberate pictorial element.
They also have certain scientific applications, for instance,
to cover a horizon-to-horizon view of the sky in
recording cloud formations.

Mirror lenses

Images can also be formed by light reflected from curved mirrors. This method, long used in astronomical
telescopes, is applied
to long-focus lens systems of short overall length by folding the light path back onto itself. A
mirror lens or catadioptric
system has no chromatic aberrations. Other aberrations are corrected by incorporating
one or more appropriate lens elements.
The arrangement of the system, with a central opening in the primary
mirror, makes stopping down with a customary diaphragm
difficult, and neutral-density filters are used to control
light transmission.

Variable-focus lenses
In variable-focus lenses the focal length can be varied by movement of some of the elements or groups within the
lens system.
One lens can thus replace a range of interchangeable lenses.

The variable-focus, or zoom, lens was originally developed for motion-picture photography, in which adjustment of
the focal
length during a shot produced a zooming-in or zooming-out effect (hence the name). It is now widely
used in single-lens reflex
cameras where the reflex finder permits accurate continuous assessment of image
coverage. In a true zoom lens the image changes
in scale but not in sharpness during zooming; some varifocal
lenses, however, need refocusing at different focal lengths.
Due to correction requirements over a range of focal
lengths, zoom lenses are complex systems containing from 12 to 20 elements.
Zoom lenses for still cameras have
focal-length ratios from 2:1 to 4:1 or more (e.g., 35–135 mm for a 35-mm reflex).

Lens-changing systems
Miniature and roll-film cameras hold interchangeable lenses in screw or quick-change bayonet mounts. In a focal-
plane shutter
camera the usable range of focal lengths is practically unlimited. In cameras with leaf shutters, either
the lens is mounted
in front of the shutter or the lens is changed with the shutter. Some designs use convertible
lenses with the rear components
built into the camera together with the shutter; interchangeable front groups then
provide different focal lengths in combination
with the fixed rear group. View-camera lenses—usually with their
own shutters—are mounted on lens boards that clip into and
out of the front camera standard.

Afocal attachments provide the effect of alternative focal lengths with a fixed camera lens. They are magnifying or
reducing
telescopes without a focal length (hence afocal), yielding a virtual image that the camera lens projects
onto the film. Their
designated magnification factor indicates the effect on the image scale; e.g., a 1.5× tele
attachment magnifies the image
on the film 1 1 2 times, while a 0.7× wide-angle attachment reduces the image
scale to 0.7 times that of the prime camera lens.

Lens coating
When light passes from one optical medium to another (especially from air to glass and vice versa in a lens), about
4 to 8
percent of it is lost by reflection at the interface. This light loss builds up appreciably in complex
multielement lenses.
Some of the reflected light still reaches the film as ghost images or light spots or as general
contrast-reducing scattered
light.

To reduce such losses, the air-to-glass surfaces of modern lenses typically carry a microscopically thin coating of
metallic
fluorides. The coating eliminates most reflected rays. Complete elimination can occur only for light of one
wavelength if
the coating thickness and refractive index are exactly right. In practice a coated lens surface reflects
about 0.5 percent
of incident white light— 1 10 of the light lost by an uncoated lens. Multiple coatings can reduce
reflections over a wider wavelength range.

Black-and-white films
The latent image
The sensitive surface of ordinary film is a layer of gelatin carrying minute suspended silver halide crystals or grains
(the emulsion)—typically silver bromide with some silver iodide. Exposure to light in a camera produces an
invisible change yielding a latent image, distinguishable from unexposed silver halide only by its ability to be
reduced to metallic silver by certain developing
agents.

Current theories postulate that silver halide crystals carry minute specks of metallic silver—so-called sensitivity
specks—which
amount in mass to about 1 100,000,000 part of the silver halide crystal. A silver halide is a
compound of silver with fluorine, chlorine, bromine, or iodine, but
only the last three are light-sensitive. When
light action releases electrons from the silver halide crystal, they migrate
to the sensitivity specks. The resulting
electric charge on the specks attracts silver ions from the neighbouring silver halide;
and as the silver ions
accumulate, they become metallic silver, causing the speck to grow. Halogen (e.g., bromine) atoms at
the same
time migrate to the surface of the silver halide crystal and are there absorbed by the gelatin of the emulsion. When
the sensitivity speck is large enough, it provides a point of attack for the developer, which can then reduce the
whole silver
halide crystal to silver. Developers are selective organic reducing agents that attack only silver halide
crystals that have
sufficiently large sensitivity specks. The halide grains carrying a developable sensitivity speck
make up the latent image.

Sensitometry and speed

The sensitivity or speed of a film determines how much light it needs to produce a given amount of silver on
development. Sensitometry is the science of measuring
this sensitivity, which is determined by giving the material
a series of graduated exposures in an appropriate instrument
(the sensitometer). After development under specified
conditions, the density of the silver deposit produced by each exposure
is measured and the densities are plotted on
a graph against the logarithm of the exposure. The resulting characteristic curve,
or D/log E curve (see below
Contrast), shows how the film reacts to exposure changes. A specified point on the curve also serves as a criterion
for calculating
film speed by methods laid down in various national and international standards.

The internationally adopted scale is ISO speed, written, for example, 200/24°. The first half of this (200) is
arithmetic with the value directly proportional to
the sensitivity (and also identical with the still widely used ASA
speed). The second half (24°) is logarithmic, increasing by 3° for every doubling of the speed (and matching the
DIN speeds still used in parts of Europe). A film of 200/24° ISO is twice as fast (and for a given subject requires
half as much
exposure) as a film of 100/21° ISO, or half as fast as a film of 400/27° ISO.

All-around films for outdoor and some indoor photography have speeds between 80/20° and 200/24° ISO; fine-
grain films for
maximum image definition between 25/15° and 64/19° ISO; and high-speed and ultraspeed films for
poor light from 400/27° ISO
up.

Colour sensitivity
Initially, the silver halide emulsion is sensitive to ultraviolet radiation and to violet and blue light. Most films
contain
sensitizing dyes to extend their colour sensitivity through the whole visible spectrum. Such films, called
panchromatic films, were introduced in 1904. They record subject colour values as gray tones largely
corresponding to the visual brightness
of the colours.

Non-colour-sensitized or blue-sensitive emulsions (without sensitizing dyes) are used for copying monochrome
originals and
similar applications needing no extended colour sensitivity. At one time orthochromatic films—
sensitive to violet, blue, green, and yellow but not to red—were also used for general photography; now they are
employed
mainly for photographing of phosphor screens, such as cathode-ray tubes, and for other purposes
requiring green but not red
sensitivity.

Infrared films, developed in 1919, are sensitized to invisible infrared wavelengths. They are used in aerial
photography to
cut through atmospheric haze (which scatters blue light but not infrared rays) and for special
purposes in scientific and
forensic photography.

Filters
Filters can modify the way in which a film records colours as monochrome tone values. They are disks of coloured
glass or
gelatin with controlled transmission characteristics. Placed in front of the camera lens, they preferentially
transmit light
of their own colour and hold back light of other colours. A yellow or yellow-green filter is often used
in landscape photography
to prevent overexposure of the blue sky and to bring out detail in cloud formations.
Orange and red filters make the sky still
darker and cut through haze by absorbing scattered blue light.

Contrast filters differentiate between the gray values of objects of different colour but of similar brightness. For
instance,
a red flower and green foliage record in similar shades of mid-gray. A red filter holds back green light to
darken the green
foliage, making the flower lighter; a green filter absorbs red light, thus darkening the flower. Such
deliberate tone distortion
is widely used in photomicrography and other fields.

Other filter types used in photography include ultraviolet, infrared, and polarizing filters. Ultraviolet-absorbing
filters screen out ultraviolet rays at high altitudes (e.g., in
mountain photography). Because camera lenses are not
normally corrected for such rays, the rays can reduce image sharpness,
even though the lenses allow only a small
amount of ultraviolet to be transmitted. Infrared filters are used with infrared
film to hold back visible light.
Polarizing filters polarize light and can absorb polarized light if suitably oriented. Light
reflected at certain angles
from shiny surfaces of nonmetallic media (glass, water, varnish) is polarized; a properly oriented
polarizing filter
subdues such reflections in a picture.

Because a filter screens out part of the light, its use calls for extra exposure, the amount of which is indicated by a
filter
factor—e.g., 2×, which means the exposure time must be multiplied by 2. For cameras with an exposure-
value scale, a filter
may specify an exposure value reduction (such as -1 or -1 1 2 ; i.e., the indicated exposure value
must be reduced by this amount). The factor of a given filter depends on the spectral
sensitivity of the film, the
colour quality of the lighting, the type of subject, the effect aimed at, and other exposure
conditions.

Other film characteristics

Of practical interest to the photographer are the graininess, resolving power, and contrast of a film. Although they
are characteristics
of the film itself, they are influenced by the conditions of development (see below Black-and-
white processing and printing).

Grain
The image derived from minute silver halide crystals is discontinuous in structure. This gives an appearance of
graininess
in big enlargements. The effect is most prominent with fast films, which have comparatively large silver
halide crystals.

Resolving power and acutance

The fineness of detail that a film can resolve depends not only on its graininess but also on the light scatter or
irradiation
within the emulsion (which tends to spread image details) and on the contrast with which the film
reproduces fine detail.
These effects can be measured physically to give an acutance value, which is preferred to
resolving power as a criterion of a film’s sharpness performance. Fine-grain films with thin
emulsions yield the
highest acutance.

Contrast

High-contrast films reproduce tone differences in the subject as great density differences in the image; low-contrast
films
translate tone differences into small density differences. The characteristic curve of a film obtained by
plotting the density
against the logarithm of the exposure (mentioned earlier under Sensitometry and speed) can be
used to express a film’s contrast (see Figure 5). The slope of the straight-line section of the curve (sometimes called
the gamma, actually the tangent of the angle α) indicates contrast: the steeper the slope, the higher the contrast
rendering. General-purpose films yield medium contrast
(gamma 0.7 to 1). High-contrast films (gamma 1.5 to 10)
are used for copying line originals and other specialized purposes;
low-contrast films for continuous-tone
reproduction. Gamma is also used to indicate degree of development, since increased
development generally
results in a higher gamma.

Film structure and forms

Film consists of a number of layers and components: (1) A supercoat of gelatin, a few micrometres (one
micrometre is 0.001 millimetre) thick, protects the emulsion from scratches and abrasion marks. (Pressure
and
rubbing can produce developable silver densities.) (2) The emulsion layer (silver halide suspended in gelatin) is
usually
nine to 12 micrometres (up to 1 2,000 inch) thick but may sometimes reach 25 micrometres. (3) A substrate
or subbing layer promotes adhesion of the emulsion to
the film base. (4) The film base, or support, is usually
cellulose triacetate or a related polymer. The thickness may range
from 0.08 to 0.2 millimetre (0.003 to 0.008 inch).
Films for graphic arts and scientific purposes are often coated on a polyethylene
terephthalate or other polyester
support of high dimensional stability. Glass plates—once the most common support for negative materials—are
now used only
for applications requiring extreme emulsion flatness. (5) A backing layer on the rear of the film base
counteracts curling.
Usually it contains also a nearly opaque dye to suppress light reflection on the rear support
surface. Such reflection (halation)
reduces definition by causing halolike effects around very bright image points.
Some film bases (especially in 35-mm films)
are tinted gray to absorb light that has passed through the emulsion
layer.
Sheet film

View and studio cameras generally take sheet film—single sheets (typical sizes range between 2 1 2 × 3 1 2 and 8 ×
10 inches) loaded in the darkroom into light-tight film holders for subsequent insertion in the camera.

Roll film

The term roll film is usually reserved for film wound up on a spool with an interleaving light-tight backing paper to
protect
the wound-up film. The spool is loaded into the camera in daylight, the backing paper leader threaded to a
second spool, and
the film wound from picture to picture once the camera is closed. This is the classical roll film of
roll-film cameras. Common
current film widths are 62 mm and 45 mm. The rear of the backing paper carries sets of
consecutive numbers spaced at frame
intervals for different image formats. In some roll-film cameras these
numbers are visible through a viewing window in the
camera and show how far the film must be wound to advance
it from one picture to the next. Instant-loading cartridges also
use paper-backed roll film.

Perforated film

Some film is perforated along its edges and rolled up on its own inside a light-tight cartridge, which can be loaded
into
the camera in daylight. Once the camera is closed, a transport sprocket engaging the edge perforations draws
the film from
the cartridge onto a spool and advances it from picture to picture. The most common film width is 35
mm (for 35-mm miniature
cameras), and its cartridge typically holds enough film for up to 36 (sometimes 72)
exposures. A 70-mm film for larger cameras
and 16-mm strips for ultraminiatures are packed and used in a similar
way.

In March 1983 the Eastman Kodak Company announced the development of a new coding system for 35-mm film
and cartridges. The
DX film system employs optical, electrical, and mechanical encoding to transmit to
appropriately equipped cameras such information as film
type, film speed, and number of exposures. The system
also supplies data that enable automatic photofinishing equipment to
identify and sort film quickly, simplifying
processing and printing. In the interest of uniformity, Kodak freely offered the
DX system to all film and camera
manufacturers, and within two years it was generally adopted.

Disk film

Some compact mass-market cameras take circular disks of film, 65 millimetres in diameter, in light-tight cartridges
and coated
on a 0.18-mm polyester base. In the camera the disk rotates as up to 15 exposures (frame size 8 × 10
millimetres) are recorded
around the disk circumference. The disk lies flatter in the camera than rolled-up film and
is suitable for more automated
photofinishing; the high printing magnification required, however, limits the image
quality.

Picture-taking technique
The main areas of practical camera handling in photography concern sharpness control, exposure, and lighting.

Sharpness control
The image on the film is sharpest when the lens is focused to the exact object distance. Usually, however, a scene
includes
objects at varying distances from the camera. Various factors affect the sharpness distribution in a picture
of such a scene.

Depth of field

The sharpness in the image of objects in front of and behind the focused distance falls off gradually. Within a
certain range
of object distances this sharpness loss is still comparatively unnoticeable. This range is the depth of
field and depends
on: (1) the amount of sharpness loss regarded as acceptable: miniature negatives requiring big
enlargement must be sharper
than larger format negatives, which are enlarged less; (2) the lens aperture used:
stopping down the lens (higher f-numbers) increases the depth of field; (3) the object distance: the depth of field is
smaller for near objects than for more
distant ones; and (4) the focal length of the lens: depth of field is reduced
with longer focus lenses (and with larger picture
formats requiring lenses of longer focal length), and the depth
increases with shorter focus lenses. A depth of field indicator,
often included on the focusing mounts of lenses,
shows on the distance scale how far in front of and behind the focused distance
objects will be in focus at different
diaphragm openings.

Subject and camera movement

Movement of the subject while the camera shutter is open for the exposure leads to a blurred image. The exposure
time must
therefore be short enough to keep the blur within acceptable limits. The shutter speed required depends
on the movement speed
of the object, the scale of the image (movement blur becomes greater the nearer the subject
or the longer the focal length
of the lens used) and the movement direction; movement across the direction of view
produces the most blurring.

Movement blur can be reduced, even with comparatively slow shutter speeds, by moving the camera (panning) to
follow the subject
during the exposure. This records the moving object comparatively sharply against a blurred
background and emphasizes the
impression of speed.

Camera shake through unsteady support during the exposure also creates image blur—over the whole picture in
such cases. Hand-held
shots generally demand shutter speeds of 1 30 second or shorter. For longer times a firm
camera support—such as a tripod—is essential.

Exposure technique
The correct exposure (aperture and shutter settings) can be derived from tables or calculators or by direct
measurement of
the subject luminance with a light meter.

Automatic meter control

Cameras with through-the-lens (TTL) exposure meters—and also hand-held meters pointed at the subject—
measure the average reflected light intensity, yielding
reliable exposures for subjects of average contrast and
brightness distribution. Subjects of extreme contrast or very bright
or dark dominant areas need overriding
exposure corrections; automatic cameras often have provision for this. Such a TTL measurement
is usually centre-
weighted (predominantly based on the image centre). Some cameras (and meters) permit spot readings covering
a
small subject area only and give reliable exposures if this selected area is a medium subject tone.

The selection of an appropriate aperture and shutter speed among equivalent camera exposures depends on depth-
of-field and
subject-movement requirements. Some automatic cameras simplify this by selecting just one such
combination at each exposure
level (program automation).

Flash exposures

Most current electronic flash units incorporate a sensor cell that measures the light reflected from the subject and
controls the flash duration
(and hence the exposure) accordingly. In certain cameras in which photocells measure
the light reflected from the film, the
same cells can similarly control the flash duration of suitable dedicated flash
units. Lacking these provisions, flash exposures
may be determined by measurement or by guide-number
calculation.

Special meters can measure flash light quantity on a scene during a test firing of flashes; these are used extensively
with
more elaborate studio setups.

Flash exposure calculations rely on the fact that the exposure depends only on the lens aperture. (The electronic
flash is
usually much shorter than the synchronizable shutter time.) The light intensity reaching the film is inversely
proportional
to the square of the diaphragm f-number. By basic illumination laws the light intensity on a scene is
also inversely proportional to the square of the distance
between the light source and subject. For a given flash
source and film speed, the exposure is thus constant for a constant
product of distance and f-number. Flash
manufacturers quote this product as a guide number for various flash–film combinations. For rapid exposure
calculation, dividing the guide number by the flash-to-subject distance gives the required f-number; dividing the
guide number by the f-number gives the distance at which the flash must be arranged for correct exposure.
Some cameras use this principle for semiautomatic flash-exposure control: the aperture adjustment is coupled with
the distance
setting on the lens (or with an automatic rangefinding system) so that the lens aperture gets larger with
increasing distance.
This coupling is adjustable for different flash guide numbers.

Exposure latitude
The ideal negative exposure records the darkest subject shadows as a just visible density. More exposure yields a
denser negative, which, however,
can still give an acceptable print by appropriate print-exposure adjustment. This
range of usable negative exposures, the
exposure latitude, depends on the film and the subject. This latitude is
greater the lower the subject contrast and the greater
the film’s exposure range (and, generally, the lower the film
contrast). Because of exposure latitude, simple cameras with
limited exposure adjustability can still yield
acceptable pictures under differing light conditions.

Lighting technique
The kind of lighting on the scene governs the way in which the picture reproduces the subject. Orientation of the
subject—as
in taking a portrait—with respect to the light direction can often control the effect. Lighting from
behind the camera gives
flat effects, light from one side yields depth and modeling, while the principal light from
behind the subject produces dramatic
against-the-light effects of high contrast. Artificial light setups in the studio,
with tungsten lamps or electronic flash,
offer the greatest flexibility. Under such conditions the photographer can
arrange two or more lamps for various lighting
effects.

Directional lighting improves detail contrast and brilliance. Excessive subject contrast, however, makes accurate
exposure
settings difficult and may lead to loss of picture detail in the highlights or shadows. Fill-in lighting, by a
flash or other
light source on or near the camera, can illuminate heavy shadows facing the camera.

Black-and-white processing and printing

Negative development
Amateurs usually process films in developing tanks. In this type of development roll or miniature film is wound
around a reel with a spiral groove, which keeps adjacent turns
separated and allows access by the processing
solutions. Once the tank is loaded (in the dark), processing takes place in
normal light, the processing baths
(developer, intermediate rinse, fixer) being poured into the tank at the appropriate intervals.
Sheet films are
similarly treated in small tanks or held in hangers and immersed sequentially in the different processing
solutions.
Large-scale commercial processing laboratories use machines that automatically feed the films through the
solutions
in proper sequence.

Developers and their characteristics

The developer consists typically of one or more developing agents, a preservative (such as sodium sulfite) to
prevent oxidation
by the air, an alkali (such as sodium carbonate) to activate the developer, and a restrainer or
antifoggant to ensure that
the developer acts only on exposed silver halide crystals. A developer’s main
characteristics are activity, development speed,
and effect on film gradation, graininess, and sharpness. Developers
may be prepared on the basis of published formulas or
bought as ready-mixed powders or concentrates for dilution
with water.

The developer is allowed to act for a specific time to build up the image to the required density and contrast. This
time
depends on the developer, the temperature, the degree of agitation, and the film—as indicated by
recommendations from film
and developer manufacturers.

Fixing

The fixing bath contains a chemical (sodium or ammonium thiosulfate) that converts the silver halide into soluble,
complex silver salts that dissolve in the fixer. During this process the film
loses its original silver halide milkiness
overlaying the image and becomes clear. The fixer also contains a weak acid (to
halt the development process) and
a hardening agent to reduce gelatin swelling.
Washing and drying

Washing removes all residual soluble chemicals from the emulsion and must be thorough for image permanence.
Films are hung
up to dry after removal from the tank.

High-speed processing

Greatly reduced processing times are possible with high-activity developers at elevated temperatures and with fast-
acting
fixing agents, such as ammonium thiosulfate. Such processes can cut access time to the negative down to
less than a minute.
One-bath (monobath) processing in a solution containing both a fast-acting developing agent
and fixing chemicals also reduces
processing time. In special rapid-access processing equipment, films pass
through chambers spraying the processing solutions
onto the film surface or run in contact with monobath-soaked
webs.

Printing
The simplest printing equipment is the contact printing frame in which the negative and printing paper are held
together behind
a glass plate during exposure to a suitable lamp. A printing box is essentially a printing frame with
a built-in light source.
Contact printing gives a positive of the same size as the negative.

Enlargers
Negatives usually are enlarged to prints of the desired final size. The enlarger is a projection system on a vertical
column
mounted on a horizontal baseboard. It has a lens, a film holder (negative carrier), and a lighting system
(typically a lamp
and condenser lens) for illuminating the negative. Raising or lowering the enlarger head on the
column controls the image
magnification; adjustment of the lens-to-negative distance focuses the image on the
enlarging paper on the baseboard. In enlargers
that focus automatically these two adjustments are linked
mechanically to keep the image sharp all the time. Enlargers are
made in various sizes to take different maximum
negative formats.

Printing papers

Papers for enlarging and contact printing are produced in grades of differing exposure range—i.e., ratios of shortest
to longest
exposure to produce the lightest tone and a full black, respectively. The various grades yield prints of a
normal tone range
from negatives of different contrasts: a soft paper grade for a high-contrast negative, a normal
paper for a normal negative,
a hard paper for soft negatives, and so on. Paper grades are also numbered—typically
from 0 to 5—in ascending order of contrast.
Variable-contrast papers use a mixture of two emulsions of a different
contrast and colour sensitivity; the contribution of
each is controlled by filters in the path of the exposing light.

Other characteristics of printing papers are the speed (slower for contact papers, faster for enlarging papers), image
colour
(blue-black to warm brown), surface texture (glossy, velvet, mat), and base thickness (single or double
weight). Most printing
materials use a resin-coated (plastic-laminated) paper base that absorbs no water during
processing.

Printing exposures
Correct printing exposures are determined by trial and error or by test strips given a series of progressively
increasing
exposures. More sophisticated exposure control systems measure either the brightness of selected image
portions projected
on the enlarger baseboard or the average light intensity reaching the paper during the exposure.
Printing papers are exposed
and processed in a darkroom lit by an olive-green or orange safelight. Printing papers
are sensitive to violet, blue, and
sometimes green light.

Print processing

The processing of prints consists of development, an intermediate rinse or stop bath, fixing, and washing. The
developer and
fixer are similar in principle to those used for negative films. In the normal method, dish or tray
processing, prints are
immersed successively in the solutions in dishes laid out side by side. Development is
checked visually, the print remaining
in the developer until the image has reached its full density. For drying, the
prints may be clipped to a line, placed in
a heated print dryer, or squeegeed onto a mirror-finished plate for a high-
gloss surface.

Stabilization processing
Certain rapid-processing papers incorporate developing agents in their emulsions and are processed on a roller
processor.
This processor runs the paper through an activating bath for instant development and then through a
stabilizing bath, followed
by a pair of squeegeeing rollers from which the print emerges merely damp. This process
takes about 10 to 15 seconds; the
prints, however, do not keep quite as well as conventional prints, since unexposed
silver salts are not removed from the emulsion
but only converted into moderately light-stable compounds. Such
prints can be made more permanent by subsequent fixing and
washing.

Dry processing

Processing baths can be completely eliminated by incorporating in the emulsion of the paper development and
stabilization
chemicals that become active on heating. One method is to disperse the processing chemicals in the
emulsion in microscopic
capsules containing the solution and a blowing agent. On passing the exposed paper over
a heated roller, the blowing agent
bursts the capsules, and the liberated processing solutions act on the silver halide
immediately around each capsule. The
liquid solvent instantly evaporates, leaving a dry print. Encapsulation
materials are used for such purposes as making proof
prints of negatives and reenlarging microfilm images. Certain
non-silver processes in photocopying systems also offer dry
processing.

Colour photography
Colour reproduction
Present-day colour photographic processes are tricolour systems, reproducing different colours that occur in nature
by suitable combinations of three primary-coloured stimuli. Each of these primary colours—blue-violet,
green, and
red—covers roughly one-third of the visible spectrum. Tricolour impressions can be produced by combining
coloured
lights (additive synthesis) or by passing white light through combinations of complementary filters, each
of which holds back one of the primary colours
(subtractive synthesis).

In additive synthesis a combination of red and blue-violet light (e.g., light beams of the two colours directed on the
same
spot of a white screen) gives a purplish pink (magenta); equal parts of red and green produce yellow, and
equal parts of green
and blue-violet produce bluish green (cyan). Superimposition of all three light beams on a
screen yields white; combinations
of varying proportions of two or three of the colours produce virtually all the
other hues.

In subtractive synthesis yellow, magenta, and cyan filters or dye layers subtract varying proportions of the primary
colours from white light. The
yellow filter absorbs the blue component of white light and so controls the amount of
blue present in a white-light beam that
has passed through the filter. Similarly, the magenta filter controls the
amount of green light left, and the cyan controls
the amount of the red component. A cyan and a magenta filter
superimposed in a white-light beam hold back both the red and
the green component, making the emerging beam
blue. Similarly, a cyan and a yellow filter together yield green, and a yellow
and a magenta filter together yield red.
Superimposing such filters or dye images of different densities in a white-light
beam can therefore re-create any
colour impression in the same way as superimposing light beams of the primary colours.

The difference between additive and subtractive synthesis is the approach: in additive synthesis colours are built up
by combining
different intensities of primary-coloured light, and in subtractive synthesis colours are achieved by
removing different proportions
of primary-coloured light from white light. Most modern colour films are based on
subtractive synthesis. Either method of
colour synthesis should be capable of reproducing every existing colour in
nature. In practice, the reproduction is imperfect;
no filter dyes meet the required ideal specifications. Nevertheless,
for most purposes reproduction is adequate.

Colour films
Reversal (slide) films

To reproduce colour by subtractive three-colour synthesis (Figure 6), colour films first break down the colours of an
image into their primary components by means of three separate sensitized
layers, each of which responds
exclusively to blue, green, or red light. The image in each layer is reversal-processed to
yield a positive dye image
in a colour complementary to the layer’s spectral sensitivity. Thus, the blue-sensitive layer first yields a negative
image of everything blue in the original scene (e.g., the blue sky) and then a positive image of everything that is
not blue.
This positive image is coloured yellow. Similarly, the green-recording layer yields a magenta positive
image of everything
that is not green, and the red-recording layer a positive cyan image of everything that is not
red. Blue sky, for instance,
does not figure in the yellow positive image but does figure in the magenta positive
image (not being green) and in the cyan
positive image (not being red). The magenta and cyan dyes in the areas
that were blue sky are superimposed, and white light
passing through the resulting transparency loses its green and
red, but not its blue, component; thus, the sky appears blue. Similarly, green subject components end
up as positive
yellow image density in the blue-recording and positive cyan density in the red-recording layer, combining
to green
in the transparency. Yellow records as a negative image in the green-recording and red-recording layers, hence
leaving
a positive yellow image only in the blue-recording layer. All other colours are formed by similar
combinations of different
densities of the dye images.

Negative (print) films

Negative colour materials work in a similar way but yield a negative dye image by direct development. Blue
subject tones record
in the blue-sensitive film layer to produce a yellow negative image. Green colour components
yield a magenta dye image in
the green-responding layer, and red components yield a cyan dye image in the red-
recording layer. With respect to the subject,
the colour negative therefore reverses the tones in brightness as well as
in colour. Printing the colour negative on a colour
paper with three differentially responding layers reverses the
process once more, reconstituting the original subject colours
in a positive print.

Colour-film structure

Reversal colour film has these components: (1) A top layer of plain gelatin, which protects the underlying layers
against
abrasion and damage. (2) The first emulsion layer, which contains blue-sensitive silver halide plus a
yellow-forming colour
coupler. This is a colourless substance that reacts with the decomposition products of the
developing agent to generate dye
in all areas where a silver image is produced and in proportion to the density of
that silver image. (3) A yellow filter layer,
which holds back blue light from the subsequent emulsion layers. It
disappears during the bleaching stage of processing. (4)
The second emulsion layer, which contains blue- and
green-sensitive silver halide plus a magenta-forming colour coupler. The
blue sensitivity is suppressed by the
yellow filter layer. (5) The next emulsion, which is blue-and-red sensitive (blue again
being suppressed) and
contains a cyan-forming colour coupler. (6) A substrate, which ensures optimum adhesion of the emulsion
layers to
the film base and may also contain light-absorbing silver to prevent the scattering of light by reflection from
the
support surface (halation). (7) The film base, or support, of clear cellulose acetate derivative (or sometimes
polyester), typically about 0.005 inch thick. (8) The back of the support, which carries a light-absorbing layer (an
alternative to
the antihalation layer in the substrate); on roll film this also acts as an anticurl layer.

This scheme can vary. Often one or more of the selectively sensitized layers is duplicated. Some reversal colour
films do
not incorporate colour couplers in the emulsions but introduce them in the processing solutions.
Processing such nonsubstantive
colour films is more complex than processing substantive-coupler films containing
couplers in the emulsions. Negative colour
films are similar, but the couplers are often already coloured yellow or
red or both. The unreacted couplers remain as positive
images, which compensate for some deviations of the image
dyes from the colour characteristics of ideal dyes. Such negatives
have an apparently overall reddish or orange tint.

Some colour films come with different combinations of colour sensitivity and dye colour formed in the individual
layers for
deliberately falsified colour rendering (false-colour films) in special applications.

Colour-positive (print) materials have a paper or white, opaque film base instead of transparent film and have no
antihalation
layer. The emulsion sequence may be different from the above scheme; their spectral sensitivities may
be keyed to the transmission
characteristics of the negative dyes for better colour reproduction.
The dye images are reasonably lightfast but fade on prolonged exposure to ultraviolet-rich radiation. Colour
transparencies
and prints intended for continuous display may be protected by ultraviolet-absorbing coatings or
filter layers.

Additive colour films

These are simpler in structure and consist, in addition to protective and other interlayers, of a film base, carrying a
filter
raster, and a black-and-white emulsion layer. The raster consists of sequences of very narrow red, green, and
blue transparent
filter lines (up to 1,800 lines per inch) through which the light from the lens passes before it
reaches the emulsion layer.
The emulsion layer is processed to a positive image. Red subject portions cause silver
to be deposited behind non-red (i.e.,
green and blue) filter elements, leaving the red filter lines transparent.
Similarly, green subject details leave green filter
lines transparent but block red and blue. Other colours affect areas
behind two or even three filter lines—for example, yellow
leaves red and green filter lines clear. In such areas the
eye cannot resolve the separate filter elements but gets an additive
impression of yellow. Other colours form
corresponding additive effects, including white, where all three filter elements
are transparent. Because of the
presence of the filter elements everywhere in the image, additive colour transparencies are
much denser than
subtractive ones; at high magnification the filter raster pattern may also become visible. Additive colour
transparencies are used only in rapid-access diffusion-transfer systems (see below Instant-picture photography).

Colour balance

Colour film reacts to all hue and tone differences, including the prevailing light colour. A film recording
approximately
natural colours in daylight reproduces scenes photographed by tungsten light with a reddish overall
tint—because this lighting
is richer in red rays than is daylight. This spectral balance of different “white” light
sources may be rated numerically
by the colour temperature—a concept of theoretical physics that, with tungsten
lighting, corresponds roughly to the absolute lamp-filament temperature.
Such absolute temperatures are expressed
in kelvins (K). The higher the colour temperature the richer the light is in bluish and the poorer it is in reddish rays
and vice versa.
Average daylight is rated at about 5,500 K, the light from an overcast sky from 6,500 K up; the
colour temperature of tungsten
lamps ranges between 2,600 and 3,400 K.

To ensure correct “white-light” colour reproduction with different types of lighting, the sensitivities of the three
film
layers must be matched to the colour temperature of the light. Colour slide (reversal) films are therefore made
in different
versions balanced for faithful rendering either with 5,500 to 6,000 K light sources (such as daylight or
electronic flash)
or with specified tungsten lighting (3,200 to 3,400 K).

Such accurate film balance matching is less vital with negative colour films since the colour rendering of the print
can be
modified during colour printing. “Universal” amateur negative colour films are usable with any light, from
tungsten to daylight.
For high quality, professional negative colour films are still preferentially balanced to either
daylight or tungsten sources.

Strongly coloured filters are suitable only for special effects; they overlay the colour image with the filter colour.
Pale
correction filters can match a film to a light source other than that for which it is balanced—e.g., pale blue,
with a daylight-type
film used in tungsten lighting, to raise in effect the colour temperature. Pale pink or amber
filters similarly reduce the
colour temperature for using artificial-light-balanced films in daylight. Colour-film
manufacturers publish detailed recommendations
of actual filters required for such conversion.

In outdoor photography, especially involving distant views, an ultraviolet-absorbing filter is often required, as
ultraviolet radiation records in the blue-sensitive layer of the film, producing an overall
blue cast in the
transparency. A pale pink skylight filter for outdoor subjects lit only by skylight counteracts the cold,
bluish colour
rendering resulting from such illumination.

Colour-film processing
The processing sequence for colour materials is longer than for black-and-white films and requires more solutions.
Development
needs very precise timing and temperature control. Colour films can be processed in amateur
developing tanks; professionals
use sets of tanks in temperature-controlled water jackets with provision for
standardized solution agitation.

Reversal colour-film processing

Most colour films use a standard processing sequence and chemistry (usually available in kits). For substantive
films (incorporating
couplers in the emulsion) the sequence comprises: (1) development to form a negative silver
image in each emulsion layer;
(2) a reversal bath that renders developable the remaining silver halide in each
emulsion layer; (3) colour development to
produce a positive silver image in the remaining silver halide plus a
coincident dye image by reaction with the colour couplers;
(4) bleaching and fixing to reconvert the negative and
positive silver images into silver halide and to dissolve the latter
out of the emulsion, leaving only the three dye
images; (5) a final rinse and stabilizer to remove soluble chemicals and improve
light-fastness of the dyes; and (6)
drying. There are also intermediate rinse stages. The complete sequence without drying
takes a little longer than 30
minutes.

Processing of nonsubstantive colour films, in which the couplers are in the colour developer, is more complex
because each
emulsion layer is reexposed by appropriately coloured light and colour-developed separately. This
operation requires automated
processing machinery.

Negative colour processing

Negative colour films are practically all of the substantive-coupler type. Most again follow a standard processing
sequence
consisting of colour development (forming a negative silver image in each emulsion layer together with a
corresponding dye
image), a rinse, and a bleaching and fixing stage to convert the silver image into silver halide
and dissolve that (plus residual
halide) out of the emulsion. A final rinse and drying conclude the process, which,
excluding drying, takes about 12 minutes.
Substantially the same procedure is followed for processing positive
colour papers.

Colour printing
Colour print processing may be done in dishes or trays or in light-tight drums that are rotated manually or
mechanically,
processing solutions being poured in and out in succession. Professional colour laboratories use more
elaborate versions of
such rotating drum systems or roller or other automated machines that transport prints
through the different solutions in
turn.

Positive prints from colour negatives

Positive prints may be obtained from colour negatives by enlarging the colour negative onto a positive colour
paper. Colour
control consists of modifying the colour of the printing light by yellow, magenta, and cyan filters
(typically by inserting
high-density filters of these colours to varying degrees in the light path) to obtain a print of
the correct or desired colour
balance. The light is thoroughly mixed in a diffusing box before reaching the negative.
An alternative method is to have three
light sources behind the yellow, magenta, and cyan filters and to adjust their
relative intensities or switch them on for
different exposure times.

This subtractive, or white-light, printing method depends on subtracting or holding back colour components of
white light.
Commercial photofinishing printers often use an additive system in which prints are given successive
exposures through high-density
red, green, and blue filters. Each of these exposures forms the image in one of the
emulsion layers of the paper; colour balance
depends on the proportions of the individual exposures. In automatic
colour printing systems the exposures are controlled
by photocells that evaluate the red, green, and blue
components of light transmitted by the negative.

Reversal colour printing

Colour transparencies can be printed on a reversal colour paper similar to a reversal film and processed in an
analogous way.
The same kind of colour control with filters is again possible, but the colour effect of the
subtractive filters or of the
additive filter exposures is reversed.

Dye-destruction processes

Dye-destruction processes differ from chromogenic colour materials (where colour images are produced during
development) in
starting off with emulsion layers containing the final dyes. During processing these are bleached in
proportion to the silver
image formed. Straightforward processing of a dye-destruction or dye-bleach material
yields a positive image from a positive
original and consists of: (1) development to form a silver image; (2) stop-
fixing to arrest development and remove unexposed
silver halide; (3) dye bleaching to bleach the dye in the areas
containing a silver image; (4) silver bleaching to convert
the silver image into silver halide; and (5) fixing to
remove residual silver halide. Washing is done between all the processing
stages.

Obtaining a positive image from a negative requires a more elaborate processing sequence, analogous to reversal
processing
in a chromogenic system. Dye-bleach materials use far more light-stable dyes than those produced by
colour-coupling development.
The positive–positive procedure also yields duplicate transparencies on dye-bleach
materials with a transparent film base.

Diffusion-transfer colour prints

Materials derived from instant-picture diffusion-transfer processes (see below Instant-picture photography) have
been adapted to colour print production. They are more expensive than traditional colour print materials but
considerably
easier to process. In their simplest form they require only a single highly alkaline activator bath
followed by a water rinse,
the whole sequence lasting about five to 10 minutes, with considerable processing
latitude. Such materials exist for prints
from either negatives or transparencies. The colour printing and filter
control principles are the same as with the traditional
processes described above.

Assembly colour prints

The original method of producing colour prints was based on separation negatives obtained by photographing the
original scene
on separate black-and-white plates or films through a blue, green, and red filter, respectively. This
method analyzes the
subject in terms of its tricolour components in the same way as the initial negative images in a
three-layer colour film.
Positive prints from the separation negatives, converted into colour images (e.g., by toning)
and superimposed on top of each
other, yield a subtractive tricolour print.

The main surviving assembly print process, dye transfer, uses a set of separation positives on a panchromatic
matrix film made either from separation negatives of a colour transparency
or by separation (three filtered
exposures) from a colour negative. Appropriate processing converts the matrix film into a
gelatin relief image
whose depth is proportional to the positive silver density. Each matrix is soaked in a dye solution (yellow
for the
matrix derived from the blue-filter negative and so on), and the dyes from the matrices are transferred in succession
to a single sheet of gelatin-coated paper. Elaborate care is required to ensure accurate superimposition (registration)
of
the dye images; the result is a positive colour print.

Transparency projection
Many amateur colour pictures are in the form of transparencies, particularly on 35-mm film. These are usually
mounted in plastic
or card frames or bound between glass for projection on a screen in a darkened room. The
projector consists of a lens, a holder for the slide, and a lighting system (lamp, reflector, and condenser lenses to
concentrate the
light onto the slide). Modern slide projectors take the slides in magazines or trays holding 30 to 50
or more slides. An automatic
slide transport feeds each slide from the tray into the light path of the projector and
may be operated from a remote control
unit or by pulses from a tape recorder, which can also record a commentary
to the complete slide series. Some projectors feature
remote-controlled or automatic focusing to keep each
successive slide image sharp on the screen.

The standard miniature slide size is 2 × 2 inches for transparencies up to 1 5 8 × 1 5 8 inches; the most usual
transparency format in such slides is 24 × 36 millimetres. Projectors for larger slides (e.g., 2 3 4 × 2 3 4 inches for
transparencies up to 2 1 4 × 2 1 4 inches) and ultraminiature projectors (e.g., 10 × 14-millimetre transparencies in 3
× 3-centimetre slide frames) are suitably
scaled-up or scaled-down versions of the standard models.

The size of the projected image depends on the distance of the projector from the screen and the focal length of the
projection
lens. Projectors may also project from the back onto a translucent screen; such rear-projection setups are
more compact, and the image is often bright enough for viewing
in daylight. The rear-projection system is used in
schools and for commercial displays. Elaborate slide shows are produced
by linking two or more projectors aimed
at the same or adjacent screen areas. With a suitably assembled slide set, the pictures
can be made to change,
overlap, and assemble, according to a predetermined program.

Instant-picture photography
History and evolution
Cameras with built-in processing facilities, to reduce the delay between exposure and the availability of the
processed picture,
were proposed from the 1850s onward. The ferrotype process later adapted for “while-you-wait”
photography by itinerant street
and beach photographers goes back almost as far. Because of the messiness of
handling liquid chemicals in or just outside
the camera, such systems remained largely impractical. In the 1940s
Edwin H. Land, a U.S. scientist and inventor, designed a film configuration that included a sealed pod containing
processing chemicals
in a viscous jelly or paste form to permit virtually dry processing inside the camera and yield
a positive print within a minute or less of exposure. Land demonstrated (1947), and through his Polaroid
Corporation marketed (1948), a camera and materials that realized this system. It used a positive sheet and negative
emulsion, the latter being discarded after use. An instant-print colour film (Polacolor) was introduced in 1963 and
an integral single-sheet colour film in 1972. After the mid-1970s other
manufacturers offered similar instant-print
processes. In 1977 Polaroid introduced an 8-mm colour movie film, and in 1982
it introduced still transparency
films that permit rapid processing outside the camera.

Black-and-white diffusion transfer

The Polaroid process is based on negative paper carrying a silver halide emulsion and a nonsensitized, positive
sheet containing development nuclei. After the exposure
the two sheets are brought into intimate contact by being
pulled between a pair of pressure rollers. These rupture a sealed
pod (attached to the positive sheet) to spread
processing chemicals—in the form of a viscous jelly—between the two sheets.
This reagent develops a negative
image and causes the silver salts from the unexposed areas to diffuse into the positive layer
and deposit metallic
silver on the development nuclei. After about 30 seconds to one minute the negative and positive sheets
are peeled
apart and the negative can be discarded. In special versions of the process the negative may be washed and treated
to give a conventional negative for normal enlarging.

In the original Polaroid instant-picture process the material was a dual roll of negative and positive sheets. Later
versions
of this peel-apart process use film packs and sheet films. They require special cameras incorporating the
pressure rollers
thatoperate the spread of processing jelly while the peel-apart sandwich is fed out of the camera.
Special camera backs with
this mechanism allow the use of Polaroid materials in professional cameras taking
interchangeable film holders or magazines.
Peel-apart Polaroid systems include high-speed emulsions, high-
contrast, process, transparency, and scientific materials.

Silver diffusion-transfer processes were invented in 1939 in Belgium and Germany and were used for a number of
years in office copying systems until superseded by dry copying processes.

The Polacolor process

Polaroid colour film has a larger number of active layers, including a blue-sensitive silver halide emulsion backed
by a layer
consisting of a yellow dye–developer compound, a green-sensitive layer backed by a layer of magenta
dye–developer, and a red-sensitive layer backed by a cyan dye–developer. The dye–developer in each case consists
of dye molecules (not colour couplers) chemically linked to developing agent molecules.

After exposure and activation by the alkaline jelly, the dye–developer molecules in each layer migrate into the
adjacent silver halide layer. Development of exposed silver
halide to a negative image anchors the dye–developer
molecule in position. Dye–developer molecules in unexposed image areas are
not used up by development but
migrate into the receiving layer of the positive material. There they are immobilized, remaining
as dye images
corresponding to a positive of each silver halide layer in the negative film. The dyes thus re-create a full-colour
positive image. The process depends on the controlled diffusion of the dye–developer molecules, achieved by
spacing layers
and balanced exposure and development time. Developing takes about one minute. Polacolor films
include an 8 × 10-inch material
for regular studio and view cameras (with separate processing machinery) and giant
formats of 20 × 24 inches or even larger
for special cameras.

Single-sheet process

The Polaroid single-sheet, or integral, films contain all the negative and positive layers in a single preassembled
film unit
that is exposed through the transparent positive layer. The unit incorporates a viscous processing reagent
that acts in principle
similarly to the chemistry of the Polacolor process. It includes “opacifying” dyes and a highly
opaque white pigment that together protect the negative layers against light during processing outside the camera.
The pigment provides a background
to the positive image after the dye–developer molecules from the negative
layers have migrated into the receiving layer. Other
constituents of the system neutralize residual active chemicals
after processing, for all chemistry remains within the single-sheet
print. The print size is about 3 1 2 × 4 1 4 inches,
the effective image size about 3 1 8 × 3 1 8 inches. The Eastman Kodak and Fuji Photo Film companies also have
marketed single-sheet films and cameras that accept each other’s films. These materials
and cameras are not
compatible with the Polaroid products.

Autoprocess materials
Because it requires cameras or camera backs with integral processing facilities, the instant-picture process is not
suitable
for conditions precluding immediate processing of the picture (e.g., in underwater or space photography),
nor is it suitable
for motion-picture or 35-mm cameras. Alternative procedures suggested to overcome this usually
involve some form of semidry
rapid-access processing. The Polaroid Autoprocess system uses 35-mm film in
standard cartridges to fit any 35-mm camera. After
exposure the film is driven through a tabletop processor, which
sandwiches the film with a stripping film carrying a thin
layer of processing fluid. The latter processes the negative
image, causes the formation of a positive image by a diffusion-transfer
process, and then releases the negative
layers, which are finally removed from the film (together with residual chemicals)
by the stripping material. The
transparencies remaining on the 35-mm film are immediately ready for viewing and projection.
Black-and-white as
well as colour systems (by an additive process) are available in this form.

Applications
Instant-picture processes have an advantage in applications that need quick access to a finished print. The initial
field
of the process was amateur snapshooting and instant portraits, from which evolved the taking of identification
pictures for
work and security passes. Such passes are made with special cameras that record a portrait together
with personal details
on a composite print that is then laminated to form a tamper-proof identity card. In studio
photography instant prints provide
a quick method of making exposure tests and checking the effect of lighting.
Large- and giant-format Polacolor prints are
used in studio portraiture; normal instant prints have numerous
commercial applications. Instant pictures are also widely
used in the laboratory to record experimental setups, for
photomicrography and for infrared photography; for instant endoscopy
and for clinical and forensic records; for
rapid copying of normal colour transparencies; and for instant hard copy of oscilloscope,
video, and computer
graphic displays. Autoprocess transparencies are used for the rapid production of colour or black-and-white
slides
for lectures and publication and in various fields of scientific photography (including photomicrography) relying on
the use of conventional 35-mm (usually single-lens reflex) cameras.

Special photosensitive systems

The high working speed (efficiency of converting light into permanent images) of silver halides makes them almost
the only
materials suitable for camera use. Numerous light-sensitive systems not using silver have been known
since the beginning of
photography. In view of silver’s high price, a number of substitute systems have grown in
importance, and new ones have appeared.
Most of them are limited to office copying, microfilming, the graphic
arts, and other applications in which flat copy is reproduced.

Electrophotography
Electrophotography covers a number of processes that rely on photoconductive substances whose electrical
resistance decreases when light falls on them. A layer of such a substance with a grounded backing
plate is given a
uniform electrostatic charge in the dark. When a light image is projected onto the surface, the photoconductor
allows the electrostatic charge to leak away in proportion to the exposure. This leaves an “image” charge that can
be converted,
in various ways, into a visible image.

In xerography the photoconductive layer is selenium, and the image is made visible by dusting the plate with an
electrostatically charged powder (toner) having a charge that
is the opposite of that of the electrostatic image. The
powder adheres to the image portions only and is then transferred
to a sheet of plain paper also under the influence
of electrostatic fields. A final heat treatment fuses the powder into the
paper for a permanent picture. The process
usually makes a positive from a positive original. In office copying machines (the
main application of xerography)
the whole operating sequence is programmed and automated. A zinc oxide-coated paper may replace the selenium
plate; if so, the pigment powder deposit is fused directly into the paper surface.

The process is used mainly for line images without intermediate tones between black and white. Modified
procedures permit
continuous-tone reproduction and—with coloured pigments—also colour printing.

In the electroplastic process a transparent thermoplastic serves as the photoconductive layer. After the plastic is
charged and exposed, the residual electrostatic charge forms stresses in the thermoplastic. Controlled heating
deforms
the surface in the image areas into a grain pattern, which is frozen into the plastic on cooling. The
resulting image is light-scattering
and is viewed by reflection or in special projection systems.

Colloid and photopolymer processes

A comparatively early non-silver process depended on organic colloid (gum or gelatin) treated with a bichromate.
Exposure to light hardened the gelatin, rendering it insoluble, while unexposed portions could
be washed away
with warm water, leaving a relief image.

Photopolymer systems substitute a plastic precursor in place of the gelatin. The plastic precursor polymerizes to an
insoluble
plastic when exposed to light, and the unexposed soluble material is washed out by a suitable solvent.
Photopolymer processes
have been adapted for forming resists (protective coatings) for etching, as, for instance, in
the manufacture of printed circuits.
In indirect photopolymer systems a light-sensitive substance is mixed with a
plastic precursor and on exposure decomposes
into compounds that initiate polymerization of the plastic. The
polymerizable layer may include a pigment for a final coloured image. Superimposing colour images derived
from
separation negatives can yield positives; systems of this type are used for quick colour proofing in photomechanical
reproduction.

Diazonium processes
A diazo, or dyeline, process depends on the decomposition by light of organic diazonium salts. These salts can also
couple with certain other compounds to form dyes. After exposure only the exposed (and decomposed)
diazonium
salt forms dye, producing a positive image from a positive original.

The materials are usually papers or transparent supports impregnated with the required chemicals. They are mainly
sensitive
to ultraviolet rays and can therefore be handled by normal tungsten lighting.

The light-decomposition of diazonium compounds also produces gaseous nitrogen. This phenomenon is utilized in
vesicular processes
that incorporate the diazonium compound in a thermoplastic layer. The nitrogen slowly diffuses
out of this layer, but, if heat is applied immediately after exposure, the expanding nitrogen gas forms minute
light-
scattering bubbles visible as an image. The scattering power corresponds to the exposure. Further general exposure,
after the plastic has cooled, decomposes the residual diazonium compound with gradual diffusion of the nitrogen
out of the layer, destroying the latter’s light sensitivity. This process and thermal dyeline systems are
dry-
processing instant-access systems and are used for making microfilm duplicates.

Photochromic systems
Certain dyelike substances can exist in a colourless and a coloured state. They are called photochromic compounds.
The coloured
state is formed by exposure to radiations of a certain wavelength. The compound reverts to its
colourless state either in the dark or on treatment with radiation of a different wavelength. This reversibility is a
primary characteristic of photochromism, and it is an instant-image system
involving no processing.

Photochromic systems are used in microrecording (see below Microfilming and microreproduction). As the change
of state takes place on a molecular level, the images are practically grain-free, and resolution is limited
only by the
resolving power of the optical system being used. Photochromic materials can be negative- or positive-working.
With some photochromic compounds the dye image can be rendered permanent
by optical or other treatment.
Glasses containing certain metal compounds also act as photochromic materials. Exposure to light breaks down the
compounds into metal that forms a visible (and permanent) image in the glass. Another type of photochromic glass
contains silver halide crystals dispersed in the glass melt. The action of light decomposes the silver halide, forming
a visible silver deposit.
The halogen cannot escape from the glass, so it recombines with the silver in the dark and
the image fades. Such photochromic glasses
are incorporated in automatic light-control devices; light transmission
decreases as the intensity of the light reaching the
glass rises. Such glass has found use in certain types of
sunglasses.

Electronic photography
As television cameras and recorders became more compact, home video recording began to replace home movies
in the amateur field in the late 1970s. Video recording of still images was incidental to this;
it became widely
involved in the storage of computer-generated or computer-processed images on magnetic tape or discs, for
instance, in satellite photography, radiography, image scanning in picture transmission, and photomechanical
reproduction.

A still video camera resembling traditional photographic apparatus (the Sony Mavica single-lens reflex) was first
demonstrated in 1981. It uses
a fast-rotating magnetic disc, two inches in diameter, recording on it up to 50
separate video images formed in a solid-state device in the camera. The images can be played back through a
television receiver or monitor, or converted to paper in a printer
that uses the video signals to control a printout
device. Apart from being a potential rival to instant-picture photography,
electronic records of this type are capable
of direct transmission via telephone lines. Thus the process is of interest to press photographers, who can transmit
pictures from their cameras directly to newspaper editorial offices without intermediate processing. The magnetic
record also is able to directly control halftone engraving machines to engrave printing plates or cylinders.

Special techniques and applied photography

High-speed and stroboscopic photography

High-speed photography is generally concerned with exposure times shorter than about 1 1,000 second (one
millisecond) and often exposures shorter than 1 1,000,000 second (one microsecond). This field partly overlaps that
of high-speed cinematography—sequences of very short exposures. Exposure times can be reduced by high-speed
shutter systems or by short-duration flash sources.

High-speed photography, together with high-speed cinematography, aids in the study of missiles, explosions,
nuclear reactions, and other phenomena of military and scientific interest. In industry high-speed pictures
show up
movement phases of machinery, relays, and switches; dynamic fractures of materials or insulation breakdown; and,
in
natural science studies, flight movement of birds and insects.

High-speed shutters

The shortest exposure with mechanical shutters is about 1 4,000 second. Special high-speed shutter systems are
magneto-optical, electro-optical, or electronic. A magneto-optical shutter (Faraday shutter) consists of a glass
cylinder placed inside a magnetic coil between two crossed polarizing filters; so long
as the filters remain crossed,
virtually no light can pass through. A brief current pulse through the coil generates a magnetic
field that rotates the
light’s plane of polarization in the cylinder so that during the pulse some light passes through the
second polarizing
filter. The electro-optical shutter (Kerr cell) is made up of a liquid cell of nitrobenzene fitted with electrodes and
again placed between two crossed polarizers. An electric
pulse applied to the electrodes changes the polarization
properties of the nitrobenzene so that this arrangement again transmits
light. Minimum exposure time is around five
nanoseconds (5 × 10-9 second). Image converter tubes electronically transmit and amplify an optical image
focused on one end of a tube onto a phosphorescent screen at the other end. Electrons flow in the tube only in the
presence of an electric field, which can be controlled by short-time pulses down to a few nanoseconds.

High-speed light sources

The shortest electronic-flash duration is around one microsecond. Spark discharges in air between electrodes yield
still shorter exposures; discharge voltage may go up to tens or hundreds of thousands of volts. Short-duration
pulses
applied to X-ray tubes produce X-ray flashes for high-speed radiography. The shortest exposures are
between 20 and 50 nanoseconds. Special
switching modes turn lasers into high-speed sources with durations down
to a fraction of a nanosecond.

Synchronization
Generally the event photographed is made to trigger the exposure (the current pulse to operate the shutter or flash
or spark source) to ensure correct synchronization. Examples are bullets interrupting a light beam to a photocell
or
self-luminous phenomena (explosions) triggering the system via a photocell circuit. The event and the exposure
may be also
triggered together by a signal from a common source.

Stroboscopic photography

Electronic-flash units designed to flash in rapid succession (up to several hundred times a second) can photograph a
moving
subject in front of a stationary camera with its shutter open to yield multiple images of successive
movement phases. The
technique has been used in pictorial and sports photography (e.g., recording the movement
of dancers or golfers) and for analyzing
movement cycles without a motion-picture camera. Stroboscopic flash can
be synchronized with a selected movement phase of an object in rapid cyclic motion (e.g., a rotating
machine
component); the moving component illuminated in this way then appears stationary.

Aerial photography
Photographs from airborne or spaceborne vehicles either provide information on ground features for military and
other purposes
(reconnaissance) or record the dimensional disposition of such features (surveying).

Reconnaissance photographs call for maximum sharpness and detail rendering. Infrared films are often used to
bring out details
not discernible visually. In nonmilitary applications such photographs may reveal ecological
factors (tree diseases, crop
variations) and traces of archaeological sites not visible from the ground. Such shots are
generally taken with cameras using
5- or 9 1 2 -inch roll film in large magazines, built into the aircraft and operated
electrically by the pilot or other crew member, or
automatically at set intervals. Some systems incorporate a
shutterless technique; the film runs continuously past a slit at
a rate matched exactly to the image movement in the
camera’s focal plane as the aircraft flies over the ground (image motion
compensation).

Aerial survey is a systematic procedure of photographing the ground for map production; exposures are made at
intervals to partly overlap the view of successive pictures. The individual photographs
are enlarged to the same
degree and then assembled in a precise mosaic. Aerial photographs taken under precisely specified
conditions can
serve for accurate measurements of ground details by stereoscopic evaluation (see below Stereoscopic and three-
dimensional photography).

Satellite and space photography

Satellites orbiting the Earth record changing meteorologic features (weather satellites) and broadcast the video
images to ground stations where they may be recorded on magnetic tape or converted to hard-copy
pictures by
suitable printers. Video cameras in spacecraft sent to record surface details of other planets similarly scan
electronically the view taken in by a lens and beam the scanning signals back to Earth, where they are recorded and
reconverted to visible images. The signals are usually processed electronically to enhance image
information and
detail. Such enhancement often brings out more information than can be recorded by conventional photography.
Similar techniques are used by military satellites monitoring ground features from high orbits above the Earth.

Underwater photography
Underwater photography requires either special watertight cameras or pressure-resistant housings for normal
cameras. In both
cases camera functions are controlled through pressure-tight glands. A flat glass or plastic window
is usually in front of
the camera lens. The red and yellow absorption of the water more than a few feet below the
surface turns colour photographs
taken by daylight into virtually monochrome shots; hence artificial light is
essential to show up the full colour range of
fish and other underwater subjects. Light sources are battery-powered
tungsten or tungsten-halogen lamps or electronic flash
units (again in self-contained pressure-proof housings). For
comfortable handling the weight of the housing with camera is
adjusted to slight negative buoyancy. Complete
camera and lighting outfits may be built into sledgelike or torpedo-like units
with an electric or compressed-air
motor for self-propulsion through the water.

Since the refractive index ratio of glass to water is lower than for glass to air, the light-bending power of a glass
lens
is less in water than in air. This factor reduces the lens’s angle of view and makes objects appear at about
three-fourths
of their actual distance. This difference must be allowed for in focusing—possibly by a suitably
calibrated distance scale
or by fitting the housing with a compensating porthole, which acts as a diverging lens.

Underwater cameras with lenses designed for direct contact with the water eliminate the air space between the lens
and the
porthole. Such lenses can cover wider angles of view without distortion, but they do not give sharp images
outside the water.

Close-range and large-scale photography

Near photography to reveal fine texture and detail covers several ranges: (1) close-up photography at image scales
between
0.1 and 1 (one-tenth to full natural size); (2) macrophotography between natural size and 10 to 20×
magnification, using the
camera lens on its own; (3) photomicrography at magnifications above about 20×,
combining the camera with a microscope; and (4) electron micrography with an electron
microscope at
magnifications of 10,000 to 1,000,000×, which involves photography of the electron microscope’s phosphor screen
or placing a photographic emulsion inside the vacuum chamber of the electron microscope to record directly the
image formed by the electron beams.

Close-up and macrophotography

Supplementary close-up lenses or extension tubes (placed between the lens and camera body) allow the camera to
focus on near distances for large scales of reproduction. Special
close-up rangefinders or distance gauges establish
exactly the correct camera-to-subject distance and precise framing of the
subject field. Special simple close-up
cameras, as in fingerprint recording and certain fields of medical photography, are
permanently set to a fixed near
distance and have a distance gauge or similar device built in. Screen-focusing cameras (view
and single-lens reflex)
need no such aids, as the finder screen shows the precise focus and framing.

Extension tubes or extension bellows or both or “macro” lenses of extended focusing range are used for the macro
range of distances. For optimum image quality
macrophotographic lenses specially corrected for large image scales
may be used or the camera lens reversed back to front.

Photomicrography

There are two principal methods of photographing through a microscope. In the first the camera, with its lens
focused at infinity,
is lined up in the optical axis of the microscope, which is also focused visually on infinity. In the
other method the camera
without lens is positioned behind the microscope eyepiece, which is focused to project the
microscope image directly onto
the film.

Special photomicrographic cameras generally employ the second method. Microscope adapters to provide a light-
tight and rigid
connection between the camera and microscope are available for both systems. Such microadapters
may incorporate their own
shutter and a beam splitter system for viewing and focusing of the microscope image
through a focusing telescope. Photomicrographs
are the essential adjunct to all microscopy to record biologic,
bacteriologic, physical, and other observations in black-and-white
or colour.

Stereoscopic and three-dimensional photography

Visual three-dimensional depth is perceived partly because of the fact that the human eyes see a scene from two
viewpoints
separated laterally by about 2 1 2 inches. The two views show slightly different spatial relationships
between near and distant objects (parallax); the visual
process fuses these stereoscopic views into a three-
dimensional impression. A similar impression is obtained by viewing a
pair of stereoscopic photographs taken with
two cameras or a twin camera with lenses 2 1 2 inches apart, so that the left eye sees only the picture taken by the
left-hand lens and the right eye only that of the right-hand
lens. Binocular viewers or stereo-selective projection
systems permit such viewing.

Stereo photographs can also be combined in a single picture by splitting up the images into narrow vertical strips
and interlacing
them. On superimposing a carefully aligned lenticular grid on the composite picture, an observer
directly sees all the strips belonging to the left-eye picture with the left eye
and all the strips belonging to the right-
eye picture with the right eye. Such parallax stereograms are seen in display advertising
in shop windows. They
also can be reproduced in print, overlaid by a lenticular pattern embossed in a plastic covering layer.

Photogrammetry makes use of stereo photography in measuring dimensions and shapes of ground objects in depth,
as from successive exposure
pairs made during an aerial survey flight. If all exposure parameters, including flying
height, ground separation between
exposures, and focal length of the aerial camera lens are known, the height of
each ground feature can be measured. Photogrammetric
plotting instruments do this and draw height contour
curves of all features for aerial maps. Similar photogrammetric evaluation
of stereo photographs of nearby subjects
can also be made. For instance, it is possible to reconstruct accurately the scene
of a highway accident. In industry
a photogrammetric plot of an automobile model can be fed into a computer to program the
machine tools that will
shape the full-scale motor body components.

Infrared photography
Images formed by infrared and heat radiations can be recorded directly, on films sensitive to them, or indirectly, by
photographing
the image produced by some other system registering infrared radiation.

Silver halide emulsions can be sensitized to infrared rays with wavelengths up to around 1,200 nanometres (one
nanometre is
1 1,000,000 of a millimetre). The usual sensitivity range is 800 to 1,000 nanometres. Direct infrared-
recording aerial photography shows
up ground features of differential infrared reflection but similar light reflection
(e.g., different types of foliage) and
cuts through haze and mist. Special colour films with an infrared-sensitive
layer and processed to colours different from
the natural rendering (false-colour films) show up such differences
still more clearly. In forensic photography infrared pictures
reveal ink alterations in forgeries, differentiate stains,
and help to identify specific textiles and other materials. In
medicine infrared photographs show subcutaneous
blood vessels, as the skin is transparent to infrared.

With suitable equipment it is possible to convert an infrared image into one visible on a fluorescent screen, where it
can
be photographed. In infrared scanner systems a moving mirror scans the object or scene and focuses the
radiation onto an infrared-sensitive
cell. The cell generates electric signals to modulate a light source, which, in
turn, scans a photographic film or paper synchronously
with the mirror. The resulting image records hotter and
colder parts of the object as lighter and darker areas and can accurately
establish actual temperatures of subject
details. This system has been used to record temperature variations in the skin for
the diagnosis of cancer.

Ultraviolet photography
Invisible shortwave ultraviolet radiations can be recorded directly or used in fluorescence photography. For direct
ultraviolet recording, the photographically useful
wavelength range lies between 400 nanometres (visible violet)
and about 200 nanometres and needs special optical systems transparent
to ultraviolet rays (quartz, silica, or
fluoride elements or combinations thereof). Light sources rich in ultraviolet such as mercury vapour lamps—with
an ultraviolet-transmitting,
but visually opaque, filter in front of the camera lens—ensure that the photograph
records only the ultraviolet-reflecting
characteristics of the subject.

Fluorescence photography records the glow or visible light given off by certain substances when they are irradiated
by ultraviolet rays.
The object is illuminated by screening out the visible light with a filter that transmits only
ultraviolet radiation, and
another filter that absorbs the ultraviolet rays is placed over the camera lens, permitting
only the visible light (fluorescence)
to be recorded on the film. Normal lenses and panchromatic or colour materials
are used.

Ultraviolet photography can identify or separate pigments and fabrics and can detect forgeries of documents.
Fluorescence photography can identify dyes, stains, specific chemical substances, and fluorescent components in
microscope specimens.
Ultraviolet microscopy offers increased resolution through the shorter-wavelength
radiations employed. Aerial and satellite
photography by ultraviolet can show up ultraviolet-reflective ground
features.

Radiography and other radiation recording techniques

Silver halide emulsions are sensitive to X rays, gamma rays, and charged particles emitted by radioactive
substances. Some
of these rays penetrate visually opaque materials to varying degrees to show up internal
structures. Radiography covers techniques
of recording the subsurface features of objects.

X-ray radiography
X rays (wavelengths between 1 100 and 1 100,000 that of visible light) are produced by high-voltage electron
streams bombarding an electrode in a vacuum tube. For radiography the object to be recorded is placed between an
X-ray tube and the film; the film registers the differential
absorption of the X rays by the object’s internal structure
as a projection shadowgraph.

The most familiar application is in medicine for diagnosis and recording, including dental radiography. Industrial
radiography
permits nondestructive inspection of castings, welds, and engineering structures.

Gamma radiography

The technique of gamma-ray radiography is similar to that of X-ray radiography except that it relies on rays
emitted by radioactive
substances. Gamma rays have wavelengths from 100 to 1,000 times shorter than X rays and
correspondingly greater penetrating power. Small gamma-ray
sources are placed in areas inaccessible to X-ray
tubes, such as inside pipelines. In all radiographic applications the exposure
occurs under conditions of normal
light, from which the radiographic film is protected by a light-tight (but radiation-transparent)
wrapping.

Autoradiography

Autoradiography records the distribution of radioactive materials in botanical and histological specimens placed in
contact
with a photographic emulsion. This technique has been applied to the study of metabolism of plants and
animals; it records
the activity of organic compounds of radioactive isotopes introduced into the system of the plant
or animal. In engineering studies autoradiography can be used to follow the transfer
of radioactive substances from
one surface to another in lubrication. The technique also has applications in machining and other metal-treatment
processes.

Nuclear-track recording
Tracks of subatomic particles, such as protons, electrons, and mesons, produced by nuclear reactions can be
recorded by photographic
means. The most common technique is to photograph the visible traces of such tracks in
bubble or spark chambers with special
camera and lens arrangements. Different arrangements can provide for
coverage of large fields or the recording of tracks simultaneously
from several directions for three-dimensional
reconstruction.

Particle tracks can be recorded directly in thick (up to one millimetre) emulsion layers or in emulsion stacks (up to
20 inches)
carried in high-altitude balloons and in spacecraft and satellites. Special processing procedures are
required to deal with these emulsion thicknesses.

Astronomical photography
By the cumulative effect of light received over a long period, a photographic emulsion can record celestial objects
too faint
to be visible. Before radio telescopes (see telescope: Radio telescopes), photography was the only way of
detecting many such objects.

Astronomical cameras are film- or plate-holding units built onto high-power telescopes, typically reflecting
systems. The telescopes run on precision, clock-driven mounts to keep the optical axis stationary with
respect to
the sky area as the Earth rotates during an exposure time, which can run into several hours. For increased recording
sensitivity, the telescope image
may be intensified electronically.

Astronomical photographs taken through narrow-band colour filters—including infrared or ultraviolet transmitting
filters—show
selective emission characteristics of stars. In the case of the Sun and of planets, such photographs can
reveal some surface details not observable by white light. Colour photographs reveal colours not directly
visible
because the intensity of starlight is too low to stimulate the eye’s colour-vision mechanism.

Spectrography records the composition of light emitted by stars and other objects, the star image of the telescope
being photographed through
a diffraction grating, a device that disperses white light into constituent wavelengths.
Elements present in the star or the gas mantle surrounding it can be identified from their characteristic spectral
lines.
Displacement of such lines from their known wavelength position can indicate the velocity with which the
distant stellar systems
recede from or approach the Earth.

Microfilming and microreproduction

Microfilming is the copying of documents, drawings, and other such matter at a reduced scale—typically 1:15 to
1:42—for compact
storage. Complete microreproduction systems include methods of filing the film copies for easy
retrieval and reenlargement.
Various duplication methods allow microfilm records to be extensively distributed.

Documents, periodicals, and other printed matter are usually microfilmed on 16-mm film with an image size
between 10 × 14 and 14 × 20 mm in a copying
camera taking 100-foot lengths of film. Engineering drawings of
high information content are microfilmed on 35-mm unperforated
film with a standard image size of 32 × 45 mm.
Films of up to 105 mm in width are also used. Automated microfilm cameras run
continuously, documents being
fed onto a moving band carried past the camera at a steady speed while the film runs past a
slit at a matched rate.

Readers and reader printers are desk-top projectors that display the frames reenlarged to about natural size on a
back projection screen. In a reader
printer the image may also be projected on sensitized paper for full-size
enlargements. Advanced readers have elaborate retrieval
systems based on frame coding and run the microfilm
rolls through at high speed until a specific searched image is reached.

Aperture cards or standard-size transparent jackets store microfilm images as single frames or groups of frames.
Such unitized
microfilms permit easier indexing and retrieval. Certain 35-mm microfilm cameras photograph the
original document directly
on film premounted in an aperture card and processed on the spot.

Widely used is the unitized microfiche system, which carries up to 98 frames, each about 9 × 12 mm, on a 4 × 6-
inch sheet of film. The microfiche camera repositions
the film frame by frame after every exposure. Microfiche
with a larger frame can also be produced by jacketing strips of 16-mm
microfilm in multichannel plastic jackets 4 ×
6 inches in size.

For greater space saving, microfilm images may be reduced beyond 1:100 on high-resolution photochromic image
materials. Extreme
fine-grain silver copies then hold 3,000 to 4,000 individual frames on a single 4 × 6-inch film.
This method, useful for complex
catalogs and like purposes, offers easy retrieval of individual frames but requires
a high-magnification reader.

The photography industry

Present-day manufacture of cameras and other photographic equipment is concentrated in mass-production plants
that make most
of the components (camera bodies, lenses, shutters, and other parts) on largely automated
machines; the components are then
assembled by semiskilled or skilled labour. Smaller manufacturers of low- and
medium-priced cameras obtain components for
assembly from such specialist suppliers as shutter manufacturers
and lens producers. High-quality precision cameras are produced on a smaller scale with automated fabrication of
the engineering components but much more
extensive manual assembly by highly skilled technicians. Components
and functions of every camera are tested at every production
stage; less expensive cameras are usually batch-tested
by a sampling procedure.

The raw material for lens manufacture covers a range of optical glasses of different optical characteristics. About
10 major worldwide glass producers supply the several dozen optical firms offering
lenses of well-known brands.
The glass is cast into blanks for specific lens elements and ground and polished to the required
exact specifications,
with the elements assembled in metal (sometimes plastic) mounts. Extensive production tests and optical
performance checks safeguard quality standards.

Film base is produced either by coating a solution of the base material on large drums, where it solidifies (film
casting),
or by extrusion of plastics, such as polyester, in film extruders. For print materials, paper of suitable purity
is coated
with a barium sulfate emulsion in gelatin, to provide a smooth white surface, and then with the silver
halide emulsion. Silver halide emulsions are made by mixing silver nitrate with a solution of alkali halide—
typically potassium
bromide and iodide—in gelatin. The silver halide then precipitates out as fine crystals. After
cooling to a jelly, shredding, and washing, the emulsion
is remelted and treated to increase speed and contrast.
Colour sensitizers (and colour couplers for colour emulsions) and
additives are introduced, and the gelatin
emulsion is machine-coated on wide continuous webs of paper or film. Generally several
coatings are applied—up
to a dozen for certain colour films. Operations from emulsion mixing onward are carried on in total
darkness. After
cooling and drying, the material is batch-tested for consistent characteristics and then is cut and packed.

Photofinishing laboratories process most amateur and some professional photographers’ films and prints. In the
1980s, virtually all of the total business
of the laboratories in the United States was in colour processing.

Photofinishing laboratories use machines that carry the films in spliced-together lengths or on racks through
successive tanks
of the processing solutions. Prints are usually made to standard formats on automatic enlargers,
taking both the negatives
and the paper in continuous rolls. The paper rolls of 250 or 500 feet are processed in
continuous-strip processors, which
deliver prints dry and ready for automatic cutting. Many printers have
automatic exposure measurement based on overall negative
density, with automatically controlled colour correction
for colour negatives. High-capacity colour printers of this type
can produce 2,000 to 3,000 prints per hour. Coding
systems identify individual films and corresponding prints by customer
or order number for final re-sorting. More
exacting processing services grade colour negatives before printing by light transmission
measurements through
different colour filters; the resulting exposure data may be punched as edge codes in the film itself
or programmed
on perforated paper tape. When the tape is run through the printer together with the film, the perforations
directly
control the colour exposures and corrections. Advanced automatic printing systems may involve electronically
controlled
image enhancement.

Enlargements to special sizes and colour printing for professional photographers require individual enlarging by
skilled personnel
on conventional enlargers with advanced automation features of focusing, exposure measurement,
and colour control. Other processing services include
duplication of transparencies, various types of photocopying
(partly on coin-operated copiers in public places), microfilming,
and microfilm processing.

L. Andrew Mannheim EB Editors

Additional Reading
Cite

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"technology of photography." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 26 Jul. 2021.

school.eb.co.uk/levels/advanced/article/technology-of-photography/108552. Accessed 16 Oct. 2022.