LESSON 3

PHOTOGRAPHIC FILMS AND PAPERS

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Black and White Films

A black and white film is basically made up of emulsion, gray or anti-halation backing, and support
base.

1. Emulsion

Photographic emulsion consist of crystals of light-sensitive compounds (silver nitrate) evenly

distribute throughout plastic base material.

Silver halide emulsions are universally sensitive to the ultraviolet radiations and some
wavelengths of blue light. They can be made sensitive to other colors of light and near infrared radiation
by the addition of special sensitizing dye. Gelatin is universally used as the medium that holds the
crystals in emulsion.

2. Gray or antihalation backing

This layer is placed between the emulsion and the plastic base of a film to prevent whatever light
that passes through the emulsion and reflected by the base back to the emulsion which forms a “halo”.

3. Base

Generally film base are made of plastic material. They serve as a support to the emulsion.

Characteristics of B & W Films

The characteristics of B & W film are speed (sensitivity to light), spectral (wavelength or color) sensitivity
and granularity or graininess.

Although films are universally manufacture in about the same way, there are controlled variations in
procedure, choice and proportion of chemicals used in processing films of different characteristics.

1. Emulsion speed

The different indicators of emulsion speed are as follows:

a. ASA (American Standard Association) rating. This is expressed in arithmetical value.

b. DIN (Deutche Industri Normen) rating, which is expressed in logarithmic value.
c. ISO (International Standards Organization) rating. This is expressed in the combined
arithmetical and logarithmic values.

The different emulsion speed ratings are:

ASA 12 DIN 120 ISO 12/12

ASA 25 DIN 150 ISO 25/15
ASA 50 DIN 180 ISO 50/18
ASA 100 DIN 210 ISO 100/21
ASA 200 DIN 240 ISO 200/24
ASA 400 DIN 270 ISO 400/27
ASA 800 DIN 300 ISO 800/30
ASA 1600 DIN 330 ISO 1600/33

2. Spectral Sensitivity

The different classification of films as according to its spectral sensitivity are:

a. Blue sensitive film – sensitive to ultraviolet rays and blue light only.
b. Orthochromatic film – sensitive to UV rays, blue and green light only.
c. Panchromatic film – sensitive to UV rays, to blue, green, and red light or all colors.
d. Infra-red film – sensitive to UV rays, to all colors and infra-red light

3. Granularity or graininess

This refers to the size of the metallic silver grains that are formed after development of an exposed
film. Generally, the size of metallic silver grains are dependent on the emulsion speed of the film
and the type of developing solution that is used processing. The rule is: the lower the emulsion
speed rating of the film, the finer is the grain and conversely, the higher the emulsion speed

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 rating of the film, the bigger are the grains. Likewise, a film developer will produce a finer grain
than a paper developer when used for film processing.

Photographic Papers (Black and White)

Modern photographic papers are basically composed of a light sensitive coating (emulsion) on a paper
base or support. The emulsion suspended on a gelatin is generally made of silver halide salts. To withstand the
rigor of soaking in chemical solutions and water during processing and washing, as well as the variety if degree
of humidity and temperature, the base is made of wood pulp.

Emulsion Speed
a. Chloride paper – has a slow speed and is suited for contact printing.
b. Bromide paper – has a fast speed and recommended for projection printing or enlarging.
c. Chloro-bromide paper – is a multi-speed and could be used in both contact printing and
enlarging.

LESSON 4
CAMERA
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A camera is a light-tight box; with a lens to form an image; with a shutter and diaphragm to control the
entry of the image; a means of holding a film to record the image/and a viewer or viewfinder to show the
photographer what the image is.

Essential Parts of a Camera

1. Light tight box - a box designed to keep light out and serve as a frame to hold other parts.
2. Lens - designed to collect or to focus the reflected light from an object to form an image on the film.
3. Shutter – a shutter is a device that opens to uncover the film to make an exposure for an accurately
times intervals then closes automatically.
4. Holder of the sensitized material - located at the opposite side of the lens designed to hold firmly the
sensitized material to prevent the formation of the multiple or blurred image.
5. View finder - designed to determine the field of view of the camera or the extent of the coverage of
the given lens

Other Parts of a Camera

1. Shutter speed - is that part of the camera which regulates the time exposure of the film thus,
affecting the amount of light reaching the sensitized material. It is usually expressed in a fraction
of a second. It determine how long the light is allowed through the lens.

1/1 1/2 1/4 1/8 1/15 1/30 1/60 1/125 1/250 1/500 etc.

The higher the number, the faster is the shutter speed and will admit less light and the lower
the number, the slower is the shutter speed and will admit more light.

2. Lens Aperture/ Diaphragm - the ratio between the diameter of the whole lens in relation to the
focal length of the lens. It is the light gathering power of the lens. Otherwise known as lens opening
or relative aperture and it is expressed in F-number. It refers to the opening of the lens measured
by f-stops.

1.8, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16 and 22 are the common series of f-numbers. Some cameras
starts at 1.4, 1.2 or 1.1

The lower the f-number, the bigger the lens opening and the bigger the lens opening the
greater the volume of air that will passed through the lens and reach the sensitized material.

The diaphragm serves as the controller depth of field

Depth of field is defined as the distance between the nearest and the farthest object in
apparent sharp focus when the lens is set or focused on a given distance.

3. Focusing - is that mechanism of a camera designed to control the degree of sharpness of the object
to be photograph. It is usually obtained by estimating the distance from the camera and that of the
object that will make a sharp or clear image.

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Types of Camera
1. View Finder Type - it is considered as the smallest and the simplest type of camera.

2. Single Lens Reflex Camera - it is a type of camera best suited for police work due to its
interchangeability of the lens.

3. Twin Lens Reflex Camera - A type of camera with dual lens, one for focusing and the other for forming
the image.

4. View or Press type - is considered the biggest and expensive type of camera, used for movie making

Lens
A lens is a transparent medium which either converge or diverge light rays passing through it to form
an image.

Daniel Barbaro - first to introduce the use of lens in the camera

Two types of Lenses

1. Convergent, Positive or Convex lens- this lens is always thicker at the center and thinner at the sides.
Light passing through it are bended toward each other on the other side of the lens meeting at a point.

2. Divergent, Negative or Concave Lens – thinner at the center and thicker at the sides. Light passing
through it are bended away from each other.

Inherent Lens Defects or Aberrations

1. Spherical aberration – When light passing through near the central part of a converging lens are bended
more sharply than those rays falling in the edge, thus the rays coming from the edges are focused on a
plane nearer the lens than those coming from the central part.

2. Coma – this is another form of spherical aberration but is concerned with the light rays entering the
lens obliquely. The defect is noticeable only on the outer edges and not on the central part of the lens.
If a lens has coma, circular objects reproduced at the corners of the negative are comet-like form.

3. Curvature of Field – this is a kind of defect where the image formed by a lens comes to a sharper focus
in a curved surface than a flat surface. The correction of this defect is similar to spherical aberration
and coma.

4. Distortion – A lens with distortion is incapable of rendering straight lines correctly; either horizontal or
vertical lines in an object. This is caused by the placement of the diaphragm. If the diaphragm is placed
infront of the lens, straight lines near the edges of the objet tends to bulge outside. This is known as the
barrel distortion. If the diaphragm is placed behind of the lens, straight lines near the edges tends to
bend inward. This is known as the pin-cushion distortion. The distortion is remedied by placing the
diaphragm in between the lens component and the opposite distortions will neutralize each other.

5. Chromatic Aberrations – This defect is the inability of the lens to bring photographic rays of different
wave lengths to the same focus. Ultraviolet rays are bent the most while infrared rays are bend the least
when they pass through the lens. Visible light come to a focus at varying distances. This defect is reduced
by utilizing compound lenses made up of single lends made up of glass of different curvatures.

6. Astigmatism – With this defect, a single point from a subject falling near the margin of the negative will
be imaged not as a point but as a two perpendicular short lines, one of which is always out of focus
while the other is sharp.

Types of Lenses According to their Degree of Correction to the these Lens Aberrations

1. Achromatic lens – correcting chromatic aberration

2. Rapid-rectillinear lens – correcting distortion
3. Anastigmat lens – correcting astigmatism.
4. Apochromatic lens – correcting both astigmatism and chromatic aberration

Focal Length
A fundamental characteristics of a lens is its focal length. This will determine the size of an image of an
object at a given distance, and the area of coverage of the lens.

Focal length is the distance measures from the optical center of the lens to the film plane when the lens
is set or focused at infinity position or far distance.

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 Focal distance is the distance from the optical center of the lens to the film plane.

Types of Lenses According to Focal Length

1. Wide angle lens – a lens with a focal length of less than the diagonal of its negative material. This lens
will have a wide area of coverage but produces a small image size. This is usually used in taking pictures
indoor or inside a small room. It is also used outdoor to get a panoramic view of a scene.

2. Normal lens – is a lens with a focal length approximately equal or more but not more than two diagonal
of its negative material. It is referred to as normal because its coverage corresponds to nearly the
coverage of the human eye

3. Telephoto lens – is a lens with a focal length of more than twice the diagonal of its negative material.
This lens produces a bigger image of objects at far distance but its area of coverage is smaller.

4. Zoom lens – is a lens with variable focal length.