This Tamil Nadu Exhibition Showcases How Vintage Cameras Functioned

Technological evolution has made our lives easier now. From capturing memorable moments to connecting with our loved ones while staying far away, modern gadgets have made everything possible. This evolution didn’t happen overnight. Similarly, the advancement of photo cameras also took its natural course over the years. Earlier, it used to take hours to take a photo; but today, you can click several pictures in a few seconds. To highlight the same, a photographer named Selvam explained the working of vintage cameras at a recently-held exhibition in the city of Sivakasi in Virudhunagar district, Tamil Nadu. While talking about the event, Selvam said that companies used to produce 120 roll cameras earlier. It consisted of a film strip, in which the images were stored. It was then later processed in a dark room with the help of chemicals and other techniques. The roll cameras, back in the day, could only store up to 12 images; and then the film strip was changed to click more photos.

Selvam also said that after taking one photo, you have to roll the film once to take another picture. There were no features like zooming or focus in these cameras. The photographer had to walk near the subject to take a close-up shot of the person or object.

He added that taking photos in the old days was a sophisticated job. Today, you can click every type of image through your phone cameras. Things have become easier now. Now there are several high-definition cameras available in the market. The first camera that was invented was known as Camera Obscura. It was huge in size and used to trap sunlight, and showed it on the screen in front, he shared.

The basic process of the camera is to reflect the light and produce an image; technological evolution has excluded this process from its new gadgets. The mirrorless cameras now don’t use any reflecting surface to take a photo; rather, they use a digital sensor. With the help of this, the camera captures the light from the object and sends a live preview of the image to the LCD screen present in the electronic gadget.