15.1 INTRODUCTION

Thanks to technical progress and vigorous competition, the camera buyer faces a difficult challenge in making a choice. This chapter will attempt to reduce the difficulty by asking the buyer to consider the final image; its purpose, its audience, and its appearance.

Next, some of the more recent technical features are discussed. These include the intriguing ability to select objects in a scene for focus and/or exposure measurement by tracking the position of the user s eye. Finally, various types of cameras and their accessories are described.

In terms of technical sophistication, a moderately priced 35 mm snapshot camera made today would astonish a photographer who was suddenly time shifted from the 1950 s. Consider the automation of exposure, focus, film loading, winding, rewinding, plus flash exposures from a tiny integral electronic flash unit no bigger than a spare roll of film.

The net result, for the snapshooter, is a higher percentage of good pictures per roll of film than ever before. The specialist also profits, particularly when the basis and limits of the feature are understood.

A good share of these technical features have been incorporated in the more advanced cameras; sometimes just because it can be done. Looking beyond this, the most basic technical camera ever made, the view...