Ensign Midget - model 22 camera in comparison to a type 135 film roll

A folding camera is a

camera A camera is an optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), with a ...

type. Folding cameras fold into a compact and rugged package for storage. The lens and shutter are attached to a lens-board which is connected to the body of the camera by a light-tight folding

bellows A bellows or pair of bellows is a device constructed to furnish a strong blast of air. The simplest type consists of a flexible bag comprising a pair of rigid boards with handles joined by flexible leather sides enclosing an approximately airtig ...

. When the camera is fully unfolded it provides the correct

focus Focus, or its plural form foci may refer to: Arts * Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in South Australia Film *''Focus'', a 1962 TV film starring James Whitmore * ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based ...

distance from the film. The key advantage of folding cameras is their excellent physical-size to film-size ratio when the camera is folded for storage. Portable folding cameras dominated camera design from the 1890s to 1930s and were significant into the late 1940s. Specialized cameras such as the

Polaroid SX-70 The SX-70 is a folding single lens reflex Land camera which was produced by the Polaroid Corporation from 1972 to 1981. History In 1948, Polaroid introduced its first consumer camera. The Land Camera Model 95 was the first camera to use ...

Instant film Instant film is a type of photographic film that was introduced by Polaroid Corporation to produce a visible image within minutes or seconds of the photograph's exposure. The film contains the chemicals needed for developing and fixing the photog ...

camera, and the

Speed Graphic The Speed Graphic was a press camera produced by Graflex in Rochester, New York. Although the first Speed Graphic cameras were produced in 1912, production of later versions continued until 1973; with the most significant improvements occurring i ...

press cameras used folding designs into the 1970s. The typical amateur camera of the early 20th Century made various "postcard" sized negatives around 4" × 5". By the 1930s 6 cm × 9 cm cameras for either the

120 120 may refer to: *120 (number), the number * AD 120, a year in the 2nd century AD *120 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC *120 film, a film format for still photography * ''120'' (film), a 2008 film *120 (MBTA bus) *120 (New Jersey bus) *120 (Kent) ...

or 620 film size, were highly popular. The use of folding cameras declined in the late 1930s with advances in lens technology allowing superior enlargement, high quality images on smaller negatives, and shorter distances between the lens and the film. 35mm film made small-sized cameras practical without using bellows. Lens technology allowed 120/620 cameras to use shorter focal distances, and the twin lens reflex cameras became popular. However, some 35mm cameras continued to be built as folding cameras, e.g., the original

Kodak Retina Retina was the brand-name of a long-running series of German-built Kodak 35mm cameras, produced from 1934 until 1969. Kodak Retina cameras were manufactured in Stuttgart-Wangen by the Kodak AG Dr. Nagel Werk which Kodak had acquired in Decem ...

and the Ensign Midget model 22 camera (image at lower right). Medium format folders were produced in

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

until the 1960s. Notable folding cameras include *

Polaroid Corporation Polaroid is an American company best known for its instant film and cameras. The company was founded in 1937 by Edwin H. Land, to exploit the use of its Polaroid polarizing polymer. Land ran the company until 1981. Its peak employment was 21,0 ...

's line of instant film folding cameras, including the famous

SX-70 The SX-70 is a folding single lens reflex Land camera which was produced by the Polaroid Corporation from 1972 to 1981. History In 1948, Polaroid introduced its first consumer camera. The Land Camera Model 95 was the first camera to use ...

, a single lens reflex camera *

Seagull Camera Shanghai Seagull Camera Ltd is a Chinese camera maker located in Shanghai, China. Founded in 1958, Seagull is the oldest camera maker in China. The product line of Seagull includes TLR cameras, SLR cameras, folding cameras, CCD and SLR camera len ...

model 203, popular throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s as an inexpensive, entry-level, medium-format camera * Cosina Voigtländer

Bessa III ''Bessa'' is a genus of flies in the family Tachinidae. Species *'' B. harveyi'' (Townsend, 1892) *'' B. selecta'' ( Meigen, 1824) *'' B. remota'' (Aldrich, 1925) *'' B. parallela'' ( Meigen, 1824) References Tachinidae genera Exoris ...

, a retro-style camera with a 6x6 or 6x7 frames using 120/220 medium-format films

External links

Vintage folding cameras
Cameras by type {{photography-stub