Medium
Photography
Light, Lenses & Exposure
What each camera setting actually changes, and why.
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Aperture primarily controls which two things?
From Glass Plates to Sensors
The camera has been reinvented roughly once a generation. These are the changes that mattered.
About this topic
Photography's history is a sequence of solved problems. The first images were unique objects that could not be copied, so the negative was invented. Negatives had to be coated and developed while still wet, so dry plates followed, and photographers stopped carrying tents into the field. Plates were heavy and slow to change, so roll film arrived, and cameras became small enough to carry without deciding to. Each step widened who could take a picture and what could be photographed. The 35mm camera made candid street work possible because it was quiet and quick. Instant film removed the wait entirely. The digital sensor removed the material cost of an exposure, which changed how many pictures people take more than it changed what a camera is. The optics at the front have altered remarkably little throughout.
Questions & answers
From Glass Plates to Sensors: all 10 questions and answers
Every question in this quiz is listed below with its correct answer and the reasoning behind it. Play first if you would rather not see the answers — or read through as a study sheet.
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1A daguerreotype produced its image on what?
- A A thin iron sheet
- B A polished silver-coated copper plate Correct
- C A sheet of coated paper
- D A glass plate backed with black varnish
Answer: B. A polished silver-coated copper plate
Why: Each one was unique and could not be reprinted. That limitation is a large part of why the rival paper-negative process eventually won.
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2Which early process introduced a negative, allowing many prints from one exposure?
- A The calotype Correct
- B The daguerreotype
- C The ambrotype
- D The tintype
Answer: A. The calotype
Why: William Henry Fox Talbot patented it in 1841. The negative-to-positive principle then governed photography for around a century and a half.
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3Wet collodion plates had to be handled how?
- A Frozen between exposures
- B Exposed only in direct sunlight
- C Developed several weeks after exposure
- D Coated, exposed and developed before they dried Correct
Answer: D. Coated, exposed and developed before they dried
Why: Photographers therefore carried a portable darkroom into the field, often a tent or a converted wagon. It is one reason so many 1860s war photographs show static subjects and aftermath.
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4The Leica, introduced in the 1920s, popularised which film format?
- A Quarter plate
- B 110 cartridge film
- C 35mm Correct
- D Medium format roll film
Answer: C. 35mm
Why: The film stock was borrowed from the cinema industry, which already used it by the mile. The small, quiet body made unobtrusive street photography practical for the first time.
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5In a twin-lens reflex camera, what are the two lenses for?
- A One for the left eye and one for the right
- B One for viewing and one for taking the picture Correct
- C One for colour and one for black and white
- D One for close-up and one for distance
Answer: B. One for viewing and one for taking the picture
Why: The photographer looks down into a hood at waist level. That posture encourages a lower viewpoint than an eye-level camera, which is visible in the pictures.
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6What was the innovation of the Polaroid camera?
- A The print developed inside the camera within minutes Correct
- B It needed no lens
- C It exposed two frames at once
- D It required no batteries
Answer: A. The print developed inside the camera within minutes
Why: Edwin Land demonstrated it in 1947. The story goes that his young daughter had asked why she could not see a photograph straight away.
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7In photography, a "stop" refers to what?
- A The point at which a lens is fully focused
- B A mechanical limit on the shutter
- C A pause between frames on a roll
- D A doubling or halving of the light reaching film or sensor Correct
Answer: D. A doubling or halving of the light reaching film or sensor
Why: Aperture, shutter speed and sensitivity are all calibrated in the same units. That shared scale is what lets a photographer trade one against another and keep the exposure identical.
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8Kodachrome, launched in 1935, was significant as what?
- A The first film usable in daylight
- B The first film with a plastic base
- C The first commercially successful colour film Correct
- D The first film sold in cartridges
Answer: C. The first commercially successful colour film
Why: Its colour dyes were added during a complicated development process rather than being built into the film. Very few laboratories in the world could process it.
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9In which decade did autofocus become standard on single-lens reflex cameras?
- A The 2000s
- B The 1980s Correct
- C The 1950s
- D The 1990s
Answer: B. The 1980s
Why: Minolta's Maxxum 7000 of 1985 put the focusing motor in the camera body itself. Rival manufacturers followed within a few years, and compact cameras had it earlier still.
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10A digital image sensor works by converting light into what?
- A An electrical charge Correct
- B A magnetic pattern
- C A chemical dye layer
- D A pattern of heat
Answer: A. An electrical charge
Why: Colour is reconstructed from a mosaic of red, green and blue filters laid over the pixels. There are twice as many green filters as either of the others, because human vision is most sensitive there.
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From Glass Plates to Sensors has 10 questions and takes about 7 minutes to finish. It is rated Medium and sits in our Photography category.
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