250 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



others with pictures of flowers, and 

 perhaps with nothing else. Others 

 again want to take pictures of people 

 with whom they arc acquainted, others 

 are seeking for unique "genre" pic- 

 tures, that tell a story. The field is 

 varied, but no matter which is of es- 

 pecial interest to a boy, it opens up a 

 new world to him, and will serve to 

 make him studious and thoughtful, and 

 will keep him out of mischief, if his 

 interest is real. It can be of interest 

 in winter as well as in summer, for 

 with the advance in film and plate mak- 

 ing, beautiful winter pictures are as 

 easy to make as any. My friend, 

 think it over, and weigh the future 

 well-being of the boy against the little 

 money it will take, but whatever you 

 do, don't be stingy in the outfit that 

 you buy for him at Christmas or on his 

 birthday. Start him right, and you will 

 never regret it. Should he, by any re- 

 mote possibility, not be adapted to it 

 or not take an interest in it, it cannot 

 do him any harm, but the chances are 

 much in favor of his being fascinated 

 by it and of his "making good." 



More Lens Argument. 



South Norwalk, Connecticut. 

 To the Editor: 



I admit that the ideal condition for 

 all camera users is to own both a 



and a lens, and at 



some time I myself expect to own some 

 kind of an anastigmat lens. 



The fact, however, remains that the 

 price is beyond the purse of the aver- 

 age amateur. Neither you nor I can 

 force the majority of amateur camer- 

 ists to purchase an anastigmat. Ridi- 

 cule of the cheaper lens will in no 

 way help matters. 



The; Guide; to Nature offers the field 

 which might draw many of these 

 camera users nearer to nature, and 

 could if it would show them how they 

 might improve their pictures with the 

 means at hand. 



To ridicule the one, and "sing praises 

 to the other," smacks of commercialism 

 and tends to antagonize the amateur, 

 rather than to lead him toward better 

 things. 



Some other camera users with whom 

 I have talked will not admit that many 

 of the pictures appearing in the Guide 

 to Nature, and ascribed to an anastig- 

 mat lens, are better, to say nothing of 

 being seventy-five per cent better, than 

 work done with other lenses. 



Yours truly, 

 Wilbur F. Smith. 



Why bless your dear old rectilinear 

 heart, my dear brother, I have never 

 for one moment made the assertion 

 that my pictures appearing in The 

 Guide to Nature are better than many 

 taken by other users of the camera, 

 even with much cheaper lenses. But 

 I do assert that the pictures that I 

 have taken with the anastigmat lens 

 are one hundred times better than they 

 would have been if I had taken them 

 with a rectilinear lens — that is, with 

 the exception of a few subjects wherein 

 the good qualities of the anastigmat 

 do not seem especially to apply. I be- 

 lieve that what is true in my own ex- 

 perience is true of every other worker 

 whether skilled or unskilled. I believe 

 it is the duty of this magazine to get 

 and to do the verv best things. I be- 

 lieve that thoroughly good work can- 

 not be done with poor tools. I be- 

 lieve that nature is worth studying 

 with the best that is in us and with 

 the best that we can obtain. It is not 

 the mission of this magazine nor of this 

 Association to make any one contented 

 with anything in any respect short of 

 the best. I am not acting in a spirit 

 of commercialism. I believe that the per- 

 centage of profit is no larger on anas- 

 tigmat lenses than on any others in 

 competition with them. There are 

 more houses making anastigmat lenses. 

 Why? Is it because they are more 

 easily made, more easily corrected, 

 more easily used, but produce no better 

 results? Hardly. I think. May it not 

 be just possible that the competing 

 manufacturers recognize the fact that 

 results are better? If not, then why do 

 they make such lenses to attract only 

 the wealthy amateur, or the profes- 

 sional man who must have the best to 

 succeed in his work? If work by the 

 cheap lens is accepted by the expert 



