ANIMAL PHOTOGRAPHY 21 



essential that the camera for telephoto work should 

 be very rigid, as the slightest vibration is greatly 

 magnified. 



Before touching on the practical use of the camera 

 there are several details to be dealt with small 

 ones, but nevertheless important. Let the camera 

 be in every way as simple as possible, free from 

 complicated adjustments and all its parts easily 

 accessible in case of anything getting out of order. 

 Let there be as little outside machinery as possible. 

 Every projection offers a chance for trouble ; a 

 slight blow, and perhaps the whole outfit may be 

 rendered useless. All parts should work easily and 

 with as little noise as possible. One of the great 

 objections to the focal plane shutter is the noise it 

 makes. The ideal camera could be reflex with both 

 focal plane and lens shutter, the former for very rapid 

 work such as birds in flight, and the latter for slower 

 exposures where silence is all important. There is 

 at present a reflex with a lens shutter, but it unfor- 

 tunately does not allow much variation of lenses, so 

 that its usefulness is greatly curtailed. The reflex 

 camera should be so arranged that the focussing hood 

 admits of use from above and from the back. The 

 advantage of this is that it allows the camera to be 

 held level with the eyes so that the immediate fore- 

 ground is not shown in the picture. When you are 

 in a canoe you can operate this camera with greater 

 freedom and safety as it will not be necessary to 

 stand up or even to kneel in order to clear the adja- 

 cent water or the canoe bow which so often obtrudes 

 itself in such pictures. Good plate holders are of the 

 utmost importance ; not only must they be abso- 



