A NATURE CAMERA 



FIG. 



D 



9. The cramp as 

 bought. 



at first, at any rate, the camera shall be used for " time exposures " only. 



At any future time the camera can be fitted with a more expensive lens and 



shutter and that without any alteration ; but at first we will be content to 



use a cap in the old-fashioned way. 



I suggest to my younger readers that the camera, fitted as I am about to 



describe it, will enable them to take photographs of their friends, and that it 



can be thus made to earn a more efficient lens and shutter. Such a lens and 



shutter (for example, a Rectilinear or Symmetrical lens of 6-inch focus, in a 



Unicum shutter) can be bought second-hand, for sums from los. upwards, 



from any of the well-known firms. 



In the meantime the camera, with the telescope lens, can be used for a 



very great many branches of Nature study, especially of " still life " subjects. 



Nests and eggs, flowers and trees, museum specimens, 



butterflies, moths, beetles, shells, can all be taken with 



it ; so that it will be a really useful instrument for many 



purposes of Nature study. What is more, the camera 



has a fine focusing power, and can be used later on for 



taking photomicrographs. 



First of all, a dark slide will be required to hold the 



plate. A quarter-plate metal dark slide is the best to buy, and will cost, new, 



is. or is. 6d. In addition, for focusing purposes you will require a " cramp," 



which can be bought for a penny at a 

 Penny Bazaar. Fig. 9 shows such a 

 cramp. When bought, prepare it for 

 transformation into a " focusing screw " 

 by cutting off the arms at C and D, and 

 drilling two holes for screws at C, and 

 also at A and B, which mark the cup at 

 the end of the screw. If you have no 



tools for cutting or drilling the metal, you will find a good-natured black- 

 smith or a working ironmonger able to do it for you. Fig. 9*2 shows the result. 

 Next, build a box to form the body of the 



camera Fig. 10. To the back of this box (AB) 



the dark slide is to be attached. The latter must 



run in grooves, which are best made by bending 



over two strips of zinc and attaching them by 



screws to two opposite sides. Fig. 11 shows one 



of these bent strips in position. Glue strips of 



velvet on to the edge of the wood, to form a 



light-tight bed on which the dark slide will rest. 



The length of this camera body is about 4^ 



inches ; the width and depth must depend on the 



FIG. ga. The cramp cut for use in camera. 



B 



FIG. 10. The camera body. 



On the 



size of your dark slide, and will correspond to its length and width, 

 other end of the box is a square opening of about 2\ inches. 



