A photographic quarterly camera work was published by Alfred Stieglitz shortly after the turn
of the century. The photographs, drawings and articles by Stieglitz and his friends signaled
photography's coming of age in America. Photography is an art, a step in learning,
and an insight into the life and the things that surround us. Stieglitz described his own
work as the exploration of the familiar. He said, I have found my subjects within 60 yards of my
door. He favored any means that might free the photographer's whole energies so that they could
be channeled in the direction of the decision, the picture itself. Since 1947, Edwin Landon Polaroid
have pursued a central concept, one single thread, the removal of the barriers between the
photographer and his subject. And now, a compact, folding, electronically controlled, motor driven,
single lens reflex camera, capable of focusing from infinity down to 10 inches, has been developed
to exploit integral self-processing film units, which when exposed are automatically ejected
from the camera with no parts to peel or discard, and whose final images emerge without timing
in daylight, where the viewer can see them materialize within the same transparent,
protective plastic cover through which the film was originally exposed.
hold your left hand out, place the camera across the palm, grasp the
rear of the viewfinder cap, pull the camera into its erect position, to load, press and the door
opens, take the 10 picture film pack and push it all the way in, close the door and automatically
the cover sheet will be ejected from the camera. Now rest the camera against your chin, bring your
eye to the viewing lens, place your thumb on the back of the lens board and your finger on the
focusing wheel, rolling left or right to bring the scene into sharp focus from infinity down to
10 inches. When the correct moment comes, press the red electric shutter button, holding the
camera steady until the film is out. In a situation where the light is faint, the electronic
circuits will control exposures up to 14 seconds, then the film is ejected. The 10 bulb flash unit,
5 on each face, is installed by inserting the prong of the unit firmly into the opening above the
lens. Select, focus, shoot. During the one and a half seconds after the shutter button has been
pushed and even during viewing, another story is going on inside the camera. This optical path
from subject to eye is unique to this single lens reflex system. All elements are articulated to
fold into a compact unit that folds flat. The four element lens collects the light, which bounces
off of a permanent mirror to a fine Fresnel surface. It bundles the light and reflects it back again
to the same mirror. The light leaves the interior of the camera through two astigmatism correcting
slits, bouncing off of an aspheric plastic mirror, which focuses the image in space. It is this image
that is seen through the eyepiece, which is itself aspheric. When the picture is taken, the Fresnel
moves, elevating the taking mirror so that the image that had fallen onto the retina of the
photographer's eye is reflected onto the film. The camera gets a fresh power source within each
fresh film pack, a four cell six volt battery made like ribbon and cut to size. Power and signals
are transmitted throughout the camera. Each part of the system speaks to the other parts,
getting their precise cues from a configuration of circuits that employs more than 200 transistors
and as many resistors. These ultra-miniaturized integrated circuits take control of events
once the button has been pushed. The first signal energizes solenoid number one and closes the shutter
on the lens and photo cell. The blades are open when relaxed and in closing activate the circuit
that moves a small 12,000 rpm motor just seven revolutions, enough to both turn the mirror release
cam and open a pair of contacts. Stopping the motor just as springs take over to release the
mirror Fresnel assembly and send it into taking position. The solenoid power is off and as the
lens shutter starts to open so does the shutter in front of the photo cell. The ambient light passes
through the photo cell lens past the shutter blades and strikes the photo cell mounted on the main
circuit board. The blades continue to open until light reaching the cell builds up enough voltage
to trigger the shutter solenoid. The blades rush to the closed position and the motor is signaled
to start the processing cycle. The gear train moves the film pick forward and the opacifier
and reagents are spread between the photosensitive layers and the clear plastic of the film unit.
In the meantime the mirror is lowered and latched. In lowering it advances the film counter. All
power is down, relaxing the shutter to its open position. The exposed film out of the camera
is now protected by the turquoise opacifier which also carries the processing ingredients.
The film is about one hundredth of an inch thick. Two-thirds of this is the transparent film cover
and the black backing. The rest is the chemistry. Farthest from the cover are three color sensitive
layers each with its complementary layer of dye developer. The untrapped dye developer will
migrate to the positive to form the positive image. The process takes several minutes and the
picture will continue to mature for some time. The white titanium dioxide forms a luminous background
for the metalized dyes. You can look at technology as a living tree, the trunk bearing branches,
the branches leafing out. What you can see is a net each not tying up threads from many sides
but the human reality is more intricate than either one. We have been looking at one invention
which began pretty purely out of the conception of a need, the hope to change the person who takes
pictures from a harried offstage observer into someone who is a natural part of the event.
No single thread wove this invention, not lens, not moving mirror, not film chemistry,
not clever circuits. They are coordinate parts of a single strategy working together to protect
and fulfill the original hope. This invention is finally a system. Call it a system of novelties
but even that is not enough. The camera enters the real world only once it is precisely manufactured
in quantity. That process too reflects a civilized concern. It has its visual beauty. It rewards skill
and care with immediate feedback. In the end it links the inventors, the engineers, the workers,
the distributors into one chain of craftsmanship. The user is the final link. The device helps
meet the universal need to do things well. It offers as a matter of course a tool for supplying
a rich texture to memory. More than that, thoughtful use can help reveal meaning in the
flood of images which makes up so much of human life. We hope the user will fully complete the
chain, gaining as much fun, as much sense of self, and as clear participation in the stream of
human creativity as did Edwin Land and the team who first made SX-70.
