you press the button …
Toronto. The invention of the dry plate in 1871 opened the door to sub-second exposures in sunlight through a normal photographic lens. And with sub-second performance came a need for shutters. And with shutters came a need for shutter buttons.
In the 1880s, roll film came into being allowing many shots to be taken on a single roll. And in 1888 the famous Kodak camera went to market and success. A typical Kodak instruction sheet is shown if you click the icon at left. Film and Kodak opened the door to many, many more ‘amateur’ photographers and expanded the use of photography to help record family history.
To differentiate its products from those of Kodak, Ansco, photography’s distant number two, elected to use a red shutter release button on its cameras. As the late Don Douglas said, “just pass the camera to ‘aunt Tilley’ and tell her to hold it steady and press the red button ..”. Even today in the era of digital technology, a button triggers the ‘shutter’ to time the light exposed to the sensor cells. But for most folk, the ‘P’ setting on a digital camera (or using a smart phone) avoids any need to understand or set the shutter speed.
Does this post ‘push your buttons’? Then you are showing your age or enthusiasm.
