The collection of photographic cameras and accessories dates
back to 1911 and was combined with the field of polygraphy.
Since 1923 the collection has been developing independently.
It documents the development of basic design groups of
photographic cameras. It contains objects demonstrating
fundamental chemical and physical processes in the field.
The oldest are examples of camera obscura - predecessors of
photographic dark-rooms, the collection follows with
chambers for daguerrotypy. The wet colloid process is
represented by several studio dark-rooms as well as travel
chambers. The collection also contains many studio and
travel chambers for dry plates, manual chambers for plates
as well as reel film, cassette, box, tilting and brace
types, single- and twin-lens reflex cameras, cameras for
cine-film, mini-cameras, special cameras - underwater,
panoramatic, stereoscopic, for aerial photography, for
microphotography, for spectroscopy, camouflaged,
reproduction, cameras for component colour photography
- Bernpohl, Spektaretta.
The collection of individual photographic objects counts
about five hundred pieces. It includes objectives from the
oldest models (Plosl, Chevalier, Voigtlender, Petzval,
Steinheil, Busch) to modern types. A large part of the
collection comprises accessories of cameras, outfit of
dark-rooms, instruments for determination of exposure,
illuminating technique, flash and filament lamps. A very
large part of the collection is devoted to instruments for
inspection and projection of static pictures. The collection
is completed with price lists of photographic firms and
promotion materials.
