Press camera
A press camera is a large- or medium-format camera that was mainly used by news photographers in the early to mid-20th century. It was largely replaced by 35mm cameras in the 1960s and later by digital cameras. The best-known press camera was the Speed Graphic. Today, press cameras are still used as rugged, portable view cameras by some photojournalists and fine art photographers as a cheaper alternative.
Common features and examples
- Some models have both a focal plane shutter and an iris lens shutter. The focal plane shutter allows fast shutter speeds and works with lenses that don’t have their own shutter (barrel lenses), while the iris shutter lets you sync flash at any speed. Graflex Speed Graphic models and the Ihagee Duplex “two shutters” are examples of cameras with both types of shutters.
- The most common film size was 4×5 inches. Other sizes included 2.25×3.25 inches (6×9 cm), 3.25×4.25 inches, and various 120-film formats from 6×6 cm to 6×12 cm. European presses used 9×12 cm.
How they were used
- Press cameras were widely used from the 1900s through the early 1960s. The larger film negatives gave very high image quality.
- They were largely replaced by 6×6 cm Rolleiflex in the 1960s and then by 35mm rangefinders and SLRs. As film technology improved, editors were happy with the smaller negatives, and smaller formats became more popular.
- The bigger cameras were bulky and heavy, and film holders held only two pictures each. This meant fewer exposures on a job (for example, two per holder; 12 exposures on 120 film; 36 on 35 mm film).
- Compared to true view cameras, press cameras have fewer swing/tilt adjustments, and many had focal-plane shutters, so back movements were rare.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 21:53 (CET).