Volltext Seite (XML)
100 THE PHOTOGRAPHIC NEWS. [February 6, 1891. and disposing of them, or publicly exhibiting them by way of advertisement or otherwise, without the consent of the customer. At the same time, this is a question of very great importance to all professional photographers, and they should carefully consider whether it would not be well to propose some amendment. As regards registration, it is not proposed to make many alterations of any importance. The principal seems to be the abolition of the Registry at Stationers’ Hall, and the establishment of another to be called the Copyright Registration Office, under the control of a Registrar of Copyrights, and under the superintendence of the Board of Trade. The proposed form of “ Request for Registra tion ” is, in the case of photographs, much the same as the present form, except that the second and third columns (i.e., the columns for the date of, and the names of the parties to, the agreement or assignment) are omitted, and another column is added for the date of publication. In all cases the fee and a copy of the photograph must accompany the form. Immediately on receiving the form, the Registrar is to give to the person requesting the registration a “Certificate of Registration of Copyright,” which is to be prima facie evidence of title to the copy right registered. Instead of bringing an action against any person who infringes a copyright, it is proposed by the Bill to allow the owner, if he likes, to summon the offender before a police magistrate or other court of summary jurisdiction, and the magistrate may, if he is found guilty, order him to pay a fine not exceeding £5, which is to be given to the owner of the copyright by way of compensation. This would be a great advantage where the copyright is not of any great value, as the proceedings would be less costly and much more rapid. It should be added that, according to the memorandum which is circulated with the Bill, the alterations proposed to be made in the law are for the most part those suggested in the Report of the Royal Commission on Copyright of 1878, and embodied in a Bill introduced at the end of the session of 1879 by Lord John Manners, Viscount Sandon, and the Attorney-General, on behalf of the then Govern ment. A NEW WHEEL CAMERA. A new hand camera of that new class in which the plates are removed one by one from their receptacles by means of a wheel, then exposed, and afterwards stored away, has been issued this week by Messrs. Marion and Co., and contains features of striking novelty. Fig. 1. is a plan of the machine. At one end are seen the grooves in which the plates are packed vertically. Any plate is picked out at will by means of the wheel apparatus, brought into position for exposure, and afterwards returned to any groove the operator chooses. Thus, supposing him to have charged the receptacle with rapid and slow plates, and a few which have been made orthochromatic, he can in a moment select any plate which will suit the particular subject before him. Fig. 2 represents the interior of the camera with its side removed. In order that the grooving may be true, it is made of electro-deposited copper thrown down upon a gutta percha mould truly made into form by a die and heavy pressure. This mould is then blackleaded, and copper, by means of a suitable current, thrown down upon it in a malleable condition of molecular aggregation. Fig. 3 represents the under part of the camera, with the governing and regulating parts of the apparatus. Focussing is effected, when desired, by moving the pointer C to a suitable position on the scale D. By suitably turning the pointer A, a plate is released from any groove, and afterwards returned to it or any other desired groove. B is a removable card for recording exposures. The knob at J, attached to a cord, sets the shutter ; a gentle pull at K makes the exposure. The camera can be fitted with the purchaser’s own lens, provided he possesses one of suitable focal length. The lens otherwise issued with it by the makers is a rapid one by Voigtlander. The grooves will take plates varying in thickness ; the plates are pressed in the carrier by means of a spring, to ensure that their faces are in true focus. The camera is the invention of Mr. Dickinson, one of the members of the staff of Messrs. Marion & Co. Great pains have been taken to make it light-tight, and to pre vent the plates getting jammed anywhere during the manipulation of the instrument. The camera is a refreshing novelty, and, so far as can be judged from inspection, we think that when in practical use it is likely to justify the enthusiastically high opinion of its merits held by its manufacturers. A Bov’s CAMERA.—The Blackfriars Photographic and Sen sitising Company has sent us for review a “ boy’s camera,” which is a marvel of cheapness ; it includes folding tripod legs, bellows camera, double dark slide for quarter-plates, and a lens. Photographs can be taken by its aid, as we have proved, and good ones can be taken by those who use a stop of suitable diameter, and allow in focussing for the difference of position of the visual and chemical foci. The first camera of many a boy has been made out of a cigar box and a spectacle lens, but the one under notice is a far more elaborate instrument. A lens of longer focus would suit it better,
