John Fjeldsted Photography - The History of Full Frame

The History of Full Frame

Many of us love history. Here's a short interlude where you can learn about the history of 35mm photography, the basis for today's full frame digital cameras.

It began with 35mm Film

Photography has been around for a long time - with its beginnings back in the mid 1800's. Back in early times, cameras used large glass plates and long exposures both necessitating the use of tripods. Taking a camera on a hike could mean having a pack mule to care what you needed.

In the early 1900's, a smart fellow by the name of Oscar Barnack at Ernst Leitz Optische Werke had a bright idea. He saw how the emerging motion picture industry used film with sprockets holes on both sides that came in a small format. What if we use motion picture film for still images? If we make really good lenses, then it should be possible to project through the developed film and enlarge for bigger prints on photographic paper. His first cameras based on this concept were sold in 1925 and are know as the Leica I.

The Rangefinder

Then, in 1932, Barnack expanded the design it two important ways. He integrated an optical rangefinder to ensure that the lens could be brought into accurate focus. The rangefinder and lens were linked such that as the photographer turned the focus ring on the lens - it adjusted the two image projections viewed through the rangefinder. When the double image converged for the subject in view, this corresponded to the optics in the lens also being in focus for this distance.

The other important development was the introduction of interchangeable lenses - allowing different focal lengths to be used by the same camera. This camera is the Leica II and is often considered as the first 35mm compact system camera.

In 1954, Leitz (now the Leica camera company) introduced the M3, which merged the rangefinder and viewfinder windows (Messucher - German for rangefinder) and also switched the lens mount from screw type to bayonet, making it even easier to switch lenses. Many camera companies, including Zeiss, Canon and Nikon adopted this same rangefinder camera format, establishing it as the most popular of the time.

It should come as no surprise, when Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone 4 he made reference to the old Leica (1). As with with the early (and current) Leica rangefinder cameras, Steve was introducing how it's possible to have a small camera that you can take with you everywhere.

I own and still shoot a Leica II camera from 1937. It's light and compact. When you're not shooting, the lens collapses into the camera body, making easy to drop in a coat pocket. It's really no trouble at all to have it with you wherever you go. While compactness is critical, it's equally important to capture images with excellent quality. Here's a picture of Yosemite Falls that I shot with the Leica II earlier this summer. I can sense the textures and tonality of the rocks, grass, water and trees, which together create a 3-dimensional impression as light reflects in the scene.

Leica II with Summitar 5cm, f/2.0, Ektar 100

The Single Lens Reflex (SLR)

The idea of placing a mirror behind the camera lens to reflect the image to a ground glas surface for viewing and focusing reach back into the 1800s. With the growth of 35mm photography Zeiss began to investigate as early as 1936 or 1937 (2) and follow World War II released the Contax S in 1949. With ties to the Asahi Optical Company, later to be known as Pentax, came the introduction of the Asahiflex IIB, the first SLR with pentaprism and an auto-returning mirror (2). The Japanese manufactures Miranda and Topcon (3) quickly introduced SLR cameras in 1955 and 1957 respectively, followed Zunow, Minolta in 1958, and Nikon and Canon in 1959 (2).

In the 1960s and 70's came important advances in setting camera exposure. This was first realized by placing the sensor behind a partially silver portion of the mirror, or incorporating it into the pentaprism viewfinder and followed by Olympus measuring the exposure as it reflected off the film itself. In addition to metering the exposure, auto setting of the lens aperture for a given shutter speed (shutter priority mode) or auto setting of the shutter speed for a given lens aperture (aperture priority mode) and by the mid 1980s cameras would offer either mode (programmed autoexposure)

The first cameras with autofocus capabilities came in the 1970s but i t wasn't until the mid to late 1980s that autofocus became more broadly successful based on offerings from Minolta, Canon, Nikon, and Pentax.

While the move to digital sensor photography started in the 1990s, it wasn't until the early 2000's that SLR cameras incorporated full frame sensors. By 2002 Pentax, Canon and Contax, followed by Nikon in 2007 had FF DSLR offerings. Where film cameras accommodated different lighting conditions by using film adapted with higher ISO or daylight or traditional (tungsten) lighting, the output of from digital sensors are scaled to achieve higher ISO or normalized to achieve proper color using either manual or auto white balance.

Another important addition was the ability to record not only stills, but also motion video.

Digital Rangefinders

In parallel with the introduction of DSLR cameras (both FF and APS-C) was the development of the Digital Rangefinder - with the Espon R-D1 being the first in 2004. It made use of 50 years of existing Rangefinder lenses, all based on he Leica-M mount and incorporated an APS-C sensor. In 2006, Leica introduced the M8, also with a APS-C sensor and the M9, the first FF Rangefinder, in 2009. Leica followed with the introduction of the M240 in 2012, the M10 in 2017, and M11 in 2022 with several derivatives in between. Characteristic of Rangefinders is their lighter weight, compact size and the use of smaller manual focus lenses. Historically, a Rangefinder implied that framing and focusing the image was achieved by viewing through an optical viewer. Fuji's X series (APS-C) cameras have versions that include optical and/or electronic viewing.

Mirrorless

The term Mirrorless is generally meant as an abbreviation for Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera (MILC) and often specifically amid at either FF or APS-C formats and came into common usage to distinguish itself from DLSR cameras. Strictly speaking, the Digital Rangefinder cameras are the first Mirrorless cameras and in part continue to be designated as such, but the term Mirrorless has come into it most common usage to capture the trend from DSLRs, removing the DSLR's mirror and pentaprism optical view finder and replacing this with an Electronic View Finder (EVF). Early attention came when Sony made an important move with the introduction of its NEX-7 (APS-C) camera in 2011 and its a7 (FF) in 2013. Canon introduced it first Mirrorless, the EOS-M (APS-C) in 2012. Leica introduced its first non-Rangefinder Mirrorless camera, the SL, in 2015, followed by the SL2 in 2019 and the SL2-S in 2020. With both Canon and Nikon continuing to promote their DSLR cameras, their shift to FF Mirrorless came first in 2018 with the introduction of the EOS R5 and R6 models, and Z7 and Z6 models. In 2019, Panasonic joined the FF Mirrorless market with the introduction of its S series cameras which together with Leica (and Sigma) share L-mount lenses as well as the L-Alliance for camera development.

One important advancement that has come in to prominence with Mirrorless cameras is the incorporation of In Body Image Stabilization (IBIS) which in many circumstances allows for shooting images at slower shutter speeds, but also adds tremendously to the quality of video recording. One additional benefit of having a moveable sensor is the effective extension of pixel resolution through what is referred to as Multishot. With a single press of the shutter release, the camera acquires multiple images, each slightly shifted from the next and then in the camera combines these together to create images with twice the pixel count both vertically and horizontally. In this case, the camera must be stabilized so the IBIS can be used to achieve higher resolution as opposed to stabilization. Another common function is the acquisition of multiple images in support of high dynamic range (HDR).

From the introduction of FF DSLR cameras until today (early 2023) pixel count has climbed from 12 MP to 60MP, with current offerings typically ranging from 24 - 60MP. While much of the consumer market is influenced by specification numbers, many photographers are very please to work at 24MP for two reasons. The first is attributed to the larger the 6 x 6 micron pixel size which generally offers improved low light sensitivity and lower noise in the images. Secondly, processing and storing images with higher pixel count requires greater computer resources and/or processing time.

Summary

Camera development continues at a remarkable pace with significant changes occurring within the last few years. What is interesting, is how the dimensions established nearly 100 years ago in the 35mm format continue to provide what many consider the ideal combination of outstanding image quality and artistic capability.

With many new develops has come an increase in camera, weight and complexity. This is one of the reasons for the dramatic shift to smartphone photography. The good news is that there are many options across to chose from which can allow you to reduce size and complexity and improve compactness. While this may require more manual intervention, learning how to achieve this may add to your creative ability and enjoyment.

Lastly, I like the Leica tagline "Das Wesentliche" which translated means that which is essential. I too advocate to look for simplicity.

For more details, see the following references and in particular, reference 2 which also served a the background and source for much of the SLR portion above.

(1) https://leicarumors.com/2010/06/07/steve-jobs-on-the-new-iphone-4-its-like-a-beautiful-old-leica-camera.aspx/

(2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_single-lens_reflex_camera#:~:text=The%20photographic%20single%2Dlens%20reflex,of%20his%20SLRs%20were%20made.

(3) https://mikeeckman.com/2021/12/topcon-r-1957/

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