Folding camera

A folding camera is a special kind of camera that can be folded into a small and strong package for easy storage. These cameras have a part called a light-tight folding bellows that connects the lens to the body. When the camera is fully opened, it gives the right focus distance for taking pictures. The main advantage of folding cameras is that they can be folded into a very small size while still holding the film needed for pictures.

Folding cameras were very popular from the 1890s to the 1930s and were still used into the late 1940s. Even some special cameras like the Polaroid SX-70 Instant film camera and the Speed Graphic press cameras used folding designs until the 1970s. In the early 1900s, most regular cameras made small negatives about the size of a postcard, but by the 1930s, cameras using 6 cm × 9 cm film became very popular.

The use of folding cameras went down in the late 1930s because new lens technology allowed better picture quality from smaller negatives. Smaller cameras using 35mm film became practical without needing a bellows. Even so, some 35mm cameras, like the original Kodak Retina, were still made as folding cameras. Some folding cameras were made in the USSR until the 1960s. Famous folding cameras include Polaroid Corporation's instant film cameras, the Seagull Camera model 203, and the Cosina Voigtländer Bessa III.