une chambre de format 9x12 cm

English translation: a 9x12 cm format camera

10:41 Mar 26, 2013
French to English translations [PRO]
Tech/Engineering - Photography/Imaging (& Graphic Arts) / photography
French term or phrase: une chambre de format 9x12 cm
This is from a catalogue text for a photographer's work in an art exhibition.

"Muni d’une chambre de format 9x12 cm, qui permet des tirages de très grande netteté, l’artiste a photographié les ciels peints en trompe-l’œil..."

I don't understand what kind of "chamber" this might be. Can anyone cast any light on it for me?

Thank you,
Rachel
Rachel Ward
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:36
English translation:a 9x12 cm format camera
Explanation:
camera in Latin is chambre in FR (ref. "camera obscura")
Selected response from:

meirs
Israel
Local time: 16:36
Grading comment
Going with this as it fits the text best. Thanks for all the help and discussion!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5chamber
Cyrz
4 +1a 9x12 cm view camera
Daryo
3 +1a 9x12 cm format camera
meirs
4a 5×4 technical OR monorail camera
Tony M
Summary of reference entries provided
chambre
Tony M

Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


4 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
a 9x12 cm format camera


Explanation:
camera in Latin is chambre in FR (ref. "camera obscura")

meirs
Israel
Local time: 16:36
Native speaker of: Native in HebrewHebrew, Native in RomanianRomanian
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Going with this as it fits the text best. Thanks for all the help and discussion!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Cyrz: "chambre" is chamber, camera is "appareil photo"
7 mins
  -> Well, you are entitled to disagree

agree  Tony M: Though here, probably 'large-format camera' would be best, the equivalent of our 5" × 4" / Not necessarily! 5×4 film is (was?) also available in roll format! / '5-4 camera' is perfectly precise and common jargon.
13 mins
  -> Thanks - it is a "cut film" camera, with bellows and the works

agree  chris collister: Yes, also referred to in the photo mags as "boîtiers", though "chambre" is more "serious". Cyrz is not correct.
22 mins

neutral  Daryo: not really wrong, but not precise enough either.
11 hrs
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10 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
chamber


Explanation:
The chamber in a camera is the place behind the lense where you'll find the electronic sensor or all the sensitive parts in non digital cameras like the shutter and and the film. 9x12 cm format is large format in photography, corresponding to 4x5'' format in the non-metric system. The accessible part of the system is called a back, "dos" in French.

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Note added at 12 mins (2013-03-26 10:54:28 GMT)
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I'm French and a photographer (and obviously translator) so I'm confident in the answer :)

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Note added at 43 mins (2013-03-26 11:24:47 GMT)
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Tony M, here is an article from MacWorld.com (which has to be written in proper English I guess) if you don't believe you're using the word chamber in the English language (feel free to look for many more by using Google or Bing): http://www.macworld.com/article/1049711/sensorclean.html
And the definition of a camera from a serious dictionary: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/camera

And in French the "chambre" IS DEFINITELY NOT the whole camera, as I wrote I am French since 46 years AND photographer since 25 years or so...

Example sentence(s):
  • Large Format Cameras and Accessories; 4x5" (9x12cm) film backs
Cyrz
France
Local time: 15:36
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Tony M: We don't use the word 'chamber' like this in EN, and even in FR, 'chambre' means the whole camera — as can be readily proved with 1000s of examples by a quick web search. / It is the photographer who is 'muni'.
11 mins
  -> No. "Muni d'une chambre" means there is a system using a chamber (what kind of system is not explained here) though you're right it could as well be a whole chamber with a "soufflet".

agree  Daryo: en connaissance de cause ... the old photographic chamber: http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/botsman/botsman0806/botsma...
9 hrs
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9 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
a 9x12 cm view camera


Explanation:
Chambre photographique
[http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chambre_photographique]

"View camera
...
The view camera is a type of camera first developed in the era of the daguerreotype[1] (1840s-'50s) and still in use today, though with many refinements. It comprises a flexible bellows that forms a light-tight seal between two adjustable standards, one of which holds a lens, and the other a viewfinder or a photographic film holder.[2]

The bellows is a flexible, accordion-pleated box. It encloses the space between the lens and film, and flexes to accommodate the movements of the standards.[3] The front standard is a board at the front of the camera that holds the lens and, usually, a shutter.

At the other end of the bellows, the rear standard is a frame that holds a ground glass, used for focusing and composing the image before exposure—and is replaced by a holder containing the light-sensitive film, plate, or image sensor for exposure. The front and rear standards can move in various ways relative to each other, unlike most other camera types. This provides control over focus, depth of field, and perspective. The camera is usually used on a tripod or other support.
..."
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/View_camera]


Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:36
Native speaker of: Native in SerbianSerbian, Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tony M: Yes, that is indeed another term sometimes used for this general type of camera. / Indeed, yes: I used to be a photography lecturer, and had the privilege to see, and occasionally even use, some wonderful old examples.
3 mins
  -> These cameras are in a league of their own... Thanks!
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12 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
a 5×4 technical OR monorail camera


Explanation:
But this does risk over-translation!

A technical or monorail camera (like Daryo's 'view camera') is a special type of large-format camera, where the front and back panels or 'standards' can be moved independently, making them ideal for certain kinds of photography — as explained in the last paragraph of Daryo's ref.

However, the FR term 'chambre' encompasses a much wider subset of all cameras, not all of which are necessarily going to be 'technical' or 'view' types — there are 'large format' cameras that do not have these extra 'technical' features. So we do not know which exact type of camera this artist might have been using.

Tony M
France
Local time: 15:36
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 128

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Daryo: "monorail" is probably too narrow, also 5" x 4" is similar to but not the same format as 9x12 cm // here it's about a specific format - I see no point in "adapting it" to inches - especially for photographers who know about this kind of cameras.
6 hrs
  -> Yes, like I said, but the same could be said of your 'view'; and I think 'localizing' it to 5-4 would be more meaningful to an anglophone readership, since it has no actual technical ramifications in this instance.
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Reference comments


25 mins
Reference: chambre

Reference information:
The term 'chambre' is commonly used in this context in FR to mean roughly the equivalent of our 'box camera'; see this lovely antique example, as well as plenty of other more modern ones if you do a quick Google:

http://www.ipernity.com/doc/b.vincent/11729217

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Note added at 9 hrs (2013-03-26 20:35:15 GMT)
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I have found a vast number of examples that prove beyond any doubt that 'chambre' IS used in FR to refer to the entire camera apparatus (well, with the possible exception of the actual lens assembly, where that is detachable); HOWEVER, the key point is that 'chamber' is NOT used in the same way in EN — or if it is, only in the very rarest of instances; it is certainly not a common term like 'chambre' in FR.

Naturally, many types of camera might include some kind of 'chamber' — but in EN, this term is only normally used for some part of the camera, and NOT the apparatus as a whole.

Tony M
France
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 128
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