You Asked – Camera Obscura or Lucida?

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Today’s question comes from Coco:

Coco Writes:

“Can you tell me if the cameras obscura and lucida do the same thing. I would like to project images on 24×36 sheets and also like to project the image onto a wall. I would appreciate any info. and what you think are the best products.”

Do you have any information that might help Coco?

Please leave your response in the comments box below.

Thanks for your help!

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2 Comments on "You Asked – Camera Obscura or Lucida?"

  1. J on Thu, 1st Oct 2009 9:29 am 

    The word “camera” is so connected with the ubiquitous filming devices we use almost daily that most non-latin derived language speakers know that the word camera means “room” or “closet”.
    The camera obscura (literally:dark room) was a room with a fixed lens mounted in the wall. The subject to be drawn was outside the room bathed in light in view of the lens. The light bouncing off the subject was projected upside down via the lens on a drawing surface inside the room so the artist could cartoon the image easily, quickly and most importantly – accurately.
    The camera lucida is not a room but a device which uses a pane of glass set at a reflective angle so that the artist could see the ghost image reflected on the drawing surface by looking through the glass. Modern versions are still sold today. The advantages are obvious: the artist is not in darkness and is not sequestered from the model or subjects he/she is rendering and the camera lucida is completely portable.

  2. J on Thu, 1st Oct 2009 9:32 am 

    I’d suggest that you use an overhead projector or one of the many art projectors available on the market.

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