box camera

American  

noun

1. a simple, boxlike camera, without bellows, sometimes allowing for adjustment of lens opening but usually not of shutter speed.

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box camera British  

noun

1. a simple box-shaped camera having an elementary lens, shutter, and viewfinder

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Etymology

Origin of box camera

First recorded in 1835–45

Example Sentences

Christina Broom only began to experiment with photography in her forties, using a box camera.

From BBC • Aug. 7, 2024

Positioning his bulky box camera at Charing Cross, a conjunction of six thoroughfares just south of today’s Trafalgar Square, he exposed a silver-coated copper plate for several minutes.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 17, 2023

Lucas’s arrogance is exemplified by his insistence on transporting a big box camera and its gear, as well as a large cross meant for the new church.

From Washington Post • Mar. 13, 2023

Mr. Sokolsky was an untrained photographer who grew up in a tenement on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, snapping pictures with his father’s box camera as a child.

From New York Times • Sep. 14, 2022

In honor of the fair Kodak called the folding version of its popular model No. 4 box camera the Columbus.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson