An instrument which by means of a prism of a peculiar form, or an arrangement of mirrors, causes an apparent image of an external object or objects to appear as if projected upon a plane surface, as of paper or canvas, so that the outlines may conveniently traced. It is generally used with the microscope.
An art tool that uses a prism to concentrate and project light onto paper (or some other surface) so you can trace the resulting image.
an optical device consisting of an attachment that enables an observer to view simultaneously the image and a drawing surface for sketching it
an optical device used as a drawing aid by artists
a prism that could be set up on a flat surface and pointed at a distant object, casting its outline onto a sheet of paper, which the artist-engineer could then trace
This attachment usually clips onto the eyepiece, and has a piece of neutral density glass that reflects part of the image to the eye, while, at the same time, reflecting the same image downward onto a piece of white paper. The viewer can then draw the image by tracing it. The oldest camera lucida for the microscope is Wollaston's.
(room of light) An optical instrument invented in 1806 that was used by artists to accurately record nature; it was instrumental in the early development of photography.
Latin, meaning "lighted room." A drawing aid consisting of a prism attached to a vertical rod clamped onto a drawing board or pad. The draftsman pointed the prism at the view and looked down through it, tracing the image that appeared to be on the paper. Camera Lucida Cornelius Varley (British, 1781-1873) Artist Sketching with a Wollaston-Style Camera Lucida, c. 1830 Engraving 16.5 x 7.5 cm Gernsheim Collection Harry Ransom Center The University of Texas at Austin Close
lens and prism system through which a virtual image was seen, apparently appearing on the surface of the drawing paper.
Camera Lucida (in French, La Chambre Claire) is a short book published in 1980 by the French literary critic Roland Barthes. It is simultaneously an inquiry into the nature and essence of photography and a eulogy to Barthes's late mother. The book investigates the effects of photography on the spectator (as distinct from the photographer, and also from the object photographed, which Barthes calls the "spectrum").