Special to The Desert Sun

When you think about all that the digital age has changed, there are few categories that have changed more — and less — than optics. Film cameras are nearly obsolete and the great names of the past — Kodak, Polaroid — have practically disappeared. And yet far-seeing optics like binoculars and spotting scopes are virtually unchanged from World War II.

You can find all sorts of optics in galleries like ours, but perhaps the most beautiful are the old large-format cameras from makers like Busch. When you consider the precision and workmanship with which they were made, and at a time when nearly everything was done by hand, it's hard not to marvel. Let's look at one example.

Pictured here is the Busch Pressman Model D 4x5 large format camera. Despite its size and a

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