Carrier (photo)

In photography and art, the material to which the light-sensitive layers of films or photo paper are applied is referred to as a carrier (also carrier material , carrier layer ) . Most of them are plastic- based carriers . The special films must meet numerous requirements, including mechanical durability , tear resistance and good adhesion of the photo layers, also chemical durability against the halogens of the photo layers), dimensional accuracy (see also distortion , high transparency (light permeability) and others.

In astronomy , scientific photography and photogrammetry , the most tried and tested carrier material are glass plates in the format from 20 × 20 cm. The dimensional accuracy is extremely high here - even over decades - but the problem of reflections , for example, has to be solved. In addition, photo plates can not be changed as quickly as film transport - although here Zeiss developed a pioneering system for the BMK satellite camera around 1980.

Since around 1999, the use of CCD and other optoelectronic sensors has been gaining ground , so that the further development of the photographic carrier material has shifted directly to the focal plane of the cameras . For scientific tasks that require the highest level of light sensitivity , a single or multi-stage cooling system is often required for the sensors.