In this talk, I will discuss early twentieth century experimental attempts to investigate the electeon's constitution, and the viability of an electromagnetic or relativistic foundation for the whole of physics, by means of photographic plates. My focus will be on how scientists produced and interpreted these plates, since their epistemic value was often disputed. While all these plates were produced in order to allow for precision measurement, I will argue that we can distinguish two different ways of photographically producing such precision: by striving either for quality or quantity. In the final part, I will then argue that these two different approaches arose in different pedagogical contexts, and that they embodied different views on what could count as a scientific representation.