For historical reasons, it is useful to offer comparisons between the current WFPC2, and its predecessor WF/PC-1, which was returned to Earth in December 1993.
Field format: WF/PC-1 contained 8 cameras and CCDs, each CCD having 800 x 800 pixels. Four were used in the Planetary Camera mode (0.043" pixels), and four were used in the Wide Field Camera mode (0.10" pixels). The two pixel formats were selected by rotating the pyramid mirror by 45 degrees . WFPC2 budget and schedule constraints forced a reduction from 8 to 4 camera channels in August 1991. WFPC2 contains only 4 CCDs; the pyramid mirror is fixed and the 4 cameras are physically located in the bays occupied by the WF/PC-1 WFC.