Aircraft Torpedo Camera - U.S. Navy
Ron brought a large wooden case filled with rugged pieces of metal and wood that turned out to be a special camera made for the U.S. Navy by the Russell Vought Division of the Solar Aircraft company. The camera is electrically controlled with a Venetian blind style shutter behind the lens. It takes 120 roll film (70mm) and produces four 2.25 x 7 inch negatives per roll. Ron's example is missing the lens which is usually a wide angle lens of about 120mm focal length. The camera uses a removable roll film back. A previous owner made a wooden holder and ground glass adapter to fit the back to a standard 5x7 view camera. Just after WWII Burke & James sold modified versions of this camera as a panorama camera. The modifications to the roll film back consisted of the addition of a small circular red window so the photographer could use the numbers printed on the paperbacked roll film to eliminate any gaps or overlaps while winding on the film. And a winder knob for manual transport of the film. ABOUT THE IMAGES. Click on any image and in a few seconds you will see an enlarged view in a separate window. The images were taken with a Nikon 990 digital camera and modified as required in Photoshop. All images are © 2001 by the Photographic Historical Society of Canada and may be used if the source is mentioned.
Bob Carter |
Speakers
|