Graflex.org

[Dan Fromm]

Hmm. There've been aerial cameras that shot 4.5x4.5 on 5" roll film since around 1920. Nothing secret about them. And starting not much after 1920, cameras that shot 9x9 and, no later than 1939, 9x18 on 10" roll film. Not much secret about them either. There are still many around.

Some of these cameras were meant to be used handheld and were hand cocked too, but most have film transport and shutter cocking by electric motors. I've had a couple that put two (not a stereo pair) of images slightly smaller than 56 mm x 56 mm across 4x5 roll film. That type has electric drive.

[Arthur LeBrun]

[sevo]

[Arthur LeBrun]

Looking at the two frames the missile has risen about 4 feet vertically.
I do not know the fps for the image in question.

If anyone would like to see the image you can reach me at my e-mail

art7020@sbcglobal.net (In my profile also.....)

I will happy to e-mail the scan for review and feedback.

Art

[Dan Fromm]

Sevo, you made a good point.

But NASA used phototheodolites for missile tracking. The first make that comes to mind is Askania, but there were others. As it happens, Jim Galli, who's active on the LF forum, is familiar with some of them. I'll ask him to join this discussion and tell us about film sizes and framing rates.

Cheers,

Dan

[glennfromwy]

There were aerial cameras the were equipped for use with intervalometers. I have some information on some that were used during the WWII era. Too old and outdated? Maybe yes and maybe no. It sounds to me like that's what your photos were made with, though. Those cameras could be set to snap a shot at just about any speed the motor could keep up with. Maybe they used a surplus camera. Maybe the military had a new improved version. No way of knowing but I'm willing to bet that's how they did it.
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Glenn

"Wyoming - Where everybody is somebody else's weirdo"

[Arthur LeBrun]

[Jim Galli]

Dan asked me to weigh in although I'm pretty late. I can only make an educated guess that the folks at NASA adapted an aerial recon camera that uses 5" rollfilm for these shots. Our Cinetheodolites are 35mm half frame cameras. They run at 5, 10, 20, and 30 frames per second. Part of the half frame is used for data so that only leaves an area about 16X18mm for an image. They are made by Contraves in Switzerland and use Kern optics. We don't currently, nor in my archives do I see any 4X5 images like these NASA images. Pretty sure it's one of the post WWII aerial recon cameras that may have been able to run continuously at perhaps 3 frames per second.
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He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. Jim Elliot 1949

[Arthur LeBrun]

Thanks, Jim. I think we are getting closer to the answer............just
need to find an image among my photos that might show the camera
being in use at the Cape.

[Arthur LeBrun]

I did find one reference that noted a K-25 was used for missile photography in one launch. I am now trying to find out more about the K-25......

[Les]

the K-25 was a 24v motorized version of the Fairchild K-20. the K-25 was designed and made by Graflex.
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"In order to invent, you need a good imagination and a lot of junk" Thomas Edison

[Arthur LeBrun]

[glennfromwy]

The possibility of a 4X5 movie camera may exist. Jim Galli posted a partial roll of aerial recon film ******* the other day, last test date ca. 1992. Nothing at all unusual about that, as it's still floating around and not hard to find. What is unusual is that this film is perforated like movie film. Double perfed, at that. That is something I'd never seen in 5" roll film. It started life as a 250 ft. roll.
_________________
Glenn

"Wyoming - Where everybody is somebody else's weirdo"