Kinematograph year book (1944)

274 The Kinematograph Year Book. CAMERAS DEMANDS of various Government departments, particularly the R.A.F., has called for full mobilisation of our camera engineers, who have been employed to capacity. They have been called upon to negotiate several intricate problems posed by the clinical requirements of the Services, and although a great deal of the work has been of a highly specialised nature, much of it, when released for commercial purposes, will be found to confer great benefits to the peace-time user. There has been little change in the specification of British made studio-and-news-reel cameras, of which a certain amount of new equipment has been available to the Trade. Despite difficulties of supply, firms like Vintens and Sinclair have been able to continue their maintenance service to customers' equipment. The position as regards spares of American cameras has been eased during the year, and although certain expedients may have been found necessary in some studios, the quality of the screened picture has not noticeably suffered during the war period. British news-reel operatives were intrigued by a demonstration by a U.S. Naval cameraman, of an American camera of revolutionary design — ■ the Cunningham Combat Camera, to which reference was made in these notes last year. Designed to be easy of operation in the front battle line and aerial photography, it embodies features which newsreel men heartily approve. Unorthodox in appearance, the camera is built on to a rifle butt, which fits snugly to the shoulder ; while a pair of finger-recessed handgrips ensure steadiness. The weight loaded is 14 lb., and a 115 v. driving motor in the butt receives its power from batteries carried on the waist belt of the operator. When used on aircraft, the camera can be plugged into the 'plane's own supply. Magazines hold 200 feet of film, and contain also sprockets, motion and gate. A four-lens turret is fitted with 35 mm., 2 in., and 3 in. lenses, with an interchangeable 11-in. telephoto (all Taylor-Hobson). Focusing is effected by moving the magazine inside the camera. Focusing scales are provided for the two shorter-focus lenses, the others being set at infinity. To check lens focus, a prismatic viewing device can be inserted into the slide which normally carries the magazine, and this enables the actual gate image to be seen. The view-finder is mounted on the top door of the cameia, and consists of a negative-lens finder inside a tube, with an eye-piece. The inventor is Harry Cunningham, head of BKO machine shop. Requirements of war research workers have led to the perfection of a high-speed camera— both 35-mm. and sub-standard gauges. One equipment recently described is the Fastax, which takes at the rate of 8,000 frames per second. Two models, for 8-mm. and 16-mm. sizes, are employed. Instead of one rotary shutter, a four or eight-sided glass prism with opposing faces parallel, is employed. This is set between the lens and the film plane. This prism rotates at 60,000 r.p.m. when pictures are taken at top speed, and provides a steady image on the fast-moving film. It also performs the function of a shutter. The Fastax does not depend upon the gaseous discharge lamp for illumination, Kodachrome can be used successfully. Photographs with an exposure of one-millionth of a second can be made by a new high-speed electronic light equipment developed by G.E.C., of America. This device weighs less than 20 lb. Standard electrical parts and a single electronic tube are employed, with a 100-watt Mazda mercury lamp as the light source. The ordinary 11 5volt A.C. household lighting circuit is used to operate the unit. The current is rectified by an electronic tube and then used to charge a capacitator, really an electronic storage tank. In three seconds enough power is accumulated to operate the lamp at full flash intensity. In tests, a wheel revolving at 70,000 revolutions per minute has been " stopped." The technical side suffered a severe loss by the death, in August (1943), of Arthur S. Newman, F.R.P.S., of the firm of James A. Sinclair & Co., Ltd. One of his most widely known productions is the Newman-Sinclair 35-mm. kine-camera, the portability and fine precision work of which have commended it to kinematographers all over the world.