SHARPSHOOTERS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 24, 14 November 1944, Page 5

SHARPSHOOTERS

INGENIOUS STRIP-FILM CAMERA

PHOTOGRAPHS AS IT FLIES

A recent quiz programme included the question: "What American war f]iers ) known popularly as 'focus are under standing orders to turn tail and run when enemy combat planes approach?" The., answer is the photographic reconnaissance planes which are unarmed and whose pictures may well be of vital

importance

The, conventional way to photo,Sr a Ph,, say, a strip of beach from the air ? used to be to take separate pictures of consecutive segments and then match up the series of pic-i tures into a continuous whole afteir they were printed. It is now poshowever (states W. P. Keasby in the, Boston Monitor) to obtain the whole area to be photographed on a single strip of film.

The strip camero is the invention of F. T. Sonne, of the Chicago Aerial Survey Company. The principle it employs is simple. The unexposed film is- drawn past, a narrow shutterless slit. The film moves at the same speed as the, image of the territory to be photographed passes in front, of. the lens.

The reconnaissance plane makes at preliminary survey of the area from a great height, then makes a fast run over the specific strip to be photographed at an altitude of about 100 feet with the slit open and the film moving past, thus exposing the film. This new, low-level photography has several military advarir tages.

Flying so.close to the ground, the plane is below the effective range of anti-aircraft fire. Moreover at

speeds in the neighbourhood of 300 miles an hour, the ground gunner doesn't have time to aim his weapon, for a direct hit before the plane is gone. Photographs taken of crowds show that the people hadn't yet had time to look up to see theU: danger - before the film was exposed.

Another advantage of photographing from such a low altitude is that there is sufficient light to make it possible to use colour film in the relatively "slow'' strip camera.

The strip film can be pi'inted with amazing rapidity in the new "strip printer" also invented" by Mr Sonne. It lias been reported that 200-f6ot roll of film from the strip camera can be developed and printed within 15 minutes of the time it reaches the base laboratory.