|
Although experiments and development began before World
War I, the spring of 1925 saw the introduction of the Leica
35mm "double frame" camera. Using readily available movie
film with twice the image size of a normal movie frame, it
began a revolution in photography. During the same period
"single frame" cameras brought the convenience of
inexpensive, multiple exposure, roll film cameras to the
general public. The Ansco Memo was one of these. The image
size has returned in the form of the new APS "C" format. Oh,
well.
|
The Ansco Memo camera is a single frame, fixed
focus, 35mm camera, which, held normally, takes
landscape oriented images. It is a leather covered,
wooden box, in which the film is advanced by
pushing down on a lever in the back of the camera.
Many of my junior and senior high school negatives,
the China Clipper, and those from the top of Half
Dome and George Washington's head, were made with
this camera. The Canadian patent date on the back
is 1929. I am having it restored.
Film is housed in a
reloadable cassette resting in the top chamber. To
load, film is pulled down and inserted into an
identical lower cassette and the camera back closed
and locked. Film is advanced by a double tooth mechanism moved by a
rod extending through the back of the
camera. In effect it is a
one-frame-at-a-time movie camera.
|
|
|
The lens is an Ilex-Ansco Cinemat F:6.3. There
is no focal length shown. Normal would be in the
30mm range. Four settings, f/6.3, 8, 11, and 16 are
provided with shutter speeds of T, B, 1/100, 1/50,
and 1/25. Fixed focus at 15 feet ! Using the old
"f/16 Rule" this would limit use to ASA 100 film in
bright sunlight. All that could be expected in
1929.
For a 6x8 print, depth of field is from 8' at
f/6.3 and from 3' at f/16. For a 16x20 print the
near point is 20' at f/6.3 and 8' at f/16.
|
|
|
It is interesting that the "old" single-frame motion picture
format is almost exactly the same as the
"new" C format of the
Advanced Photo System (APS). And both
are very close to the classic 4x5 shape
|
|
|
The advantage of the Ansco Memo was the simple
cassette which made loading from bulk film easy and
inexpensive. Scraps from motion picture studios
were packaged in cans, similar to the one pictured,
and provided as an inexhaustible supply at "the
right price". In this case the type of film was
written on a piece of "adhesive tape" and stuck to
the bottom. It is still there.
|
|
The following prints are from negatives that have,
for 60 some odd years, been curled in cardboard tubes, as
was the custom in the '30s. I have found no satisfactory way
to flatten the film, especially since it is the old nitrate
material. Due to the storage and handling, small scratches
now appear as vertical streaks.
Click on thumbnail for full size
image RETURN HOME
|
