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The F24 camera is a 1920s British camera used for aerial reconnaissance by British and Allied armed forces into the mid-1950s. It is widely and erroneously referred to as F.24 or F-24.
By about 1940, most configurations of the F24 included a Dallmeyer Pentac lens with focal length 8", aperture f/2.9, with either a Type 21 hand adaptor with two side handles, or a Type 25 fixed mounting and Type 35 control box and motor drive. Weight of a typical hand-held version is about 20 lb. Prior to 1940, available lenses included focal lengths of 3.25" (f/5.6), 5" (f/2.8), 6", 10.5". In 1937, a 14" (f/5.6) lens was introduced, followed in late 1940 by a 20" (f/5.6) lens, and in 1942 by a 36" lens. Longer lenses, and larger image formats, offered more detailed images from extremely high altitudes.
During the Second World War, the F24 was also manufactured by Vinten. A modified but compatible version with lower weight was designed and manufactured by
"Microgram Service"
a 1943 ''Flight'' article on the Williamson Micro- and Multi-printers
a 1945 ''Flight'' advertisement Aerial cameras World War II military equipment of the United Kingdom
Design and development
The outline design of the F24 camera was carried out by theRoyal Aircraft Establishment
The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), bef ...
at Farnborough, and it was introduced in 1925. Detailed design, and most production, was by Williamson Manufacturing Company Ltd of Willesden Green, London NW.10. The F24 was designed to be lighter and smaller than the F8 camera of 1919, but the F8 continued to be used in less demanding installations. The main component units of the F24 are a body with roller blind focal plane shutter, gearbox, film magazine, and lens cone. Image film format is 5"×5", on 5" wide roll film, with magazine capacity up to 250 exposures (the F8 offered images up to 8"×7.5" on 9" wide film). Shutter speed
In photography, shutter speed or exposure time is the length of time that the film or digital sensor inside the camera is exposed to light (that is, when the camera's shutter (photography), shutter is open) when taking a photograph.
The am ...
is preset between 1/100s and 1/1000s.Nesbit, 1996
By about 1940, most configurations of the F24 included a Dallmeyer Pentac lens with focal length 8", aperture f/2.9, with either a Type 21 hand adaptor with two side handles, or a Type 25 fixed mounting and Type 35 control box and motor drive. Weight of a typical hand-held version is about 20 lb. Prior to 1940, available lenses included focal lengths of 3.25" (f/5.6), 5" (f/2.8), 6", 10.5". In 1937, a 14" (f/5.6) lens was introduced, followed in late 1940 by a 20" (f/5.6) lens, and in 1942 by a 36" lens. Longer lenses, and larger image formats, offered more detailed images from extremely high altitudes.
During the Second World War, the F24 was also manufactured by Vinten. A modified but compatible version with lower weight was designed and manufactured by Eastman Kodak
The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...
as the K-24, for use by US forces. Also in 1942, the F24 was developed into the F52 that used an image format of 8.5"×7", magazines up to 500 exposures, and was better suited for 36" and 40" lenses in larger installations.
Operational history
During the Second World War, the F24 was installed in aircraft types including;Avenger
Avenger, Avengers, The Avenger, or The Avengers may refer to:
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* Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes
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, Blenheim, Catalina
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* ''The Catalina'', a 2012 American reality television show
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...
, Corsair
A corsair is a privateer or pirate, especially:
* Barbary corsair, Ottoman and Berber pirates and privateers operating from North Africa
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, Halifax, Hellcat, Hudson
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, Hurricane, Lancaster, Liberator
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* ''Liberators'' (novel), a 2009 novel by James Wesley Rawles
* ''The Liberators'' (Suvorov book), a 1981 book by Victor Suvorov
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, Lysander, Maryland, Mitchell
Mitchell may refer to:
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*Mitchell (surname)
*Mitchell (given name)
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* Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate
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, Mosquito, Mustang, Spitfire, Stinson, Stirling, Sunderland
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, Wellington.Cotton, 1969
See also
* Aerial photography * Aerial reconnaissance *Fairchild K-20
The K-20 is an aerial photography camera used during World War II, famously from the Enola Gay's tail gunner position to photograph the nuclear mushroom cloud over Hiroshima. Designed by Fairchild Camera and Instrument, approximately 15,000 were ...
References
Bibliography
* *External links
{{Commons category, F24 camera"Microgram Service"
a 1943 ''Flight'' article on the Williamson Micro- and Multi-printers
a 1945 ''Flight'' advertisement Aerial cameras World War II military equipment of the United Kingdom