The K-20 is an

aerial photography Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography. Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wing aircra ...

camera A camera is an Optics, optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), ...

used during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, famously from the

Enola Gay The ''Enola Gay'' () is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets. On 6 August 1945, piloted by Tibbets and Robert A. Lewis during the final stages of World War II, it be ...

tail gunner A tail gunner or rear gunner is a crewman on a military aircraft who functions as a gunner defending against enemy fighter or interceptor attacks from the rear, or "tail", of the plane. The tail gunner operates a flexible machine gun or aut ...

position to photograph the nuclear mushroom cloud over Hiroshima. Designed by

Fairchild Camera and Instrument Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation was a company founded by Sherman Fairchild. It was based on the East Coast of the United States, and provided research and development for flash photography equipment. The technology was primarily use ...

, approximately 15,000 were manufactured under licence for military contract by Folmer Graflex Corporation in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

between 1941 and 1945. The K-20 uses a 5.25″×20′ to 5.25″×200′

roll film Roll film or rollfilm is any type of spool-wound photographic film protected from white light exposure by a paper backing. The term originated in contrast to sheet film. Confusingly, roll film was originally often referred to as "cartridge" film ...

, with an image size of 4×5 inches. Lenses were ″ with an adjustable diaphragm and were non-interchangeable; these were made by

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 ...

Ilex ''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family (biology), family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The speci ...

, or

Bausch & Lomb Bausch + Lomb is an eye health products company based in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the world's largest suppliers of contact lenses, lens care products, pharmaceuticals, intraocular lenses, and other eye surgery products. The compan ...

, as available at the time of order. The camera featured the use of a vacuum to keep the film flat. Earlier aerial cameras, from the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

era, included the Kodak K1, with focal plane shutter, the Fairchild K3, K3A, K3B etc., with in-lens shutter to eliminate distortion, K5 etc., some of which used individual glass plates, some individual sheet film, and some roll film. Similar cameras, from the World War II era are: K17, K18, K19, K21, K22, F20, F40, F56, etc., many making 9″×9″ or 9″×18″ images using 9″+ roll film. File:Royal Air Force- Italy, the Balkans and South-east Europe, 1942-1945. CNA3416.jpg, File:LtGilbertMilneRCNVR2June1944.jpg, Lieutenant Gilbert A. Milne of the

Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve The Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve (RCNVR) was a naval reserve force of the Royal Canadian Navy, which replaced the Royal Navy Canadian Volunteer Reserve (RNCVR). Foundation The RCNVR was created in 1923. The organization was established ...

, holding a Fairchild K20 camera

References

External links

{{Commons category, Fairchild K-20
Early Days Remote Sensing (PDF)
Aerial cameras Military cartography World War II military equipment of the United States

See also

References

External links