Did NASA use Speed Graphics in any era?

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Kawaiithulhu

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Not on space flights, obviously, but in more mundane areas like PR and events?
If so, were cameras marked or just tracked by serials?

I was reading transcripts of the oral history from Johnson Space Center and got curious!
 

BrianShaw

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Yes. I’ve seen some with NASA property tags.
 

DREW WILEY

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Yes. Astronauts came from test pilot careers where they were used. The Blue Angel's official photographer uses one, while flying his own jet! One of my wife's former patients is one of the last surviving Apollo astronauts, though he never went on a moon mission himself, but did engineer and customize a lot of the equipment, and was himself a test pilot previously. I discussed some of this with him a year ago.
 

Photo Engineer

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Yes, they used 4x5 with Ektacolor S film or B&W in a variety.

They used Hulcher cameras and 5x7 roll film cameras with Aerial Ektachrome.

This was under contract to the USAF.

PE
 

Tim Stapp

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I can't even imagine =) The pilots and planes must be even better than I had guessed in the past.

Years ago when I was a volunteer on our rural rescue squad I was amazed watching where the AeroMed chopper pilots put those machines down. All were former Vietnam pilots. They didn't use the navigation systems, dead reconning and a road map. They were amazing.
 

DREW WILEY

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They Blue Angels fly here over the SF Bay at least once a year, doing all their stunts in formation. They go way down over the southern half of the Bay to get into proper formation, then fly way up to the north end, so that on return, about in the middle near the Golden Gate Bridge, spectators on the beach at San Francisco have a relatively close view of their act. But from a hill above me, on the opposite side of the Bay, I get a much better view of the entire Bay and their total procedure. Their official photographer actually takes off after them, but must fly even faster in order to take his pictures while flying past them, in the meantime getting any background scenery aligned in the same composition. I've read an article where this was explained by then current photographer himself. He actually puts his finger on the camera shutter and starts pressing it while still seven miles behind the planes in formation, because he's going so fast that he'll be right alongside them almost instantly. The composition is viewed through a simple wire finder atop the Graphic. It baffles me; but all these pilots necessarily have incredible timing and reflexes.
 

Photo Engineer

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My view was a MIG being targeted by a Sidewinder as an F104 flew by at Mach 1.5!! Nearly knocked me over from the sonic boom. An Atlas was as bad and the Saturn 1 was far worse. Got some pix of them all.

PE
 

Theo Sulphate

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My view was a MIG being targeted by a Sidewinder as an F104 flew by at Mach 1.5!! Nearly knocked me over from the sonic boom. An Atlas was as bad and the Saturn 1 was far worse. Got some pix of them all.

PE

I knew an F-104 pilot; he flew in postwar Germany. He told me that for fun they would fly low and buzz cattle.

NASA was formed in 1958 - so probably there were lots of official and press photos made with Speed Graphics. Living in southern California as a kid in the 1960's, I would remember hearing sonic booms from X-15 flights. It wouldn't surprise me if the chase plane had a photographer in it with a Speed Graphic.
 
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Kawaiithulhu

Kawaiithulhu

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Thanks for the histories, I think that these cameras come alive again when we remember how and why they were created and used.
 

CropDusterMan

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I have attended quite a few NASA functions over the years during anniversaries. Jim Lovell and I had a wonderful
conversation when I visited he and his sons restaurant in Lake Forrest, IL. He explained the Lunar photography
"Hasselblad Data Cameras" they used...They had no viewfinders or chimneys, but rather, they used a depth of field focus
scale and training practice for composition. The cameras were mounted to chest plates on their EVA suits. "The idea
was to be a human tripod", he told me. The Astronauts had checklists on their sleeves during EVA's and would give
them instructions on photos during the EVA timeline.
He told me they used 250 exposure backs on the Blads and used Kodak Negative film. The camera bodies were left on
the Lunar surface. (Not Lovells on 13 though, they never landed).
Screen Shot 2019-01-04 at 7.47.29 AM.png
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Screen Shot 2019-01-04 at 7.46.48 AM.png
Screen Shot 2019-01-04 at 7.58.05 AM.png
 
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Theo Sulphate

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"REMOVE DARKSLIDE BEFORE INSTALLING MAGAZINE" makes no sense if they mean installing it on the camera back.

Perhaps they mean remove the darkslide before installing the film insert.
 

Theo Sulphate

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It's bugging me. If you have magazines - Hasselblad film backs - then normally they'd all be sitting loose with a dark slide inserted in each one to prevent the film from being exposed. The dark slide would be removed only after the magazine was mounted on the camera.

That is... if... if they really took any photos at all... on the... the... Moon... Yes, yes, of course.
 

markjwyatt

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"REMOVE DARKSLIDE BEFORE INSTALLING MAGAZINE" makes no sense if they mean installing it on the camera back.

...

Maybe those were the instructions for operations on the dark side of the moon. [/sarc]
 

MattKing

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Is the "magazine" actually the film insert, and did these backs operate differently then their terrestrial cousins?
 

Theo Sulphate

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The only difference I see is that dark slides have extended handles attached to them, ostensibly for easier grasping with spacesuit gloves.

As if.

Clearly I have exposed their little charade.
 

Photo Engineer

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Well, when Russia sends a manned mission to the moon, they have stated that they will check to see about the truth of the US landing.

PE
 
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