Vietnam War Cameras

tomkatf · May 4, 2018

Japanese Photojournalist Ichinose Taizo's (November 1, 1947 – November 29, 1973) Nikon F. I'm not sure if this camera was on him when he was killed.

CMoore · May 4, 2018

AgX said:
A few hints at conditions and techniques

''We had limited amount of film.''
''A single roll, 70 frames, for the duration of the war.'' (a hint at half/format)

https://mashable.com/2016/02/05/another-vietnam-photography/#aIS2ySHscGqW

I have never seen at that book. but i have read some quotes credited to it ...stories about developing negatives, at night, in a creek, collecting film from dead journalists and soldiers, etc etc.
I will have to look for myself.
Thanks

Mr Bill · May 4, 2018

CMoore said:
I have never seen at that book. but i have read some quotes credited to it ...stories about developing negatives, at night, in a creek, collecting film from dead journalists and soldiers, etc etc.
I will have to look for myself.
Thanks

I used to enjoy reading various things from digitaljournalist.org, there's a review of the book here: http://digitaljournalist.org/issue9711/review9711.htm

One can also look at photos of a handful of the photographers by starting here, another photo of Taizo's camera: http://digitaljournalist.org/issue9711/req33.htm , then clicking "back" on the little navigation arrows on each page.

On a little different note, people who think like I do may enjoy browsing older issues based on the main "features," such as seen here: http://digitaljournalist.org/feature.html

Chuckwade87 · May 4, 2018

Very informative thread.

This guy, didnt like the fact that the Nikon Fs back had to be removed when reloading. In fact the back flew out of a Helicopter while he was reloading his Nikon F. So he switched to a Minolta.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...BxAB&usg=AOvVaw1dvEZa-YY1EfWCV4I8qbIY&ampcf=1

benjiboy · May 5, 2018

I read recently that a company in Wales is running courses for photographers and journalists to teach them how to survive in war zones, I know that more than seventy photographers were K.I.A.in Vietnam,.the vast majority of them had no experience knowledge or training how to conduct themselves in a war zone,how to use cover and dead ground, to shoot and scoot,and other skills that every infantryman has to learn instinctively in basic training. to increase. his or her chances of survival.

MattKing · May 5, 2018

benjiboy said:
other skills that every infantryman has to learn instinctively in basic training. to increase. his chances of survival.

Which now needs to be amended to read "other skills that every infantry soldier has to learn instinctively in basic training. to increase his or her chances of survival.

benjiboy · May 5, 2018

MattKing said:
Which now needs to be amended to read "other skills that every infantry soldier has to learn instinctively in basic training. to increase his or her chances of survival.

I have amended my post as you suggest Mark, I'm afraid I'm old-fashioned and having myself experienced combat hate the idea of women having to experience what I had to as a young man.

MattKing · May 5, 2018

benjiboy said:
I have amended my post as you suggest Mark, I'm afraid I'm old-fashioned and having myself experienced combat hate the idea of women having to experience what I had to as a young man.

I expect you mean "Matt" .
It may actually help having women exposed to combat.
They may very well be the ones who are effective at preventing new combat wars - once they get the necessary power to do so, of course

benjiboy · May 5, 2018

MattKing said:
I expect you mean "Matt" .
It may actually help having women exposed to combat.
They may very well be the ones who are effective at preventing new combat wars - once they get the necessary power to do so, of course

Sorry, I got your name wrong

Chuckwade87 · May 5, 2018

MattKing said:
Which now needs to be amended to read "other skills that every infantry soldier has to learn instinctively in basic training. to increase his or her chances of survival.

As soon as the US Army amends the 11B "Infantryman" MOS to read "Infantry Soldier", I'll be more than happy to adjust accordingly.

jtk · May 5, 2018

Bought a Graflex XL system from a helicopter door gunner who stole it in VN and somehow got it back to California. That and various of his other stolen military goods were turned into a Norton Commando.

AgX · May 6, 2018

I did not expect you with the ethical stands you took so far to have dealt with stolen goods. At least you are plain open about it, as such you demanded yourself.
Maybe it was an act of resistance to the military.

Helios 1984 · May 6, 2018

btaylor said:
The funny thing is, when you look at it, great photography hasn't gotten "better" over the last 150 years. Can we document more things in more different ways than ever before? Yes. But great photographs are just that, great. Just because we have more technologically advanced equipment and materials than a hundred years ago the creation is in still in the vision of the eye and mind of the photographer.

Did painting "improve" with the development of acrylic paints?

Painting/drawing definitively improved over the centuries, just compare what was done during the early Medieval to what was done during the Renaissance period.
Had it not improved, museums would be full of canvas with paintings of stick peoples.

jtk · May 6, 2018

AgX said:
I did not expect you with the ethical stands you took so far to have dealt with stolen goods. At least you are plain open about it, as such you demanded yourself.
Maybe it was an act of resistance to the military.

I don't think ethics was much of an issue to helicopter door gunners, tho I did meet a guy who quit New Zealand's redbuck deer eradication program when they reassigned him from killing individually from the ground to machine-gunning them from the rear door of a C123 (same type of aircraft that sprayed Agent Orange).

My oldest friend was shot in VN...he carried a Spotmatic. Fine photos.

John Koehrer · May 6, 2018

^^^^^^^^^^^^Just a random sampling of society, nothing more, nothing less. In the company I served with
a gunner came back from leave to the US with pictures of a road sign he shot up with a Thompson and later
with parts of an M-14 with numbers partly removed.
Interesting homemade shotgun stored in the armory, that belonged to a pilot
was made with a wooden plank for a stock tin for the trigger guard and the receiver that looked like a really
crude barrel bolt. When the thing was closed there was play between the barrel and receiver.

Paul Howell · May 8, 2018

I was an Air Force Photographer from 70 to 73 during the drawdown. As the Army and Marines were leaving the Air Force had to do more field photography as there were fewer other assets available. We covered air craft recovery, search and rescue, bomb damage assessments.

The war covered a very long period, the war with the French then the American War, from late 40s to April 1973. The US had combat troops from 1964 to 1973. The Army started with WWII Combat Graphics, Speeds, then moved to Leica and Nikon. The Air Force used a lot of different gear, like the Army some was legacy gear that we had on hand, then upgraded as new gear became available. The Air Force issued equipment based on the anticipated mission, each unit had it's own list, I recall it was called a Table of Allowance. My unit was allowed Nikon Fs with metered and non metered heads, Leicas and Super Speeds, don't recall if we ever took the Speed into the field.

The civilian PJ, depends on the time period. Robert Cappa was killed in the 50s, he of course carried a Leica, Larry Barrows killed during the South's invasion of Laos in 71 (?) used Nikon. In the 60s other European PJ carried Zeiss Leica SLRs. The wire services, news mags, and newspapers guys used cameras issued by their employers, by this time Nikon Fs. Freelances, what ever they could afford. I don't recall his name a freelancer had GIs buy him Petirs at he BX, he carried 2, when one stopped working he bought a replacement. By the end of the war the Nikon F was considered the standard, most PJ carried at least 2 bodies, some had both a Nikon F and Leica or a Nikon SP. I have never see,n even in a photo of a JP, in that time frame who shot with Canon F.

The Air Force was forced to buy Graphic XL as it was at time owned by Singer an American Company, at the some time we also had Konica Rapid 100 which was much better than the XL. I also saw TLRs, Spotmatics, and Minolta.

jtk · May 8, 2018

US Navy was issued Canon F1s with unique gray finish, many with Bell and Howell identities (therefore nominally "American")
My Graflex XL kit included well-used 70mm back, several Graflex roll backs with different formats, ground glass/Graflok back, brilliant bright line viewfinder, and a wonderful Planar.

Unfortunately the XL was (according to the Graflex tech that had to repair mine) designed to protect its lens by having an easily damaged/easily replaced-in-field plastic mechanism that fit into the aluminum lens tube. The Konica 100 was a lot less trouble because it lacked that plastic, which explains why wedding photographers preferred it...but lenses didn't rival the Graflex Planars and Sonnars.

Paul Howell · May 8, 2018

jtk said:
US Navy was issued Canon F1s with unique gray finish, many with Bell and Howell identities (therefore nominally "American")
My Graflex XL kit included well-used 70mm back, several Graflex roll backs with different formats, ground glass/Graflok back, brilliant bright line viewfinder, and a wonderful Planar.

The story that had gone around for years was that the Navy bought Topcon D because it was branded and marketed by Bessler. In late 73 or early 74 I attended a training conference put on the Navy in San Francisco. One of the Navy's top civilian photo managers from the east coast was there, during a Q&A the topic came up as to why the Navy used Topcons and the story about someone in procurement because of the Besler label, he said that was not true. The Navy knew that no one in the US made a pro level 35mm camera. The Navy did extensive testing and picked the Topcon based on performance and price. Never understood the price, Topcons were not cheap, Topcon might have given the Navy a deep discount just for the cred of having the US military using them.

I for one kind of liked the Topcon D, the Navy guys broght a standard kit, Body eye level finder, motor drive, 28mm, 50mm and 135mm, and flash, all in a metal case.

In terms of glass, don't know about Graflex glass being better than Konica, Konica made really good lens.

benveniste · May 8, 2018

According to Nick Ut, the AP supplied him with a Leica M3, a Leica M2, and 2 Nikon F's.

jimjm · May 8, 2018

Paul Howell said:
The civilian PJ, depends on the time period. Robert Cappa was killed in the 50s, he of course carried a Leica

Capa used a variety of cameras during his career. He definitely used Leica during the Spanish Civil War and Contax was used to cover the D-Day landings. When he died in Indochina in 1954, he was using Nikon RF's. I've heard that Nikon was being used more and more by photojournalists starting around the Korean War. Many of them liked the results from the Nikkor lenses, which Nikon was smart to make in LTM and Contax mounts as well.

Paul Howell · May 8, 2018

Seems like a lot gear, most PJ usually provided their own bodies or bodies, a few lens. By the late 70s when I worked for the wires I was expected to bring a basic kit, body, lens, flash, then I could memo out additional gear depending on the assignment. When I had my camera in for a cleaning, lube and adjustment I was able to memo out a body as well. Then again I worked for UPI when it was on it's last legs.

Paul Howell · May 8, 2018

jimjm said:
Capa used a variety of cameras during his career. He definitely used Leica during the Spanish Civil War and Contax was used to cover the D-Day landings. When he died in Indochina in 1954, he was using Nikon RF's. I've heard that Nikon was being used more and more by photojournalists starting around the Korean War. Many of them liked the results from the Nikkor lenses, which Nikon was smart to make in LTM and Contax mounts as well.

Yeah your right, forgot, he was shooting with a Contax and Nikon S.

jtk · May 8, 2018

Yes, I erred, Topcon, not B&W. Early in its history those Topcons could always be found on EBay.

Konica made great glass, but Zeiss made XL Planars and Sonnars.

CMoore · May 8, 2018

Paul Howell said:
Seems like a lot gear, most PJ usually provided their own bodies or bodies, a few lens. By the late 70s when I worked for the wires I was expected to bring a basic kit, body, lens, flash, then I could memo out additional gear depending on the assignment. When I had my camera in for a cleaning, lube and adjustment I was able to memo out a body as well. Then again I worked for UPI when it was on it's last legs.

You/You & Cohorts should write a book. You lived a time that mostly does not exist for photographers and "newsmen" anymore.
I am sure you guys have hundreds of interesting stories to tell. Certainly, you must have photographs.....

Paul Howell · May 8, 2018

I have few photographs, when in the Air Force all of our missions were and still are classified. I attempted to use the Freedom of Information Act to get a few images, but was told that most of the negatives and prints from that time period were destroyed in the late 80s to early 90s, those that were archived are still classified. The Air Force Historian has an archive, but none of mine are included, nothing I shot was historical important. The wires own the negatives and copy rights. UPI was bought by the Moonies, it is a shell of what it once was. It still has an archive, and sell photos but had little interest in finding any negatives or prints that I took, and when downsized who knows how many negative and prints were just tossed out. I had also freelanced with the Sacramento Union, it's out of business its files are achieved at University of California at Davis, looked but could not sort out any I might have took. As freelancer I did not get a byline.

Vietnam War Cameras

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