Dunk
Established
Just acquired this 1971 Leica Post Camera .. it's had a hard life...
Post Cameras were used to photograph banks of telephone meters - stacked in the same dimension ratio as a film frame eg 3:2 (24 x 36) and 9:8 (24 x 27). Some cameras are engraved 24 x 27 as distinct from this 24 x 36 format model. There could be up to 1000 meters in a bank measuring 100cm x 65cm. The cameras were clamped onto the bank when the exposure was made hence the fixing plate on the camera front. There appears to be some controversy as to whether Post Cameras were modified M3 or MD & MDA cameras and I'm still researching to discover the facts.
The cameras had a fixed focus lens - either a 35mm f3.5 or f2.8 Summaron. This example has a jammed shutter speed dial, unless it is deliberately jammed to operate at one slow speed only. The shutter does function.
Just over 700 Leica Post Cameras were manufactured between 1963 and 1972 ... plus 200 'Blitz' versions.
A BT Engineer has advised me that Post Office Telephones used a similar system for recording meter readings but used Pentax and Alpa cameras. He also advised the typical dimensions of a bank of meters as above and the size of the each meter ie approx 2.5cm square. Each meter comprised two parts - one showing the analogue meter reading and below it customer's telephone number. These days everything is digitally automated but some rural UK exchanges still have non functioning meter banks which have not been dismantled . The UK banks are enclosed in a 'horn' and the camera was mounted in the narrow end of the horn and somehow synchronised with flash. Have yet to find out about the flash system.
One 24 x 36 film frame recorded up 1000 meter readings and the frames could be transferred onto microfiche containing many thousands of frames for analysis and bill preparation. Microfiche is a postcard sized film medium printed with several thousand micro images . One microfiche could in theory contain half a million meter readings. Microfiche were produced using a step and repeat camera which would photograph each image at high speed with the fiche being moved in 'steps' for each exposure.
Does anyone recall binary coded microfilm and microfiche which enabled searches for specific types of data?
Cheers
dunk
Post Cameras were used to photograph banks of telephone meters - stacked in the same dimension ratio as a film frame eg 3:2 (24 x 36) and 9:8 (24 x 27). Some cameras are engraved 24 x 27 as distinct from this 24 x 36 format model. There could be up to 1000 meters in a bank measuring 100cm x 65cm. The cameras were clamped onto the bank when the exposure was made hence the fixing plate on the camera front. There appears to be some controversy as to whether Post Cameras were modified M3 or MD & MDA cameras and I'm still researching to discover the facts.
The cameras had a fixed focus lens - either a 35mm f3.5 or f2.8 Summaron. This example has a jammed shutter speed dial, unless it is deliberately jammed to operate at one slow speed only. The shutter does function.
Just over 700 Leica Post Cameras were manufactured between 1963 and 1972 ... plus 200 'Blitz' versions.
A BT Engineer has advised me that Post Office Telephones used a similar system for recording meter readings but used Pentax and Alpa cameras. He also advised the typical dimensions of a bank of meters as above and the size of the each meter ie approx 2.5cm square. Each meter comprised two parts - one showing the analogue meter reading and below it customer's telephone number. These days everything is digitally automated but some rural UK exchanges still have non functioning meter banks which have not been dismantled . The UK banks are enclosed in a 'horn' and the camera was mounted in the narrow end of the horn and somehow synchronised with flash. Have yet to find out about the flash system.
One 24 x 36 film frame recorded up 1000 meter readings and the frames could be transferred onto microfiche containing many thousands of frames for analysis and bill preparation. Microfiche is a postcard sized film medium printed with several thousand micro images . One microfiche could in theory contain half a million meter readings. Microfiche were produced using a step and repeat camera which would photograph each image at high speed with the fiche being moved in 'steps' for each exposure.
Does anyone recall binary coded microfilm and microfiche which enabled searches for specific types of data?
Cheers
dunk
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