Mercury

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The Univex Mercury is a half-frame viewfinder camera with a rotary disc shutter. The pre-war Mercury cameras use special Univex 35mm roll film, while the post-war Mercury II cameras accept standard 35mm cassettes. The camera was introduced in 1938.




The Universal Camera Corporation found great success in the early/mid 1930s by selling very inexpensive cameras (such as the Univex Model A) and film. By the late 30s, however, the camera-buying public had shown an increasing interest in high-end imports such as the Leica and Contax lines, and the simple plastic still cameras offered by Universal up to that point were no competition. Universal solved this problem in October of 1938, with the release of the Univex Mercury (Model CC). The CC model name very likely stood for Candid Camera, which was the term used in 1930s and '40s camera advertisements to refer to the new 'miniature' 35mm film cameras.

Cast from an aluminum alloy and covered with leather, the Mercury was not only unlike anything Universal had offered before, it was actually a revolutionary achievement. Important features worth noting include the unique rotary shutter (responsible for the circular protrusion on top of the camera), capable of extremely accurate speeds up to 1/1000th of a second. Additionally, the Mercury was the first camera to have internal flash synchronization triggered by direct contact with the foot of the flash unit, known today as the hot shoe (the Perfex Forty-Four, released a few months after the Mercury, was a close second).

Mercury cameras are half-frame 35mm cameras, shooting portrait-orientation frames that are half the size of the standard 36x24mm frame (the film gate in the Mercury is actually approximately 19x25mm[1] In the 1930s the 18x24mm frame size was known as "single-frame", and what we now call full-frame was known as "dual-frame". This 1930s nomenclature was based on the original use of perforated 35mm film in movie cameras, in which the film runs through a camera vertically and individual frames are shot in landscape orientation between the perforations.

At the time the Mercury was introduced, German-made 35mm cameras from Leitz and Zeiss were selling for hundreds of dollars, making the American-made Mercury at a mere $25 a very appealing alternative. Nonetheless, producing America's fastest candid camera did not satisfy Universal, as the Contax II claimed a shutter speed of 1/1250. Thus, in June of 1939, Universal introduced the Mercury Model CC-1500, named after its top shutter speed.

The Mercury Model CC-1500 is hard to find today, as only (an estimated) 3,000 were manufactured, compared to approximately 45,000 of the standard Mercury Model CC.

Mercury (model CC)

The first Mercury uses Univex 200-series roll film. This is 35mm film on a special geared spool, sold without a paper leader, backing paper, or even a wrapping inside the box.[2] Note that the film advance mechanism requires the special Univex geared spool in order to operate. Similar to roll film, the empty film spool is transferred to the take-up side of the camera once the film has been used, and what was the take-up spool would have been sent off with the exposed film. Because of this, modern users of this camera must have at least one Univex geared spool in order to use the camera, and must be sure to retain the spool after exposing the film. This requires that the film be unloaded in the dark in order to recover the geared spool for use on the next roll--there is no rewind mechanism on the camera.

Univex also offered an optional Film Cartridge for No.200 film that could be used to protect film from light either on the feed or uptake side of the original Mercury camera (or both). Text imprinted on the cartridge requests the film processor to return the cartridge to the owner with the processed film. This accessory is rarely seen today, though greatly simplifies the use of this camera with modern films.

Early versions of the Mercury include only a blank leather cover on the rear of the shutter disc extension on top of the camera. Later versions of the Mercury include an additional depth of field chart printed on a metal plate on the rear of the extension, which supplements the depth of field chart on the front of the extension. The second depth of field chart on the rear of the extension provides depth of field information for the f/2.0 and f/2.7 lenses (the front depth of field chart begins at f/3.5). On the later cameras the camera model and serial number are also imprinted on the rear plate; early cameras have no model number and the serial number is engraved in the interior of the camera body.

The Mercury camera includes a film movement indicator on the bottom plate of the camera. The indicator looks like a slotted screw with a very fine slot, and is driven by a gear inside the camera that meshes with the geared spool on the supply side. The indicator allows the user to verify that film is loaded correctly by turning when the camera is wound; the indicator is also useful for identifying when a roll of film is expended when using modern films in these cameras. Very early copies of the Mercury did not include the film movement indicator, which suggests that this feature may have been added as a result of early consumer feedback.

Note that the original series of cameras were always only identified as the "Mercury" by the company. Following the introduction of the Mercury II after World War II, the original series of cameras has now come to be referred to as the "Mercury I" series, although it was never referred to as such by the company.

  • Type: viewfinder camera (accessory uncoupled rangefinder available)
  • Year of launch: 1938 (Model CC-1500 launched in 1939)
  • Film: Univex #200-series film, for 65 half-frame (18×24mm) exposures
  • Construction: Aluminum alloy
  • Viewfinder: Galilean type optical finder
  • Available Lenses: Tricor f/2.7 35mm, Tricor f/3.5 35mm, Hexar f/2.0 35mm, others: 75mm[3], 125mm
  • Shutter: Rotary metal focal plane shutter with speeds T,B,1/20 - 1/1000sec (1/20 - 1/1500 on Model CC-1500) plus F hot synch
  • Dimensions: 138×88×60mm
  • Weight: 530g




Mercury II (model CX)

The Mercury II is a post-War reincarnation of the first Mercury, produced from 1945.

Universal Camera Corp. suspended their normal camera-making operations during World War II in order to manufacture binoculars for the armed forces. By the time the war ended and Universal resumed camera production, they had decided to revamp the popular Mercury in order to allow it to accept standard 35mm film rolls (as opposed to the special Univex #200 film required for the Mercury I). This required new dies, resulting in the Mercury II being about a quarter-inch longer and taller than the Mercury I.
A rewind button, rewind knob, and a permanent take-up spool were added necessities for the standard 35mm film.

Other differences between the Mercury I and II include a redesigned film counter dial, enlarged shutter wind and shutter speed knobs, elimination of neck cord lugs, and a synthetic covering in place of the leather on the Mercury I. The Mercury II was also cast from an aluminum/magnesium alloy which did not retain its luster like the aluminum alloy of the Mercury I.

  • Type: viewfinder camera (accessory Rf available)
  • Year of launch: 1945
  • Film: 35mm film, for 65 half size (18×24mm) exposures
  • Construction: Aluminum/magnesium alloy
  • Viewfinder: Galilean type optical finder
  • Available Lenses: Tricor f/2.7 35mm (coated), Tricor f/3.5 35mm (non coated), Hexar f/2.0, others: 75mm, 125mm
  • Shutter: Rotary metal focal plane shutter with speeds T,B,1/20 - 1/1000sec plus F hot synch
  • Dimensions: 145×95×60mm
  • Weight: 600g


Notes

  1. Mercury II review at Kurt Munger's Photo Jottings; Munger states that he measured both images on film and the gate itself. The proportions of the image film gate of the Mercury I pictured by Dirk Spennemann at Flickr are consistent with the same dimensions.
  2. Rick Oleson's caption to his picture of the camera with a roll of the film (above), notes that the roll he bought has no paper wrap; 'it just uses the outer layers of the film to protect the working film, like Regular 8mm movie film'.
  3. The 75mm lens and its accompanying viewfinder can be seen on a Mercury sold on eBay in 2022, archived here: 1949 Univex Mercury CC High Speed Camera with Telecor 75mm Lens and Case, at the Wayback Machine.

Bibliography

  • Repinski, Cynthia A. The UniveX Story. Centennial Photo Service, 1991. ISBN 0931838177.

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