Pankopta
The Pankopta is a panoramic camera made by Meopta in about 1962.[1] It takes just three photographs, each 55x235 mm, on a 120 film, with a 135° angle of view. It has a swivelling Belar 105 mm f/4.5 lens, and shutter speeds 1/8-1/125 second.[2] The exposure time is determined by regulating the speed of rotation of the lens housing.[3] The housing is reset manually using the knob on the top (around the aperture control). The lens does not focus; the aperture control is marked with depth-of-field ranges. The camera has a folding frame finder and two spirit levels (for front-rear and left-right adjustment)[4] on the top, and folding handles on each side.
The film is advanced by a simple winding knob using a red window. There is a frame counter on top of the camera (in the example at Westlicht, this counts from 0-9, so is presumably intended to count more than the three exposures on each roll); there is a knurled thumb-wheel to adjust the counter.
Two examples of the camera have been seen at Westlicht auctions.[5]
Notes
- ↑ Pankopta sold at the May 2009 Westlicht Photographica Auction; several excellent pictures of the camera.
- ↑ The listing notes at Westlicht give shutter speeds 1/5-1/100 second, but the speed selector on the front of the camera is clearly marked 8 - 125.
- ↑ French Patent 1240129 of 1960, Appareil de photographie panoramique at Espacenet, the patent search facility of the European Patent Office.
- ↑ The drawings in the patent (cited above) seem to show a single level, with two scales, but the actual camera at Westlicht has two levels. Moreover, the patent states that there is a small mirror mounted on the front, curved part of the frame finder, to allow the spirit level to be checked with the camera at eye level, but the mirror cannot be seen on the actual camera.
- ↑ Pankopta sold at the November 2002 Westlicht auction; just one photograph.
