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The Type 99 Handheld Aerial Camera (15cm) (九九式航空写真機十五糎) was produced for the Japanese Navy by Rokuoh-sha (and later Konishiroku) and by Fuji (presumably Fuji Shashin Film or one of its subsidiaries).[1]
As was usual practice with the Japanese military ordnance of the time, the name "type 99" stands for year 2599 in the Japanese imperial calendar, i.e. 1939. A recent Japanese source says that the introduction of the camera was plagued with reliability problems, and it only went in full service around 1943.[2] This is partly confirmed by the Rokuoh-sha and Konishiroku production figures for the 1941–1945 period, quoted in the 1945 American report already cited above:[1]
| Year | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | Total |
| Ordered | _ | 50 | 700 | 1416 | 1440 | 3606 |
| Delivered | _ | 50 | 600 | 1231 | 65 | 1946 |
The total production was surely higher, if one takes into account the cameras made by Fuji.
The camera is loaded with 9cm wide[1] perforated film rolls. The picture format is about 7.5×10cm.[3] The film strips are 2.3 metres in length,[1][4]allowing for 20 exposures.[5]
The camera has a folding frame finder at the top, and wooden handles on both sides of the body. The shutter is of the focal-plane type, with horizontally running curtains. It normally gives 1/75, 1/150, 1/250 and 1/400 speeds,[6] selected by a wheel at the top. (The American report mentions 1/25 to 1/500 speeds, perhaps by mistake.)[7] The main release has the shape of a trigger, actioned by the right index. The film is advanced and the shutter is wound by turning the right-hand handle by 90 degrees twice.[8][2] The camera has an automatic exposure counter, either at the top left or to the right of the viewfinder.[9] The back is fully removable and is locked by two keys, with open (開) and close (閉) indications.
It is said that two versions were made, one for aerial use only and the other for both aerial and terrestrial use.[2] The American report mentions two variants distinguished by the lens maximal aperture, either f/3.5 or f/4.5, saying that the latter was more common.[10] Variations have been observed in the surviving camera bodies, but no clear pattern has been identified.[11]
At least one surviving camera is known to have a Hexar Ser.1B 15cm f/4.5.[12] The lens is attached to the camera by four screws and has three prongs at the front for filter attachment. The aperture is controlled by a large ring at the front of the outer lens cone, connected to the lens diaphragm via a lever.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Japanese Naval Photography, p.8.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Aerial camera types at Wetwing Aerial Camera.
- ↑ Iwama, p.54 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.10, this page at Wetwing Aerial Camera, and Japanese Naval Photography, p.11, all say 7.5×10cm. This page at Kore Nāni says 70×100mm, and Sugiyama, item 6010, says 72×98mm.
- ↑ Japanese Naval Photography, p.18.
- ↑ The camera pictured in this page at Kore Nāni clearly shows an exposure counter graduated from 1 to 20. Japanese Naval Photography, p.11, repeated in this page at Airrecce, also mentions 20 exposures. This page at Wetwing Aerial Camera, mentions 6 or 10-exposure film strips, perhaps by mistake. Sugiyama, item 6010, says that the camera takes glass plates and sheetfilm, but this is obviously a mistake.
- ↑ This page at Kore Nāni, ans specifications in Sugiyama, item 6010.
- ↑ Japanese Naval Photography, p.11, repeated in this page at Airrecce.
- ↑ This page at Kore Nāni.
- ↑ Compare the two examples pictured in Iwama, p.54 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.10.
- ↑ Japanese Naval Photography, p.10, repeated in this page at Airrecce
- ↑ Examples pictured in this page at Kore Nāni, in this page at Wetwing Aerial Camera, in Sugiyama, item 6010, and in Iwama, p.54 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.10.
- ↑ Example pictured in this page at Kore Nāni.
