What is the Aero Tac?

[Drew Bedo]

There is an item on The-Auction-Site-That-Must-Not-Be-Named that looks interesting. Its an areal camera from Japan named "Aero Tac" that looks like a Fotoman or a TravelWide. Looks to be metal with a crackle finish. Has a focusing helical too.

A low cost alternative to a Fotoman or a higher end TravelWide ?

[Corran]

I'm confused why a link to eBay simply for discussion purposes is not allowed. You aren't selling the camera, and unless the seller is related to you, and you are advertising it, I don't see an issue.

[vinny]

I commented on that other thread. Has the whole thing been deleted?
I'm confused as well. Are the moderators bored?

[Corran]

Thread deleted by Oren Grad
Reason Link to active eBay auction

[richardman]

It's impossible to discuss anything without seeing at least an image? May be you can just do a screen cap of the camera, and a price so we can compare it to Fotoman et al?

[Oren Grad]

My 2005 edition of the Nippon Camera Annual has an entry for the Aero Tac 45S. The camera was offered by a company named Tac Project, about which I don't know anything other than the three products they offered at the time: Aero Tac 45S, Fisheye Tac 45 and Fisheye Tac 67.

As best I can tell sifting through the Japanese description, the Aero Tac was offered as an aerial camera with focus fixed at an extension intended to allow using a 135mm lens at some unspecified aperture to achieve adequate sharpness from 60 meters to infinity. (No, I don't know what's going on with the helicoid mentioned in the listing - probably an aftermarket adaptation.) The camera came with an international back (apparently missing from the listed camera). It was offered as body only, or with 135 Apo-Symmar, 135 CM-Fujinon, 150 Apo-Symmar, or 135 T* Planar. The description doesn't say whether the fixed-focus setting was adjusted to accommodate the 150 focal length. An accessory optical finder with frames for 135/150/180 was offered.

The Aero Tac was not cheap - price for the body was Y225,000, Y437,000 with 135 Apo-Symmar, Y394,000 with 135 CM-Fujinon, Y450,000 with 150 Apo-Symmar, and Y700,000 with 135 T* Planar. At the time the 2005 Annual was published, the exchange rate was roughly Y100 per US dollar.

Please direct any discussion of the link policy to the Feedback forum.

[Corran]

Fisheye Tac 45

That's interesting. I wonder what fisheye they had for (I assume) 4x5?

[djdister]

There is an item on The-Auction-Site-That-Must-Not-Be-Named that looks interesting. Its an areal camera from Japan named "Aero Tac" that looks like a Fotoman or a TravelWide. Looks to be metal with a crackle finish. Has a focusing helical too.

A low cost alternative to a Fotoman or a higher end TravelWide ?

The short answer is no, it is not a cheap (or easy) alternative to a Fotoman or Travelwide. The Aero Tac (first photo) is an aerial roll film camera, just like the Fairchild Aerial camera (2nd photo). I'm guessing it is fairly heavy and would not be considered an easy alternative to the very light hand holdable LF cameras.

144533 144534

[Oren Grad]

Here is a picture of the Aero Tac that is not in an auction listing:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/sahinmurat/21780408808/

[Corran]

For purposes of discussing the eBay thing, I made a post in the Feedback forum, for those interested:
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?127699-Links-to-eBay-for-purposes-of-discussion

[Dan Fromm]

111865077862

Oren, it may be time for a cold shower.

Cheers,

Dan

[Corran]

Regarding the Aero Tac - oh, if it's a rollfilm camera, that's totally different.

[Oren Grad]

That's interesting. I wonder what fisheye they had for (I assume) 4x5?

The Fisheye Tac 45 came with a 30/3.5 Zodiac, image circle specified as 84mm, so really for a circular image on 4x5 film.

[Corran]

really for a circular image on 4x5 film.

Darn.

[Bob Salomon]

The short answer is no, it is not a cheap (or easy) alternative to a Fotoman or Travelwide. The Aero Tac (first photo) is an aerial roll film camera, just like the Fairchild Aerial camera (2nd photo). I'm guessing it is fairly heavy and would not be considered an easy alternative to the very light hand holdable LF cameras.

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That first picture looks more like a Linhof Aero Technika then a Fairchild.

[Oren Grad]

The Aero Tac is a 4x5 sheet film camera, not a roll film camera.

[Bob Salomon]

The Aero Tac is a 4x5 sheet film camera, not a roll film camera.

The Aero Technika was also a sheet film camera with a 45 Graflok back for 120/220/70mm roll film backs.
The 5" vacuum back and the long roll 70mm backs were accessories. Although virtually all the cameras that we sold in the USA were ordered with the 5" vacuum roll back. I can't even think of anyone that I ever talked to from the late 70s till last March who used it for any other film size. None the less the camera came with the standard 45 Linhof camera back, with ground glass.

[djdister]

The Aero Technika was also a sheet film camera with a 45 Graflok back for 120/220/70mm roll film backs.
The 5" vacuum back and the long roll 70mm backs were accessories. Although virtually all the cameras that we sold in the USA were ordered with the 5" vacuum roll back. I can't even think of anyone that I ever talked to from the late 70s till last March who used it for any other film size. None the less the camera came with the standard 45 Linhof camera back, with ground glass.

Is the Aero Technika the same as the Aero Tac camera?

[Bob Salomon]

Is the Aero Technika the same as the Aero Tac camera?

Seeing as how the Aero Technika was a German product fromLinhof there is no relationship to a Japanese product that looked a bit like it.

[Dan Fromm]

Is the Aero Technika the same as the Aero Tac camera?

Hand-held aerial cameras tend to resemble each other.

[Corran]

The little sliding bits on the camera in question looks a bit like a Graflok back. Actually, the whole back as it is shown resembles the back of my Toyo GII when the springback is removed, to put on a Graflok accessory. It's hard to tell from photos.

[Drew Bedo]

E-Idiot that I am: Let me try to post a few images from the other site.

If the price was lower I'd take the risk on it as a project, but its nearly $300 shipped.

[Drew Bedo]

[QUOTE=Corran;1299285]I'm confused why a link to eBay simply for discussion purposes is not allowed. You aren't selling the camera, and unless the seller is related to you, and you are advertising it, I don't see an issue.

QUOTE]

Well if its a rule, OK. Not that big a deal to me. We're talking about it now, and with pictures too.

[vinny]

E-Idiot that I am: Let me try to post a few images from the other site.

If the price was lower I'd take the risk on it as a project, but its nearly $300 shipped.

As I said in the previous thread, it appears to be a reversed pentax 67 helicoid (i have one in front of me) on the front. Not sure how a lens would mount to that easily.

[Jac@stafford.net]

Hand-held aerial cameras tend to resemble each other.

The Hasselblad was supposedly modeled after a German aerial camera, no?

[Drew Bedo]

And the Mamya RB 67 after the Graflex 2 1/4 x 3 1/4.

[Dan Fromm]

And the Mamya RB 67 after the Graflex 2 1/4 x 3 1/4.

Surely you jest.