Fairchild K-2 camera with cut film back

[domaz]

I recently purchased a bit of a mystery camera on Ebay. I knew it was an Aerial Camera because it looked very similar to the Fairchild K-2 and has a coated Raptar 162mm f/4.5 which is the common focal length they were outfitted with. However, it seems to have a cut film back instead of the usual (huge) rollfilm back. Did Fairchild ever make a K-2 with a cut film back, or was this a later modification perhaps? The back style used seems to be an older Graflex type, like you would find on Top Handle Speed Graphics. In any case, I do like this camera although unlikely I'm ever going to get up in an airplane with it, it's actually light enough to work as a walk-around point and shoot style camera.

[LabRat]

A former USMC photographer told me a story about being stationed on an atoll during WW2, where there was a lotta bored troops (with a lot of backpay) but nothing to do... He was a wheeler/dealer type and always looking for a way to make an extra buck... He was issued a nice Kodak Medalist Ii, but found it useless because there was no rollfilm available anywhere due to the war, and only aerial films that were tightly restricted for strategic use... He one day walked to the dock with the Kodak, and dropped it into the sea, and filed a report the camera was ruined, and requisitioned another camera (that shot sheet film)... He got a Combat Graphic (green and solid sided without bellows)... He horse traded with the lab guys to get a (precious) two sheets of film for it and went to work... He then horse traded a ride on a spotting plane that circled the island, took one shot/one sheet of the island, then landed... Off to the lab to develop that precious sheet, then contact printed MANY of that image (paper was fairly plentiful) Then sold those prints to the troops so they could send them home to show the homefront where they were staying... Made a killing!!!

I suspect your camera might have been adapted to take one of those precious sheets for a possible scheme like above, when film was very scarce and images were in demand instead of a whole roll of restricted aerial film, or the "one shot is enough" mentality crowd...

I have a K-25 that is electrically operated that was a bookend for awhile, but Bradford Washburne used aerial cameras on the ground and in the air, so there is a use somewhere for it...

Good Luck!!!! :)

Steve K

[EarlJam]

A former USMC photographer told me a story about being stationed on an atoll during WW2, where there was a lotta bored troops (with a lot of backpay) but nothing to do... He was a wheeler/dealer type and always looking for a way to make an extra buck... He was issued a nice Kodak Medalist Ii, but found it useless because there was no rollfilm available anywhere due to the war, and only aerial films that were tightly restricted for strategic use... He one day walked to the dock with the Kodak, and dropped it into the sea, and filed a report the camera was ruined, and requisitioned another camera (that shot sheet film)... He got a Combat Graphic (green and solid sided without bellows)... He horse traded with the lab guys to get a (precious) two sheets of film for it and went to work... He then horse traded a ride on a spotting plane that circled the island, took one shot/one sheet of the island, then landed... Off to the lab to develop that precious sheet, then contact printed MANY of that image (paper was fairly plentiful) Then sold those prints to the troops so they could send them home to show the homefront where they were staying... Made a killing!!!

I suspect your camera might have been adapted to take one of those precious sheets for a possible scheme like above, when film was very scarce and images were in demand instead of a whole roll of restricted aerial film, or the "one shot is enough" mentality crowd...

I have a K-25 that is electrically operated that was a bookend for awhile, but Bradford Washburne used aerial cameras on the ground and in the air, so there is a use somewhere for it...

Good Luck!!!! :)

Steve K

My dad spent the war in the UK as a photo tech for a USAAF reconnaissance squadron. He once told me that the photographers on base saved roll film backing paper, and then "rolled their own" from aerial film short-ends. There was apparently always a few feet of film left in the cassette, and they used a homemade splitter based around double-edge razor blades. The film roll was 5" wide, so they could also cut 4x5 sheet film from the leftovers.

241152

[Alan Townsend]

domaz,

I owned and used a K-20 camera with roll film back from 1968-1974. I went into a small part time business with my father who owned an old Taylorcraft airplane that he rebuilt. I always have fond memories of that camera, but I used surplus military surplus 5 1/2-inch roll film, which I bought dirt cheap from a company in New York City called "Bonafide Novelties, Inc.". I would shoot about 8-10 frames, then take it into my darkroom and carefully cut that strip of film off, then process in trays using the old style up and down method holding the ends while the middle was wet.

I took some very nice photographs using that camera, including landscapes. One of my favorite pictures ever was taken on a beach on Lake Huron in Ontario Canada. After a few years of use, the camera broke. I tried to fix it but could not. The mechanism that holds the film flat using vacuum had failed, so the film would not advance. As I remember, fixing this required changing a complex part that was unavailable unless another camera was used for parts. I spoke to a person at the company that had rebuilt the camera I bought and was told that these failures were common. I would need to buy another rebuilt camera, for about $200 as I remember, so I just bought an old Crown Graphic instead and used that for aerial photography.

My point is that I can see somebody modifying one for sheet film for that reason. I thought about doing that myself. For military, that would be useless due to the film fiddling. Believe me a 4x5 with cheap roll film is extremely useful. A K-20 with cut film not so much. Fiddling with film holders while flying in a small airplane with the door removed is not fun but is doable. The K-20 is very strong and heavy compared with a Graphic, which is good while flying. I had to modify the Crown Graphic to prevent bellows damage, so turned it into a simple rigid camera eventually by attaching plywood pieces over the bellows. This worked well after some fussing and was better in some ways.

Alan Townsend