[Leica] Re: Spring half frame

[lrzeitlin at optonline.net (Lawrence Zeitlin)]

On Dec 1, 2006, at 4:15 PM, Walt wrote:

> I remember an Olympus half-frame model the helicopter pilots used in
> Vietnam. It had a wind up spring motor and made flying and shooting at
> the same time a bit easier. Canon also had a half-frame model (I  
> think)
> but sans motor.


I don't remember a spring wind Olympus 1/2 frame but I do remember  
the Canon Dial. This was a camera about the size of a cigarette pack  
with a spring wind handle protruding from the bottom. The name "Dial"  
comes from the rotary telephone like dial attached to the front of  
the camera and rotated for setting aperture. Another spring operated  
1/2 frame was the Ansco Demi. This was also cigarette packed size and  
the wind up knob was on the top. The Konica AA was a battery operated  
1/2 frame camera with auto focus and auto exposure which looked like  
the Kodak Disc submini. Probably the most ambitious auto wind 1/2  
frame was the Yashica Samurai. This SLR had a zoom lens, auto focus,  
auto exposure, and built in flash. It was meant to be a complete  
camera kit in a case the volume of three cigarette packs. According  
to Olympus, the advent of the Rollei 35 and its ilk killed off the  
1/2 frame movement. Few would buy a 1/2 frame camera, given the  
difficulty in getting processing, when a full frame camera smaller  
than most 1/2 frames was available. And then came the digitals which  
killed them all off.

Larry Z