Photo credit: Peta Pixel
During World War 2 (1939-1945), photographers used the massive K-17 Army Air Force aerial cameras to capture images from above. They came equipped with a 6″ focal length Metrogon lens and was considered the standard for mapping cameras of its day as well as long after the war. The 20th Air Force used it for some reconnaissance photography with the K-17 and 12″ lens late in the war. However, they were most commonly used for mapping with the 6″ Metrogon lens.
It was normally operated from a 24 VDC electrical source, but could also be manually controlled with a hand crank and shutter lever. Each camera was fitted with a connector for an intervalometer that fired the shutter at an interval set by the aerial photographer.
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Although K-17s and K-18s were typically clamped into mounts, they could be equipped with a pair of handles and a viewfinder for hand-held operation. The term “hand-held” can be interpreted differently because these cameras were not lightweights; an A-5 film magazine used with a 200-foot roll of film weighed 30 pounds, a complete K-17 with a 12-inch lens cone and a full magazine weighed roughly 55 pounds, and the weight increased to almost 75 pounds when a 24-inch lens was used in place of the 12-inch.
