Photocor No. 1

By the mid -1920s, the USSR had a need to develop the production of domestic cameras - at that time, Soviet amateur photographers, by then already quite numerous, had to be content with either extremely rare and expensive imported models, or low-quality “home-made products”. May 24, 1928 , in order to reduce the severity of the situation, the Supreme Economic Council of the RSFSR decided to start production of domestic cameras based on the most successful Western models. The task of developing the camera was assigned to the Leningrad State Optical and Mechanical Plant (GOMZ) . The development of the camera lasted from 1928 to 1930 , when a new camera under the brand name "Photocor No. 1" entered mass production.

It is widely believed that Photocor No. 1 is the first Soviet camera that does not correspond to reality - a year earlier, in 1929 , the Moscow Phototrud artel launched the production of a large-format plate folding camera EFTE close to Photocor class ^{[1 ]} . However, this unit was produced in small series, which is why Photocor No. 1 can be considered the first Soviet large-scale camera.

Serial production of Photocorov No. 1 was carried out in large batches from 1930 to 1941, inclusive, and amounted to over 1 million copies.

The Photocor No. 1 camera is a 9 × 12 format universal folding plate camera with double stretching of the fur (the movement of the metal slide of the objective stand along the camera body and the movement of the objective stand along the slide). The fur of the chamber is pyramidal .

The camera was equipped with Anastigmat Ortagoz f4.5 / 135 mm lenses, such as a four-lens non-glued anastigmat ^[2] (in some recent releases, an Industar -2 f4.5 / 135 mm Tessar lens was used). As with other similar cameras, the feature of Photocor No. 1 is the ability to move the lens in the objective rack in horizontal and vertical directions.

Camera shutter - "GOMZ". The shutter design was developed by engineers A. A. Vorzhbit and P. G. Lukyanov on the basis of the German Vario shutter. The shutter is central, inter-lens, without a preliminary platoon with shutter speeds of 1/25, 1/50 and 1/100 of a second, as well as “ K ” (the shutter is open with the shutter button pressed) and “D” (the first press of the shutter button opens the shutter, the second - closes). The production of GOMZ shutters began in 1932 .

The diaphragm range is from 4.5 to 36 (marked values ​​are 4.5, 6.3, 9, 12.5, 18, 25, and 36). The first series of cameras were equipped with imported Compur shutters with shutter speeds of 1, 1/2, 1/5, 1/10, 1/25, 1/50, 1/100 and 1/200 second, as well as “ B ”(similar to Russian“ K ”) and“ T ”(similar to“ D ”), or also imported, but cheaper“ Vario ”shutters with shutter speeds of 1/25, 1/50, and 1/100 of a second,“ B ” and “T” (on these shutters there was an inscription “Original Gauthier”, engraved and highlighted in white paint). Also, according to some reports, the first lots could be equipped not only with imported shutters, but also with imported lenses, for example, Xenar f4.5 / 135 mm. ^[3] Part of Photokorov No. 1 of the last series of the release of 1940 - 1941 was equipped with a new central Temp shutter of the Kompur type. All shutters had the ability to use a cable .

The camera’s focusing system is based on frosted glass on the back of the case, as well as on the distance scale. For ease of use, the frosted glass door in the open state formed a small cloth shaft. The camera had two viewfinders - a rotary mirror and a frame (two frames, on the camera body and on the lens stand).

Glass photographic plates of 9 × 12 cm format served as photographic material. The plates were enclosed in metal cassettes, single-sided and double-sided, of a sliding type.

In addition, the cameras were equipped with a film-adapter and a liquid level to facilitate the installation of the camera in a horizontal position (mounted on a mirror viewfinder).

The dimensions of the camera when folded are 160 × 115 × 64 mm, weight - 1150 grams. The camera body was fitted with black leatherette , metal parts were chrome plated and nickel-plated . For ease of use, there was a black leather strap with embossed “ Photocor No. 1 ” in the upper part of the camera body. The cameras were also equipped with a hard leather carrying case.

In 1938, the Photocor No. 3 model was developed, which did not go into series. This camera was a copy of Photocor No. 1 reduced to a 6.5 × 9 format, equipped with an Industar- 7 3.5 / 105 Tessar lens . ^[3]

"Photocor No. 1" was positioned as a "universal" camera. Due to the wide enough range of available exposure values, the camera could be used both for pavilion shooting with a tripod and for all other types of shooting under various lighting conditions. The double stretching of the fur , unique in the practice of domestic camera manufacturing, made it possible to use Photocor No. 1 for various reproduction works and macro photography . The movable lens mount provided the device with the ability to shoot architecture from different angles without perspective distortion .

Aiming “Photocore No. 1” for sharpness was carried out by the method of stretching the fur . Since the fur had double stretching, coarse aiming was carried out manually - the lens stand was extended to a position along the slide. Then, moving the slide itself with a corrugated nickel-plated roller, you can make accurate aiming. Sharpness is adjusted by frosted glass in the back of the camera. After adjusting the sharpness, choosing the aperture and shutter speed, the back wall of the case with frosted glass is removed and a cassette with a photographic plate is installed in its place. After installing the cassette, the gate covering the photo plate (shutter) is removed, and the camera is ready for shooting.

Important is the fact that printing from glass photographic plates was carried out by the contact method. Thanks to the mobility of this printing method, Photocor No. 1 has become a classic camera for shooting photo chronicle of the Great Patriotic War . ^[four]

• Large format

• A. A. Syrov The Way of the Camera. From the history of domestic camera manufacturing. State Publishing House Art. Moscow, 1954. p. 78-81

• Yuri Golubovsky. The tool of ideology (Russian) // “Foto & video”: magazine. - 2002. - No. 9 . - S. 74-76 .

• (rus.) An article about the camera "Photocor No. 1" on the site "Stages of development of the domestic camera industry."