Moment (camera)

• The type of photographic material used is a special photo set of the single-stage “Moment” process, designed to receive eight black-and-white negatives (on photo paper with silver halide emulsion ) and eight black-and-white positives (on non-photosensitive paper ). Frame size - 80 × 105 mm.
• The camera had a folding case made of thin steel sheet and covered with dermatin .
• The front panel of the camera opened, then the fur with a lens barrel and a photographic shutter was forcedly extended.
• Aiming from one meter to “infinity” was carried out by moving the lens barrel on the tilted front panel using a lever device .
• Lens Triplet “T-26” 6.8 / 135, enlightened , with iris diaphragm . Aperture values ​​of 6.8; eight; eleven; sixteen; 22.
• The central inter-lens photographic shutter had shutter speeds of 1/10, 1/200 second and “ B ” ^[3] . There was a thread under the trigger cable .
• The “Moment” camera has two viewfinders - a folding frame and a removable optical one with a mirror (not to be confused with viewfinders of two-lens reflex cameras and single-lens reflex cameras ).
• On the back of the camera there are two hinged lids for charging photographic material (an outer lid with a door and a knife for tearing off positive ).
• Stretching of the photographic material was done by hand for the free end of the paper negative and positive.
• No self - timer .
• The camera has two tripod sockets with a 3/8 inch thread for mounting the camera in a vertical and horizontal position.

The “Moment” camera works on a special photo material and allows you to get ready-made pictures immediately after shooting, without laboratory processing of the negative and subsequent printing and developing positive . The whole process takes place in the camera itself and at the place of shooting.

The “Moment” photo set consists of two rolls of special paper : negative , photosensitive (wound on a reel and protected by a record ) and positive (without a reel).

Positive tape (non-photosensitive) is a varnished photo substrate. The receiving layer of the positive tape has an activator, particles of which are the centers of physical manifestation.

Eight frames 1 are cut on a positive tape, due to which the picture is easily removed from the device and has figuratively cropped edges. After notching, the tape 3 is glued onto the tape with eight frame windows 5 that limit the image in the picture. Laying paper is intended for fastening and mounting all parts of the positive part of the kit. Its thickness limits the thickness of the layer of developing paste. Each frame on a positive film has a capsule 4 with a developer-fixing paste. The capsule is made of foil coated with protective varnishes, filled with paste and sealed, since the developer contained in it is very active and oxidizes rapidly in air. In front of the capsule on the positive tape in the apparatus on the last in the apparatus there are locking arrows 2 , which serve to strengthen the locking holes, as well as to extend the rollers of the apparatus so that excess paste does not get to the next frame.

In its finished form, the photo set (designed for eight images with a frame size of 8 × 10.5 cm) is a compact package of two rolled up ribbons connected by a protective negative record .

Photo kits should be protected from pressure and shock, as this may open capsules with a developing paste, which leads to partial or complete damage to the kit.

A tampon with a stabilizing solution is applied to the photo intelligence, with which the photograph is wiped to remove the oxidation products of the developer. This is necessary for good preservation of the picture.

The photosensitivity of the Moment kit was 32 units. GOST (according to other sources - 45 units of GOST ).

• To charge the photosensitive material, it is necessary to open the outer 5 and inner 3 cover.
• Negative tape is inserted into slot 4 , the leader passes the focal plane and goes around the roller 2 of the inner cover.
• The positive tape is inserted into slot 1 , together with the negative tape leader, it is passed to the exit from chamber 6 .
• The outer cover 5 is closed and both tapes are passed between the rollers 2 .
• After exposure, when pulling the tapes one frame beyond the protruding end 6 , the capsule under the pressure of the rollers 2 opens and the developing paste is distributed evenly between the negative and positive tapes. The frames, passing through the pressure rollers, fall into the contact chamber, where manifestation and simultaneous fixation take place .
• Image acquisition on a positive tape is due to the transfer ( diffusion ) of unreacted silver halide from the negative tape (the so-called physical manifestation).
• The processing time of the image in the contact camera of the camera was about one minute. After extracting the image from the contact chamber, it was necessary to wipe it with a swab with a stabilizing solution . The extracted image was additionally dried for 2.5-3 minutes.

• The “Moment” camera was intended primarily not for amateur enthusiasts, but for technical and special surveys - where immediate positive material was required.
• For artistic and amateur photography, the quality and resolution of the positives received left much to be desired.
• Photographic material "Moment" had a low photographic breadth , the exposure should be selected very accurately.
• At low ambient temperatures, the quality of the photographs was unsatisfactory.
• The “Moment” camera and photosensitive materials were expensive, almost never went on sale.
• In 1969 - 1976, the KMZ produced a rangefinder camera " Photon " of a single-stage process, used photo sets with the same name "Moment".
• The brochure “ Possibilities of using express methods in judicial photography ” (Gorinov Yu. A.), published in 1977 by the USSR Prosecutor's Office (All-Union Institute for the Study of Causes and the Development of Crime Prevention Measures) contains recommendations on the use of single-stage process cameras for photographing the scene of an incident, described their advantages and disadvantages.
• In the magazine " Soviet Photo " were published descriptions and drawings of an amateur conversion of the "Moment" camera into a medium format camera under the " Rolfilm " film for a frame size of 6 × 9 cm.

From 1952 to 1954, the State Optical and Mechanical Plant based on the "Moment" camera produced a large-format camera " Apprentice ", designed for the use of 9 × 12 cm photographic plates .

• Photon (camera)
• Polaroid (cameras made in the USSR)
• Polaroid impulse

• E.A. Iophis. Photokinotechnics / I. Yu. Shebalin. - M.,: “Soviet Encyclopedia”, 1981. - S. 193. - 447 p.

• Yu. Ryshkov. A Brief History of the Soviet Camera (1929-1991) / B. Bykov. - R .: PTK "Art", 1993. - S. 44-45. - 72 p. - 5,000 copies. - ISBN 5-88330-002-2 .

• Cameras and Optics / Ch. ed. E.A. Iophis. - M .: Art, 1958. - S. 80. - 158 p. - 200,000 copies.

• Possibilities of using express methods in judicial photography. - M .: Prosecutor's Office of the USSR, 1977. - For official use, copies.

• Stages of development of domestic camera manufacturing. Camera “Moment” (“FTF-50”)
• Stages of development of domestic camera manufacturing. Camera "Apprentice"
• Stages of development of domestic camera manufacturing. Photon Camera