Name dis camera?

[edthened]

Och a contact of mine in Flickr poot up a foti of a camera, an a asked him wit mak an model it is, but fir sum reeson hees nae givin mee a proper answer, so a decided tae go aboot it anuther wae an ask yoo guys if yoo no wit it is :-)

Foti by EvisNP

Oll help will be appreciated,   TIA

[radiophoto]

Um...is it "Mary"?  That's a good name.

[Todd G]

Looks like a WW II aerial camera of some type.  Fairchild?  Graflex?  Or something made on your side of the pond.

[edthened]

Och Todd, a thawt it wissa WW2 Aerial camera but re guy saed NO   :confused:   :rolleyes:

Och Pete, shoorlie ye can dae better dan rat........................ cos yoor supposed tae bee an expert..............................or sumthin  :cool:

[r-brian]

Can't tell from the picture but is it a water-proof case?  Some sort of underwater camera.

[Todd G]

Not exactly the same, but scroll down to the Graflex K20 shown at this thread/link:

http://photo.net/large-format-photography-forum/00RvTa

I think there were several makers of various models of aerial cameras from the 1920s up until maybe the 1960s or even later.  Many had the same basic shape.  Your friend's might not be WW II, but I'd guess late 1930s to mid 1950s anyway.

Never have seen one in person, just photos or sale ads.  One of the few classes of cameras that I can honestly say I have almost no interest in the cameras themselves, but I'm completely fascinated by many of the photos they made.

[radiophoto]

Eddieneddie, I'm nae the expert.  Wait'll Danny (Burninfilm) sees this thread -- he'll know.  Kid's half my age but seems to be a dang genius when it comes to cameras.  Of course, that's a pretty crappy picture...nobody's said it yet, but it is, and it's hard to make out the proper shape of it.  "So ther".

[Dean Williams]

The picture's crummy, and it's still a Graflex, or Folmer Graflex.  Or it's made by a company that copied Graflex in great detail.

Or, it's a "Hoot, mon", made by a company somewhere across the water.  Close as I can get.

Dean

[LarryD]

Ariel Linhoff Model 58. RAF issue 1958-67. OK I made that all up but it sounded good... Looks French if you ask me.

[edthened]

Och Larry, dis izza serious business coz dis guy is runnin rings aroond mee   :mad:  :mad:
Ma predicament :-  http://tinyurl.com/yff8j7c

[jamesmck]

I think it's the rare Croatian limited-edition camera cleverly crafted for underwater aerial photography.  When you add some vowels, the name translates to "Aquataerial."  Interestingly, this name rhymes with the Croatian verb meaning "to yank one's chain."  It was produced prior to the development of the principles of market research.  Mind you, I may be wrong.

James

[LarryD]

James.... You are adding vowels to Croatian?..... That is funny

[radiophoto]

"Aquat[-]aerial" -- James, you are a clever man.  No help to Eddie, mind you, but then again neither was I.

[LarryD]

Nor was I but you can see it was pushed against a window that wore the paint off the front of the lens shade..

[BurninFilm]

Pete, I'm no expert... just a guy that knows to much useless information...

I'm pretty sure this is a Williamson F117a aerial camera. There's a similar one on Flickr:

Flickr Williamson Aerial Camera

It's also listed at the Living Image Camera Museum:

Living Image Camera Museum Williamson F117a

As can be seen, the Williamson looks identical to the camera portrayed at the top of this thread. Without knowing more, it's hard for me to be sure what it is. But the placement of the grip, the bulk rollfilm back, the type of viewfinder, the construction and form of the camera, etc. is all indicative of an aerial camera to me. Frankly, I can't see any other use for a camera setup in this particular way.

Frankly, if it's NOT a Williamson aerial camera, I'd be very interested in hearing what it actually is.