Cunningham Combat Camera
When the U.S. War Department wanted a special camera for shooting live combat footage, they commissioned American Camera Company of Hollywood to build it. The camera was officially designated the “PH-530/PF” but was popularly known as the 'Cunningham Combat Camera Model C 35mm Cine Camera' after the camera engineer who designed and built it and was first introduced into service in 1945, when the European war was nearly over and preparations were being made for a long and difficult combat in the Far East. Little has ever been written about this camera. It was never listed in any Jackson Rose Manual (the forerunner of the American Cinematographer Manual, nor in any other camera books of the time. In the manual it says "it is a 35mm motion picture camera designed for hand use in the field. Pistol grip handles and a rifle stock provide firm support and permit the camera to be aimed like a submachine gun. " Sic. It was even painted a dull grey to make it look like military ordinance. The camera was built of cast magnesium alloy, weighed about 16 Ibs (7 kg), was 20 l/2 in. (800mm) long, had a non-reflex rifle type sight set about 4" (100mm) directly above the taking lens and with no means of parallax correction (the manual says that 'its use involves some error ... -which, however, is only serious in close-ups, and can be eliminated as the operator becomes familiar with the camera'. It says that the total image seen in the finder represents the 35mm lens, a rectangle inscribed on the glass frames the 75mm and that the area seen with the magnifier raised into position represents the 6" (150mm) lens. A lOin (250mm) lens was also supplied and this had to be aimed by means of a cross inscribed at the centre of the finder ... with 'no means provided for determining the exact field of the lens'. Each camera outfit was provided with three 200ft (60m) magazines each of which incorporated a film gate and Mitchell style pull down and register pin movement. For use, the magazine had to be slid into the camera on a dovetail slide inside the body of the camera below the viewfinder, which hinged sideways to make this possible. By the sound of it, the task of loading the magazines was no task for those who had less than nimble fingers. Threading each magazine involved the tasks of sliding the film into the aperture plate slide, withdrawing the register pin and feeding it back into a perforation and then creating correctly sized top and bottom loops in a confined space ... and all in total darkness ... and (maybe) under fire. As each magazine included its own film gate and register pin movement focusing was accomplished by moving the entire magazine and film gate backwards and forwards by means of a lever on the side of the camera where there were three focus strips to match the three shorter lenses. This had the advantage that the lens focus could be adjusted just by the operator's right thumb without the need to take his hand off the handgrip to reach the lens. The 10" lens could only be focused by scale or by means of a focusing periscope that could be fitted into position by removing the magazine and sliding into its position a ground glass and focusing magnifier assembly The camera had an internal electric motor which required a 90 volt power supply from two 45 volt batteries in series and which could be set to run at 16, 24 or 32 fps with no intermediate speeds. In the forward to the manual it prints a detailed 'Destruction Notice' on how to use 'axes, gasoline, flame throwers and grenades' etc. to prevent the enemy from salvaging this equipment 'for his benefit.
