Cameras in the world of Double O 7

1962 - Dr No: Graflex Crown Graphic Press Camera with flash unit

In Dr No, As James Bond arrives at Palisadoes Airport (Noman Manley International airport today) in Jamaica, he gets his picture taken by a female photographer. In the movie she is simply known as the photographer, but in the novel her name is Annabel Chung. She was supposedly a photographer employed by local Kingston newspaper, the Daily Gleaner; in reality she is employed by the primary villain Dr. No to spy on James Bond. She is portrayed by the reigning Miss Jamaica at that time, Marguerite LeWars. Marguerite was working at the Airport when the producers invited her to audition. Bond was walking towards the exit when the flash of a camera went off in his face. Marguerite LeWars was then seen watching Bond as he left the airport with her Crown Graphic held by her side.

The Graflex Crown Graphic (also known as the Graflex Pacemaker Crown Graphic) was a large format press camera introduced by Graflex Inc. in 1947. The lesser known Crown Graphic is commonly mistaken for the Graflex Speed Graphic which is often regarded as the most famous press camera of all time. The mistake is easy to make, however, since the two cameras are identical apart from an additional focal plane shutter on the Speed. The company was founded in 1887 by William F. Folmer and William E. Schwing as a bicycle company in New York City. The first cameras appeared in their catalogue in 1896. The company was acquired by George Eastman and became a division of Eastman Kodak until the company was forced to relinquish this division. It was spun back off into its own company, becoming Folmer Graflex Corporation and then in 1946, Graflex, Inc. The last Speed Graphic cameras were produced in 1973. 1962 - Dr No: Canonflex RP with Flash Unit

"The Photographer" is seen again in a later scene at a Calypso club trying to take another photo of Bond as he is discussing plans with Felix Leiter and Quarrel at a Jamaican calypso restaurant. This time she is spotted by Bond who orders Quarrel to seize her. Bond asks her why she took the shot and she replies that she only got a shot of his head at the airport. When Bond asks the head waiter, Puss-Feller, to check it out, she is forced to change her story and confess that she was a freelance photographer. She then attempts to physically harm Quarrel by cutting his face by breaking the flashbulb from the flash unit. Quarrel seems unaffected and just cooly says to Bond that she is is not the talking type.. Bond then destroys her film and she is set free, never to be seen again, but not before shouting at them that they will be sorry for their actions.

The Canonflex RP was manufactured from 1960 as a cheap version of the professional Canonflex R2000 and unlike the latter, lacks interchangeable viewfinder and shutter speed of 1/2000. However, the RP was a very popular camera due to its good value for money. It lacks an integrated photometer, but an add-on unit can be attached to the camera. The lower part of the camera proves this was indeed a Canonflex RP. The Canonflex have the characteristic lever advance for the film in front of the camera. Next to the lever to open the back door, is a 1/4" thread for the tripod and the rewind button. This makes the base plate of the camera have some relief and a unique appearance, which we can see in the movie when Bond handles the camera and removes the film. The actual movie camera used to film Dr No was a 35mm Mitchell BNC shot in Technicolor. The Mitchell Camera Corporation was founded in 1919 by Americans Henry Boeger and George Alfred Mitchell as the National Motion Picture Repair Co. Their first camera was designed and patented by John E. Leonard in 1917, from 1920 on known as the Mitchell Standard. George Mitchell received an Academy Honorary Award in 1952. The Mitchell Camera Company received an Academy Award for Technical Achievement in 1939, 1966 and 1968.

1963 - From Russia with Love: Rolleiflex T - Type II TLR

The memorable "Talk into the camera" scene. In the film, From Russia With Love, James Bond uses a Rolleiflex T II TLR in which is a hidden tape recorder which Bond uses to record his conversation with Soviet cipher clerk Tatiana Romanova. The Rolleiflex T was a series of medium format film TLR cameras manufactured by Franke & Heidecke, Braunschweig, Germany, and produced between 1958-76. The "T" designation does not come from the famous lenses Tessar, but simply from the first name of its creator: Théodore Uhl.

1964 - Goldfinger: Leica M3

Bond author Ian Fleming specifies in the book GOLDFINGER, that James Bond uses a Leica M3. Book extract of Goldfinger, (1959 Signet Books, Chapter 4, page 29) "He went to his suitcase and extracted an M3 Leica, an MC exposure meter, a K2 filter and a flash holder.” Released in 1954, the Leica M3 is to date the most successful M model, with over 220 000 sold.

1965 - Thunderball: Nikonos Prototype Underwater Camera

Bond is seen using an underwater infrared camera that could take pictures in the dark. Bond used it to photograph a secret compartment beneath Emilio Largo's yacht. It also featured an integrated Geiger counter, as MI6 was anxious to detect and recover some stolen nuclear bombs.

The actual Nikonos Camera started life as the Calypsophot, designed for Jacques Cousteau in 1956, by the Belgian engineer Jean De Wouters. The original lens was a Som Berthiot 35mm f/3.5, with a flat glass front port, mounted on a special waterproof bayonet. It did not have any infrared capability or have an in-built Geiger counter. The design was offered to Nikon, that had the technical and marketing know-how to commercialise the product, and the first 'Calypso-Nikkor' camera became available in 1963. The Thunderball Nikonos was a prototype of this original version.

1969 - On Her Majesty's Secret Service: Minox A III

A Minox A/IIIs camera is used by George Lazenby in Her Majesty's Secret Service. While destroying Blofeld's lair atop Piz Gloria, he takes pictures of the locations of the girls that are sent out by Blofeld as biological warfare agents. Notice that Bond is holding the camera upside down while taking pictures. That in itself could be ok, but he doesn't seem to press the shutter. Sliding the camera, as he does, is only for winding the film after you press the shutter, not taking the photo itself. In the film we also see the image through the viewfinder. The rectangle is quite like the real thing, although it should be white, not blue. The image Bond 'sees' is green. The camera does have a green filter which can be moved in front of the lens, bit it wouldn't be visible though, since the filter only goes in font of the lens, not the viewfinder. The model used in the film must be one of the last models ever made, since the production of the A/IIIs stopped in the same year the movie came out.

1989 - License to kill: Hasselblad parts Signature Gun Camera

One of my favourite Bond weapons, the Signature Gun Camera from License to Kill that was cobbled together from various Hasselblad camera parts. Once assembled, the gun fires .220-caliber, high-velocity shells and has a Bushnell infrared gun sight. For a double 0 agent's security, it comes with an optical palm reader which excludes anyone except the registered owner from using it. It breaks down for an agent for concealed carry as a tourist camera.

1989 - License to kill: Olympus OM-4Ti

Who can forget the huge product placement in the opening title sequence of License to Kill of the Olympus OM-4Ti held my a woman.

1989 - License to kill: Polaroid Spectra Laser Camera

Q (Desmond Llewelyn) brings a Polaroid Spectra System Camera with deadly laser beam to James Bond (Timothy Dalton) when they are in Isthmus City in the movie Licence To Kill (1989). James Bond never uses the camera, but he and Q almost get fried when CIA agent Pam Bouvier takes a picture of them, accidentally shooting the laser beam. The photo shows an infrared image of Q and Bond as skeletons and even the photo of the president on the wall in 'infrared' form. The Polaroid Spectra/Image system was introduced by Polaroid in 1986 and was an improvement over the previous 600 film models and still considered to be one of the better Polaroid cameras. The camera in the film has a red Flash from which the laser beam appears.