Has anyone ever seen this camera??? It has a built in rotary shutter allowing a top shutter speed of 1/3000 sec... Each lens comes with a wireframe external view finder - 45mm lens up to 400mm, I believe! I have seen a brochure a long time ago stating it users NATO Filmspeed!!!!

Where can I get my hands on one??? The Vinten Website (UK) is of no assistance..

Why can't a Conventional Pentax 67 have the internal mirror removed and be be fitted with an external wireframe finder, thereby removing the problem with mirror vibration???...

-- Brian (aerialim@westnet.com.au), August 04, 2001

Answers

The mirror vib is not a problem with this camera if one uses MLU. Shutter vib is another story however. Never heard of Vinten.

-- Steve Rasmussen (srasmuss@flash.net), August 04, 2001.

I believe there is more than one "Vinten". Bill Vinten is -I think- the inventor of the Vinten camera/tv heads, dollys, tripods, etc., and he is based in the U.K. The Vinten camera may or may not be tied to him, and may or may not be in the U.K., I really don't know. As for the camera, I am not positive they use Pentax 67 lenses, though of course someone could adapt just about anything. I believe the camera has lens "cones" for the est. focal lengths of 100mm, 150mm, 230mm and 300mm (I thought the one I saw used the old Aero-Ektar lenses?). I am doing this all from memory, and could be a bit off on the details. The wider lenses, especailly the 45mm lens, seems of questionable use from the air. These Vinten cameras use 100 foot spools of 70mm film, and I believe this gets 485 or 500 shots per cassette. The original intent was to mount them on smaller planes for mapping work, and like most cameras like this, it might be a real test to handhold it (in terms of weight and ergonomics, I suspect it makes the P67 seem like a pocket camera). I have seen pics of these cameras, at least the earlier ones, and there was no wireframe finder since it is mounted on the body of the plane. Perhaps the #507 you list indicates a revamped model? As for shake problems on the Pentax, they might prove to be nothing compared to the shake of the plane - but you have to assume they took this into account, after all, the camera would basically have been bolted to planes. Most people I know doing aerial P67 have or have access to a Ken-Lab gyro, and they then use mirror lock-up when they feel they need it - but it might surprise you how few times that is. There isn't any particular reason why someone couldnt make their own wire-finder. I have seen people doing sports photography with the P67 and a homemade finder (all you need is ground glass and some creativity to mount it to the camera). For what it is worth, the finders I have seen either had a little arm which mounted the frame to the hot show (easily removed), or a hook-like mount which went into the tripod socket, up around the back of the camera (also easily removed - and has to be removed to reload film). I don't know that removing the mirror from the Pentax is really necessary -shake is exaggerated- but it could be done. Sorry, no advice on where to buy such a camera.

-- Michael Tolan (mjtolan@kbjrmail.com), August 06, 2001.

I am not sure if this is the camera you guys are discussing, but I just stumbled across this website with a photo of a Vinten camera that using 70mm film: http://www.sfu.ca/rs/system/vphoto.htm . The guy says it is used on Cessna's. I don't see mention of the P67 lenses, but perhaps the mount is interchangable?

-- Miles Stoddard (p67shooter@yahoo.co.uk), August 27, 2001.