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Estes Camroc (1966)

October 14, 2007 By: rcgrabbag Category: Rocketry

The Estes Camroc was the first commercially produced camera designed to be carried aloft by a model rocket.

The Camroc was a marvel in simplicity with only one moving part: the shutter. It took one shot per flight using special disks of film loaded prior to launch. The shutter was tripped when the ejection charge fired to release the parachute. The idea was to use a rocket engine with enough of a delay between launch and parachute deployment to ensure that the rocket was in a nose-down attitude when the shutter fired, thereby obtaining a shot of the ground below. (catalog photo from www.ninfinger.org)

At the far left is my Camroc in disassembled form, along with an unused (but exposed) film disk in its light-proof envelope. Next to the envelope is the metal “slide” that was removed from the camera just prior to launch. The picture at the not-so-far left is from the instruction manual and clearly labels each part

The film disks were approximately 1.5 inches in diameter. It was ASA 400 film that needed to be “pushed” to ASA 1200 through extended processing times. Using readily available photo processing chemicals and a darkroom, a hobbyist could process the film. Or, the film could be sent to Estes for processing.

On left is a close-up of the lens from the side facing the film plane. On the right is the other side of the same section showing the shutter spring (rubber band) pins and the aperture of the shutter in the “open” position. The shutter was held in the cocked position with a string that went under the camera body at the narrow end that went into the rocket body. When the parachute was deployed, the camera separated from the rocket, releasing the string thereby releasing the shutter.

This is another catalogue shot showing the Camroc along with its sister photographic payload, the Cineroc movie camera. There is also a picture of the Estes Camroc Carrier rocket (catalog photo from www.ninfinger.org)

This is my attempt to make an Astron Delta clone. This was a two-stage rocket that was recommended by Estes as the carrier of the Camroc. This was prior to the introduction of the Camroc Carrier rocket above. (catalog photo from www.ninfinger.org)