Eye in the Sky

 No, I'm not talking about Chinese balloons here. What I'm talking about is this...

Not the Cineroc, but the Camroc on the right. You see, this was the first camera that could be launched on a model rocket! (The Cineroc was the first super 8 movie camera that was launchable). 

In 1966, Estes Industries developed (see what I did there?) the Camroc rocket camera. The idea was extremely simple. A rubber band shutter was held closed until the parachute popped out, at which time it was released and snapped a single picture on Tri-X black and white film. The lens was in the nose of the rocket, so the rocket needed to be past apogee and pointing back at the ground before it popped. Otherwise you got a great shot of the sky! (Which was NOT great)

Anyway, I had one as a kid and took exactly one picture with it. I got lucky and got a really good picture of the hobby shop that we went to. I gave the picture to the owner and that was that. The camera was lost in the years after.

However, a month or so ago a even more senior member of our rocket club was selling a lot of his old stuff, and I bought his Camroc box! Here it is!

The mighty Camroc!

This is the lens. The quality of the pictures is great, especially considering the lens is plastic.

They sold sections that were pre-loaded with film. That's what is in these sealed plastic bags. I doubt they're any good.

He had a whole lot of parts! I can almost make two complete cameras!

These are film packs that you would load yourself. Again, I think they were stored in a hot garage, so they are probably toast.

Want to learn all about how to use a Camroc? Here are the instructions!

Finally, these are the plans for a rocket to boost it. I plan to "clone" my own and maybe even take a couple of pictures!

Now, of course, they have high quality digital cameras that can take stills and video very easily. Still, there's nothing like the thrill of doing it old school. Nostalgia can be a lot of work, but it can be worth it!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!