E. Leitz Canada (ELCAN) 16mm motion picture camera - Model N-9 gun camera - CF-104 Starfighter jet airplane

[JohnnyX]

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I recently picked up an Ernst Leitz Canada (ELCAN) Model N-9 gun camera in Ontario. This particular model seems to have been used on Canadian CF-104 Starfighter jets, although it may also have been used on other airplanes. There are also similar N-9 cameras made by Bell & Howell, Perkin & Elmer and others but these typically have a different lens made by other American companies. There were about 200 Canadian Starfighters built in Canada but many hundreds more were built elsewhere for the US, Germany, Japan and many other countries.

There is some good info in this link but it was posted 12 years ago and is long dormant...

The N-9 camera standard seems to date from around 1956 based on this manual...

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(photo above from an eBay listing)

I also have a tag on mine from Repair Depot 6 with a 1967 date on it, so that matches up pretty well with the Starfighter application.

Here are some photos of mine...

When I bought it, it had a little display stand and was labeled as "CAMERA GUN TYPE N-9 16mm 50FT. MAGAZINE LOAD, E. LEITZ (CANADA) LENS 25mm F/1.4 , INTERCHANGEABLE RCAF and USAF, ALF PYNER COLLECTION".

There is very little info online about this camera. Almost all the ones I have seen have a 35mm/f2.8 lens. 

I did make an adapter and attached it to my M4/3 camera...

It's a fixed focus lens, so I made some shims to adjust the focus and get it to focus at infinity. This post has size limits so I can't include any more photos but I'll post some pictures later taken through this lens. It's full coverage on M4/3 but a full circle image on full frame. (I also have an M4/3 to Sony E adapter, so this can be used on either camera.) For the original 16mm frame size, I believe the photos would need another 56% crop from the M4/3 format.

Here are my questions...

1. Were there any other applications for this camera? Why do I have a 25mm lens when most seem to be 35mm? Presume the production numbers for the 25mm version are much lower, so this lens is fairly rare.

2. Probably more a question from the RCAF folks but my film cassette is marked "422". There doesn't seem to be an aircraft with that number but there was a 422 squadron that flew CF-104's during this time period. Presume this number refers to the squadron? 

Any other info anyone has would be appreciated.

Thanks,

John

 

 

[alan mcfall]

 

I have some of these types of cameras. Not sure I can add to the useable knowledge from the previous thread.

#1  N-6 Camera, Gun, US Army, Fairchild, Wollensak 35 3.5 lens, earlier and quite different than the N-9 cameras.

#2  N-9 camera recorder, ELC, serial 3148, Bell & Howell 35/ 3.5 lens. Leitz magazine serial 4580, marked "72" RCAF repair tag dated 1/64

#3 N-9 camera recorder, ELC serial 1990,  bell & Howell 35/3.5 lens. Leitz magazine serial 4026, RCAF repair tag undated.

#4 KB-3AT 16mm camera, ELC serial 5961, ELC lens 35/2.8,  leitz magazine 5575, marked "95"

#5 N-9 16mm general purpose motion picture/gun camera, mfg Bell & Howell serial 3413, leitz magazine serial 4351, new lens in box, no mfg, 1.4 max aperature, dated sept 62. Could be 25mm, but not sure.  The 1.4 fast aperature could be the final configuration from ELC?

One-Leitz made magazine serial 519

One Lietz made magazine serial 5767, tag=Overhauled by ELC sept 62

One Bell & Howell mfg magazine, no serial, marked US property.

 

 

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Edited July 26, 2023 by alan mcfall

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