Josef Slechta

Slechta film camera, 1924

Film camera for 35-mm film. Author of its design is Josef Slechta. The first "Slechta machines" date back to 1923. The camera body is cast from a light alloy, four objectives are mounted in a common focusing revolver holder, cassettes with up to 120 m of film are in upper part of the camera. The film is transported by means of a single central cylinder and pulled by a one-tooth double-sided claw driven by a triangle cam. The sector of rotation stopper can be manually or automatically adjusted. Special design of the focusing lamp facilitates focusing on a ground screen as well as observation of a scenery during shooting. First models were driven by a crank, an electric motor was added later. Till 1948, 300 pieces of this camera were produced. Because of its technical performance, reliability and design, the cameras sold well all round the world, including the USA. The collection of the National Technical Museum contains ten models of this camera.