A Fingerprint Camera for Less Than £20
| Published date | 01 September 1964 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X6403700905 |
| Author | A. H. Hardy |
| Date | 01 September 1964 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
DET.
SGT.
A.
H.
HARDY
Photographic Department, Blackpool Borough Police
A
FINGERPRINT
fJAMERA
FOR
LESS
THAN
£20
The time had arrived when the 30-year-old Graflex fingerprint
camera could no longer be relied upon to produce asatisfactory
negative, if indeed it produced a negative at all. It had been repaired
so many times that it had at least reached the end of its active life, and
it was due for retirement.
Our
problem, therefore, was the new recruit. The old one had given
good service, but 30 years had shown up certain limitations inherent
in the design, and it was hoped that a new design might overcome at
least some
of
them.
The first requirement was one in which those impressions against
the glass, on the underside of the window frame over the kitchen
sink, could be photographed without amirror stuck in place with
tape, and a 5 in. X4in. camera on a tripod, one leg
of
which was
in the sink, one on the draining board and the other supported by
achair and a pile of books, a morning's work for often an inferior
result.
Secondly, a shorter exposure was needed; it is indeed a rare
mark which gives the operator aposition sufficiently comfortable to
guarantee an exposure
of
up to 10 sees. without movement.
The third requirement, which many readers will no doubt rate as
number one, was that the cost should be kept to a minimum.
The design illustrated was therefore decided upon.
It
was well
within the capabilities
of
ado-it-yourself handyman to construct,
and though tests have proved it to be, in the first requirement,
not the complete answer, it goes quite a long way towards being so.
There are obviously going to be marks which are still inaccessible
to this camera, where time, patience and ingenuity are the main
necessities, but in the vast majority of instances it is working ad-
mirably. Shorter exposure is obtained by the use
of
electronic
flash.
The construction is fairly obvious from the photographs. The
L
shaped"
field
frame"
is made from two pieces
of
Formica cemen-
ted back to back, the centre and back panels are
of
hardboard
sandwiched between two pieces of Formica, with the addition, on
the back panel, of two extra layers
of
Formica to form the grooves
for the film holders.
The lens was taken from a 21 in. square camera of the now un-
popular folding type, which can be obtained quite cheaply at local
photographic
dealers-in
this case, £5.
It
was mounted on a small
piece
of
Formica in order to allow a certain amount
of
rise and cross
422 September /964
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