Lester A Dine Dental Polaroid

IMG 4319

As well as polaroid producing a wide variety of cameras, there where several companies who used either the polaroid backs, or the cameras a the basis for custom built specialist cameras.

One such company where Lester A. Dine who specialised in modifying Polaroid cameras for dental and forensic work.

The camera shown here is a "Dine Instant Camera Model IV" and comes in its own fitted case and with a selection of specialist close up lenses to enable focus from 18 inches down to about 2 inches.

The camera was built around a 600 series Supercolor camera, the Sonar focus was locked to a specific point and disabled, and a special mount was fitted to the camera enabling the lenses to be changed, each lens was calibrated to a specific distance. The cameras viewfinder was adapted and modified as was the flash, which was fitted with a series of diffusers and baffles to direct the light to the appropriate point of focus. The flash also was fitted with a slide to reduce the power and this was used in conjunction with the cameras exposure control to balance exposure.

Due to their custom built nature, the cameras where made in small numbers and there is very little background information on these units, A truly unique camera, and it produces images that simply can not be created any other way.


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