THE GUN CAMERA:
Giving New Meaning To The Term “Shooting Photos”

By Bill Dobbins
http://www.billdobbinsphotography.com

Photography and airplanes came together in WWI when aerial cameras were used to shoot photographs for intelligence and surveillance of battlefield and enemy positions.  A few years later the British Royal Flying Corps started outfitting fighting planes with cameras used to record the effectiveness of machine gun fire.

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Still from gun camera film shot by Flight Lieutenant A G “Sailor” Malan, leader of ‘A’ Flight, No. 74 Squadron RAF, recording his first aerial victory, a Heinkel He 111 over Dunkirk.
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The Lewis machine gun was a common aerial weapon in WWI. After the war, the British created a gun camera based on this weapon.
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Gun cameras also recorded the effectiveness of staffing attacks.

By WWII all the different air forces had adopted the use of camera guns.  These were synced to machine buns and cannon – when the trigger of a weapon was pulled this also caused the camera to begin recording.  This created a visual record of the effectiveness of bullets or canon shells on enemy aircraft or staffing of enemy positions.

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Another version of the Lewis based gun camera.

The gun camera footage that survives today has been used in countless movies and TV shows.  Gun cameras are also used extensively to record “combat” in simulated dog fight scenarios presented by a number of services that give individuals the experience of what air to air fighting is all about.

SOME SURVIVING GUN CAMERA FOOTAGE
AIR TO AIR
AIR TO GROUND
AFGHANISTAN A-10 GUN CAMERA

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Bill Dobbins is a pro photographer located in  Los Angeles. He is a veteran photographer and videographer who has exhibited his fine art in two museums and a number of galleries and who has published eight books, including two fine art photo books:

The Women: Photographs of The Top Female Bodybuilders (Artisan)
Modern Amazons (Tashen)
WEBSITES
BILL DOBBINS PHOTOGRAPHY
www.billdobbinsphotography.com
BILL DOBBINS ART
www.billdobbinsart.com
FEMALE PHYSIQUE SITES
www.billdobbins.com
EMAIL: billdobbinsphoto@gmail.com
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The gun camera is trigger automatically when the pilot fires his machine guns or cannon.
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US Army Air Forces AN-N6 Lackner Gun Camera WW2 16mm