This one isn’t something you are likely to find mixed in a barrel of rusted Nagants, but it is from World War II. This particular piece is classified by the U.S. military as “Camera, Flexible Gun, Motion Picture, Rokuohsha (Konishoruko) Type 89, Japan.” Which is a bit of a mouthful to rattle off at your company Christmas party.
Before we kick things off, we want to give a special thanks to firefighter Adam H., who not only let us know about this mighty beast but actually brought us one to photograph and play around with. Adam had very little info about it, other than his grandfather brought it back from the war in its original box.
Once home, it sat for years until one day Adam and his dad began to talk about it. Adam found out it was a gun camera used by aircraft in combat and training, and that around the time the war was ending Grandpappy sent it home as war booty. Pretty cool that once upon a time our troops were allowed war trophies!
We dug around a bit more and found that the Type 89—Camera, Flexible Gun, Motion Picture, Rokuohsha (Konishiroku) Type 89, Japan—was a multi-purpose camera that fit into a gun pod on board the Zero as well as assorted land-based bombers. When the cockpit jockey would trigger his guns, the camera would be triggered as well.
If the mission was one for training, the footage would be reviewed by instructors who would check to see if the pilot had used proper lead and made the correct adjustments. We know that every fighter pilot believes they could never miss, but this gave black-and-white (no pun intended) proof of hits.
In time of war, the camera was used to document actual combat kills so pilots would get the proper credit. It makes sense that with multiple planes engaging one another that some pilots might think they got a kill when it was in fact a wingman or even flack that actually took the target down.
Far be it from us to suggest any pilot would pad his numbers to make it to that mighty “ace” designation!
The Type 89 is finished in a matte black, and the coating feels like a heavy paint. It is certainly a heavy little beast, though we didn’t have the opportunity to throw it on a scale. The Type 89 used 35mm film and was made by Konishoruko Manufacturer Company, which later went on to became Konica in more peaceful years.
If you want to check one of these out for yourself, you’re in luck. The National Air and Space Museum collection has one on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.
