Horizon (camera)
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|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Type | 35 mm swing-lens panoramic |
| Lens | |
| Lens mount | 28 mm f/2.8 |
| Focusing | |
| Focus | fixed |
| Exposure/Metering | |
| Exposure | 1/2-1/250 w/o 1/15,1/30 |
| Flash | |
| Flash | none |
| Released | 1967 |
 |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Type | 35 mm swing-lens panoramic |
| Lens | |
| Lens mount | 28 mm f/2.8 |
| Focusing | |
| Focus | fixed |
| Exposure/Metering | |
| Exposure | 1/2-1/250 w/o 1/15,1/30 |
| Flash | |
| Flash | none |
| General | |
| Dimensions | 117.5×146×73 mm, 700 g |
| Released | 1989 |
The Horizon is a mechanical swing-lens panoramic camera. It is manufactured by Krasnogorsky Mechanicheskiy Zavod (KMZ) in Krasnogorsk, Russia, better-known for their range of Zenit cameras. The main characteristic of this camera is its rotating lens that takes in a 120° panorama as the shutter button is pressed. The current (2015) models label as Horizon Perfekt and Horizon Kompakt.
The history of this camera dates back to the Soviet Union in the year 1948 when KMZ manufactured a very limited series of prototypes called FT-1, a small, boxy panoramic camera for 35 mm film. The first public edition was presented years later on the Brussels World Fair in 1958 under the name FT-2. Off the chronological order, an additional number of cameras labeled FT-3 with prototype characteristics had already been produced in 1952 and 1953. FT stood for Fotoapparat Tokareva (Фотоаппарат Токарева), meaning Tokarev's camera.Tokarev is said to have come up with the initial design. The film had to be loaded into special cassettes that then would be inserted into the camera. Until 1968 16.662 FT-2 were made and sold also abroad under the names Spiratone, Panorama and Spaceview. In 1967 it was succeeded by the Horizont. This camera already shared the basic looks with the present models and had similar technical specs: it had a f2.8/28 mm Industar lens and four shutter speeds, ranging from 1/30 s to 1/250 s. First introduced at photokina in 1966, the Horizont created a picture using 24 x 58 mm frames on 35mm film. It had an OF-28P (28 mm, f/2.8), fixed-focus, lens and offers shutter speeds of 1/30 s, 1/60 s and 1/125 s. Its body is 142 mm wide, 100 mm high and 67 mm deep and weighs 910 g (grip not included). After 49,849 units this model was discontinued in 1973.
In 1989 the camera was picked up again by KMZ and reworked, especially on the exterior. This time KMZ called the camera Horizon 202. Instead of a metal case, the outside was now made of ABS plastic. The interior workings, however, did not change much. The biggest change was the addition of a second gear, resulting in an additional set of shutter speeds. This left the photographer with 8 speeds to choose from: 1/2 s, 1/4 s, 1/8 s, 1/15 s, 1/30 s, 1/60 s, 1/125 s and 1/250 s. In latter models the speeds 1/15 s and 1/30 s where dropped in favor of a more evenly running mechanism. Since 2006 it is sold in a stripped down version with only two shutter speeds (1/2 s and 1/60 s) as Horizon Kompakt
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Wikipedia