Cameras of the Vietnam war?

[jayd]

Hello all

Vietnam was likely the most photographed war of all time both professionally and as is my interest by the military personnel who bought cameras from the PX. I would like to document what cameras, film etc. were available and used, and Ideally have a place where veterans can share the pictures they took in Vietnam, and maybe someday make a book.

Thanks
Jay

[daveh]

Jay, that would certainly be an interesting project. Get to it!

Dave.

[jayd]

I'd also like to make a collection of representative cameras etc. the cameras need not work just be able to be cleaned up and look reasonable and I can hopefully repair at some point.
If you have or know someone who has a camera that fits into this project please let me know
I don't have any financial backing or budget so I can't pay a lot and definitely can't pay market prices for Leica M3 or a Nikon F but if you or someone you know has such a camera they want to go to a good home and this project please let me know.

E mail [e-mail]

[Berndt]

I am not sure, if there has been a particular type of camera used during the Vietnam war. Basically all type of cameras, available at that time.

A friend of mine for example told me, that he used an old Minolta SLR when he was in Vietnam, but I think, the military personnel ( basically just GIs bringing their own private cameras to the battlefield ) might have used a wide range of different cameras.

Comparing to WWII, more "ordinary people" owned an own camera, indicated by the fact, you already mentioned ... more pictures have been taken. So if you just research, what cameras have been released by different makers during or let's say up to five years before the war, you should have your answer.

And there should also be Veteran meetings as well, especially in the US. You might just try to be very sensitive, because pictures from any war do usually not only show nice things. The most spectacular ones are most likely already published ... and the actually most interesting ones will never be

[Berndt]

BTW ... the most popular camera, used by war photographers at that time, has been the Nikon F, I think.

Good luck with your project ... and maybe also interesting to research, if there have been pictures taken by the Vietnam people as well.

[Deleted]

As far as news photographers were concerned the Leica M2 and M3 and the Nikon F were the standard tools in Vietnam--one of the reasons Nikon became so popular with professionals. I'm sure Nikon was No. 1. Several people I know who served over there brought back Nikons--one reason being that they could purchase them for about half what they would have cost in the States. Most of the 'Nam veterans I know didn't shoot a lot of photos while there. If they got a 35mm it was just before they came home or they mailed it home. The heat and humidity, mold, etc. could ruin a camera very quickly.

W.

[grenouille]

When I was in Malaysia, I had to put all my equipment in an enclosed room and use a dehumidifier, every morning I had to get rid of a bucket of water from the dehumidifier.

Hye

[aceroadholder]

Here is what you need: The 1971 PACEX catalog camera listings. Now you know where all those Mamiya DTL 1000's came from.
cameracollector.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=op&action=display&thread=6966

What kills me is that for $203 I could have gotten the Olympus Pen FT, the 38mm, 25mm, 100mm, AND the 50-90mm zoom lens... but that would have been 5 weeks pay.

[jayd]

I am somewhat surprised that no one has mentioned the Petris having missed the war by a year and bad knees I was not there to see for myself, but remember repairman Larry Hixson telling me he got lots of Petris from guys who bough them in Vietnam, and others have said they were the cheapest. I suppose like everything else about the Vietnam war what cameras were available would depend on where you were and when you were there.

Thanks
Jay

[grenouille]

Would be interesting to know what cameras were used to record the Korean war, this was the time when most of the SLrs did not exist.

Hye

[daveh]

As an aside, it was amazing how many photos were taken of the American Civil War.

[Berndt]

As an aside, it was amazing how many photos were taken of the American Civil War.

That also came into my mind, when I read the first post. According to the almighty Wikipedia, the first war, which has been photographed, was the Mexican-American War in 1847.

[daveh]

Wiki is sometimes a bit iffy on its facts, but whoever wrote the war photography section would seem to be pretty knowledgeable and (perhaps more importantly) accurate.

Had I not looked at Wiki I would have guessed at the Crimean War as being the first to be photographed.

Photographs sometimes seem to bring perpetual life to those who have already died. I always wonder who the people were, and what hopes and aspirations were cut short by the sabre, bullet or bomb. War is a dreadful thing.