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Inspiringgenerationstoseebeyond...
andgobeyond
Discoverthestorybehindtheimages. Source:NASATestbench FIRST CAMERA ON THE MOON
THE GERMAN Carl Zeiss
company was founded in Jena
in 1846, primarily to produce
lenses, microscopes, binoculars
and other optical instruments.
As glass technology progressed
Zeiss turned to photographic
optics and built a reputation for
quality, with lenses like the Zeiss
Anastigmat in 1890, the Planar
in 1896 and the Tessar in 1902.
In 1926, following the end
of the First World War, with an
infusion of capital from Zeiss,
four major German camera
manufacturers came together
to form Zeiss Ikon, and the
cameras produced by that
company inevitably used Zeiss
lenses, furthering the company’s
reputation for excellence.
In 1940, when Victor
Hasselblad produced his fi rst
camera at the request of the
Swedish government, he chose
a Zeiss 135mm Biotessar as
its standard lens. Although
Hasselblad fl irted with other lensmanufacturers, the association
with Zeiss continued, and when
Walter Schirra took the fi rst
Hasselblad into space in 1962,
it went with an 80mm f/2.8
Zeiss Planar.
By the time the Hasselblad
500 EL was ready for the
Apollo 11 mission, Zeiss was
working hard to meet the optical
challenges: special lens coatings
to prevent unwanted refl ections
and to ensure full functions
in extreme temperature
fl uctuations; optics that would not
change in zero gravity; prevention
of outgassing (the release of gas
trapped or absorbed in the glass);
and mechanical adaptations
needed for easy operation by
the astronauts.
Everyone remembers the
Hasselblad cameras that went to
the moon. Fewer recall the Zeiss
lenses that were attached to
them, the optical quality of which
produced the razor-sharp images
that have gone down in history.The Zeiss
connection
moon’s surface. That one was
known as the Data Camera.
The Data Camera was designed
to withstand temperatures from
120°C in the sun to -65°C in the
shade. It needed to work in low
and zero gravity and to survive
extreme amounts of vibration.
Stripped of superfl uous parts, the
leatherette covering was replaced
by thin aluminium plates paintedmatt black. The entire refl ex
viewing system was removed and a
metal plate covered the top of the
body. The camera was equipped
with a new, specially developed
60mm f/5.6 Zeiss Biogon lens,
designed to offer excellent contrast
and defi nition, with maximum
freedom from distortion.
Inside the camera a piece of
glass with tiny hairline crossesOn display at the Musée
Nicéphore Niépce in France,
a Hasselblad 500 EL Data
Camera said to be identical to
that used by Neil ArmstrongOne of the film backs used by Neil Armstrong on
the Data Camera whose body was left behind
(Transferred from NASA, to the Smithsonian
Institution, National Air and Space Museum)© DADEROT VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Footstep in the
moon dust, shot by
Neil Armstrong© NASA