The SX-70 Camera: The Optics

William T. Plummer

Late in 1969 our new optical engineering group at Polaroid, under Dick Weeks, was testing the prototype taking lenses for a new kind of instant camera, planned to fit in a pocket like a flat cigar case, hinge open with a four-bar linkage, and take full-sized pictures. I had just arrived at Polaroid and was occupied with computing the field-tilt sensitivities within Jim Baker's four-element taking lens.1 Some members of the group were struggling to devise an effective viewfinder that could be used to focus and frame subjects within one foot.

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