From: mkuhn@news.weeg.uiowa.edu (Martin W Kuhn)
Subject: Re: Mercury 1/2 frame 35mm camera
Keywords: mercury
Organization: University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 01:55:16 GMT

In article <1993Jan7.093439.3445@hemlock.cray.com> n3022@cray.com writes:
>Greetings,
>
>Does anyone remember a half frame 35mm camera
>with the name Mercury.  I think there was also a
 
Yep.  Interesting camera.  They were made by the Universal Camera Corp
(Univex), which in turn has an interesting history.  BTW, Univex was
based in New York City.

Anyway, there were 3 models:  
   The original Mercury (CC) made from 1938-42, which used special Univex
     film cassetes and usually had an f/3.5 lens
   The "special" Mercury (CC-1500) made from 1938-40, which had a top marked
     speed of 1/1500 sec (the other models have top marked speed of 1/1000)
     and a better f/2.0 Hexar lens.  Interestingly, there is apparently no
     actual difference in the shutter mechanisms-- only the dial markings
     are different!
   The Mercury II (CX) made from 1945-50's, which is slightly larger and
     uses standard 35mm cassetes.

BTW, the Mercury format is not quite half-frame, but is actually slightly
larger-- you get 65 exposures on a standard 36 exposure roll.

The Mercury does not have a rangefinder-- it is scale focus.  I don't
have my Mercury (a model II) in front of me, but I think it focuses as
close as 1.5 feet or so; not bad.  The lens is interchangeable, though,
and at least one other lens (a tele of some sort) was available. 

There are two accessory shoes on the Mercury.  One of them, is in fact,
a hot shoe-- one of the very first!  However, the center contact is raised
above the shoe surface, so you'd have trouble mounting a modern shoe flash
on it...  BTW, the second shoe was for a rangefinder attachment, I think.
Oh, there was also a rapid wind lever attachment too (which mounts somewhere
else and I think only works on the older models.

Of course, the most interesting (and most obvious) thing about the Mercury
is its shutter.  Univex, long in the movie camera business, decided to
build the Mercury with an adjustable sector shutter instead of a traditional
leaf or focal plane shutter.  Even with its very simple design, they 
managed to give it a shutter speed range of 1/20 to 1/1000sec, plus both
T and B.  Unfortunatly, these shutters are quite troublesome and nearly
impossible to fix (as far as I know), so if you want to buy one, make
sure the shutter works and has reasonably accurate speeds.  The only
shutters more unreliable than the Mercury that I know of has got to
be those Kodak two-bladed disasters they put on just about every mid-priced
ametur model in the 50's and 60's... :-P

The second most interesting thing is probably the amazingly complicated
exposure calculator dial on the back, which takes into account such
information as: film speed, time of year, time of day, cloud cover,
subject matter, contrast, and probably some other stuff too.  Got to
be the most bewildering exposure calculator ever devised.

As far as value goes, typical price range for a Mercury (except the
"special" model) is around $20-$40 or so, depending on how well it
works.  If you can find the "special" model, expect around $150-$200
or so.  The regular models are fairly common.

Mercurys are rather fun to use; not only do the look weird, but that
nice whirr-chunk of the shutter somehow ads to its character.  I recommend
you do your own processing though, due to the oddball format.  BTW,
I once tried comparing the exposure calculator output against a good
meter-- that thing is actually fairly accurate (once you've figured
out how to use that silly thing)  

>I would be interested in locating another one.  I suppose
>I could look in shutterbug.  Anyway, does anyone remember
>or have any more information about where these cameras
>were made, their availability, and price.

see above... :-)


Have fun,
 
             --Marty



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