Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer

Samuel Pierpont Langley, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution from 1887 to 1906 and an aviation pioneer who designed and flew unmanned powered aircraft, used this long-lens camera to study birds in flight. Langley installed photographers with cameras in two towers at the zoo in Washington's Rock Creek Park to take simultaneous photographs of bird wings from different angles. The photographer tripped the shutter with a trigger on the leather-coated wooden gun stock. The lens is missing.

 Display Status

This object is on display in Boeing Aviation Hangar at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.

Boeing Aviation Hangar
Object Details
Date 1887-1903 Country of Origin United States of America Type EQUIPMENT-Photographic Manufacturer Smithsonian Institution
 Physical Description Gun-like appearance with trigger shutter release on gun stock and long barrel. With magazine, film winder, sighting line/focal length ajustment with two adjustable wheels. No lens. Dimensions 13 x 9 1/2 x 43 1/4 in. (33.0 x 24.1 x 109.9 cm)
 Materials Wood gun stock, leather covered, and brass barrel (was leather covered).
 Inventory Number A19820741000 Credit Line Transferred from the Smithsonian Institution to the United States National Museum. Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.