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KGB Stasi KMZ
The camera body measures approx. 7 x 5.5 x 2.5 cm, excluding the lens.
It has three different shutter speeds (1/10, 1/30 and 1/100) plus a manual
setting (lens continuously open). The image on the right shows a typical
F-21 camera.
A ring around the lens allows the diafragm to be set between 2.8 and 16.
The shutter is released by pressing the shutter release button on top of
the camera (right in the image). Furthermore, it was possible to
attach a remote control unit to the front of the camera, allowing it to
be used in a variety of concealments, such as a handbag.
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Once the picture is taken, the camera automatically winds to the next image,
so that multiple photographs can be taken in quick succession. The auto-winder
is fully mechanical and needs to be wound-up before use. To wind it up, the
large knop at the top centre of the camera has to be turned clockwise,
as indicated by a white arrow. There are no batteries involved whatsoever.
The frame size is 18 x 24 mm, while the images are taken on a 21 mm film,
resulting in rather sharp and good quality photographs, compared to the
subminiature cameras of those days, that had a 8 x 11 mm frame size.
Compared to the later 35 mm cameras, such as the
Kiev-35A
and most domestic camera of the analogue era,
the F-21 can be regarded as a half-frame camera.
The design was clearly inspired on the wartime
Robot Star cameras
that also featured a windup mechanism.
The F-21 was succeeded in 1985 by the F-27 Neozit 2
and in 1989 by the Zakhod. 3
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Ajax is sometime written as Ajaks or Ayaks.
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Neozit is sometimes written as Neosit.
➤ More
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Zakhod is sometimes written as Zahod.
➤ More
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Because of its small size and simplicity of operation, the F-21 was ideally
suited for covert operations. A variety of mechanical constructions were
developed to enable the F-21 to be used in virtually every type of concealment,
ranging from a pack of sigarettes to a woman's handbag.
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For surveillance and observation purposes, the F-21 was often built into
a woman's handbag.
In order to shoot a picture, the female agent only had to lift the bottom of
her handbag slightly.
Another common application of the F-21 was to use the button of a raincoat
as concealment for the lens. The image on the right shows an F-21 with a
special assembly that resembles a button, mounted in front of the lens.
The camera would be strapped around the waist of the agent, at such a position
that the button protruded one of the button holes of his (prepared) raincoat.
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The button has a static outer ring and an inner section that consists
of two movable halves that cover the camera's lens.
The assembly has a shutter-release lever that
attaches to the camera via a flexible cable. The release lever can
be operated by hand from within the pocket of the coat.
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The image on the right shows a close-up of the button, mounted on the
camera lens, with the outer ring removed. This gives a good idea of
the construction of the two 'doors' that are briefly separated when the
picture is taken (as is simulated here here by pressing the release lever
half way). Once the image is shot, the two doors are moved
back to their initial position.
In practice this happens so fast that the human eye can hardly see it
happening. The spring-loaded mechanism then winds
the camera to the next position; ready to take the next shot.
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Also on the remote control is a small lever to alter the diafragm of the
lens. It 'clicks' into three different positions that correspond with
the three default diafragm settings, but also allows the
diafragm to be set to a value in between. Like the shutter,
it is controlled from the agent's pocket.
The 'fake' button is so realistic that it even has black yarn in
the four holes at the center.
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In the images above, the camera is shown with a brown button, but other
colours, such as black, were also used. For a perfect concealment, a
set of matching 'normal' buttons was available.
The image on the right shows an example of a set of matching black
buttons. As indicated on the checklist,
the set consisted of 10 large
buttons, 8 smaller ones, 3 open buttons (the outer rings) and 4 shutters.
The buttons were sewed onto the agent's coat, replacing the existing
ones, so that they were all identical to the one with the shutter.
The perfect disguise.
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The film cutter shown in the image on the right,
was used for cutting regular 35 mm perforated film down to 21 mm
unperforated film for use with the AJAX-12 (F-21) camera.
➤ More information
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The camera is known by the following names:
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- F-21
- AJAX-12
- Ajaks-12
- Ayaks-12
- АЯАКС-12
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Dimensions 77 x 55 x 40 mm Weight 180 gram Temperature -20°C to +55°C Lens 28 mm f2.8 Field 56° Focus Fixed at 5m, at f/5.6: 3.75-6.25 m, at f/16: 1.27 m - ∞ Speed B, 1/10, 1/30, 1/100 sec Film 21 mm Frame size 18 x 24 mm Cassette 14-100 exposures (depending on film thickness)
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Thursday 22 March 2012. Last changed: Monday, 21 January 2019 - 10:24 CET.
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