1 
New Wild Instruments for Short Range Photogrammetry 
by Gert Bormann 
WILD HEERBRUGG LID. 
Considerable progress has been made in photogrammetry during 
the past two decades as a result of more efficient new 
lenses, instruments and methods. Because of the remarkably 
widespread application of aerial photogrammetry to topo 
graphic mapping all over the world, the general public is 
largely under the impression that photogrammetric procedures 
are used exclusively to process photographs taken from the 
air. This definition not only does not correspond to 
historic facts but completely ignores the manifold other 
possibilities where stereophotogrammetry can be applied. 
In the realm of terrestrial photogrammetry, short range 
measurement has been of importance for many years. Photo 
grammetric methods are used successfully in many places 
to record and reconstruct evidence and on occasion also 
for purposes of architecture, archeology and animal 
breeding, for motion studies, for the measuring of 
laboratory scale models, etc. 
With exception of a few, large universal restitution 
instruments, the equipment used in aerial photogrammetry 
is not suited for the solution of the special tasks of 
short range photogrammetry. As is well known, terrestrial 
photographs differ from aerial phototgraphs mainly in their 
base ratios and in the depth of the objects photographed. 
In addition, there are usually considerable differences 
in the negative formats and focal lengths. More than 
twenty years ago this led to the development by several 
manufacturers of cameras and restitution instruments 
especially adapted to the needs of short range photo 
grammetry . 
The design of these specialized instruments was generally 
based on the simplest photogrammetric configuration, the 
so-called normal case (i.e. parallel camera axes, perpen 
dicular to the stereoscopic base). This permitted the 
plotting instruments to be relatively simple in comparison 
with those designed for plotting from aerial photographs. 
No special training in photogrammetry was required for 
their operation, a brief instruction was all that was needed. 
Wild Heerbrugg Ltd. introduced such an equipment to the 
market in 1935» It consisted of the Stereometric Camera 
( a dual camera of 120 cm base length, 92 mm focal length, 
using standard 65 mm x 90 mm plate holders) and of the A4 
Autograph. The latter instrument had been developed out