FROM THE BALLOON CAMERA TO THE 
MICROPROCESSOR-CONTROLLED LMK 
AERIAL SURVEY CAMERA SYSTEM 
Dipl,-Phys. Norbert Diete 
Kombinat VEB Carl Zeiss JENA, 
GDR 
Commission VI/2 
GENERAL 
When in 1982 the international photogrammetric community learned 
about the LMK, the world's first commercial aerial mapping 
camera to have a facility for compensating linear image motion, 
its Jena manufacturers looked back on a seventy years tradition 
in the design of equipment for the metric, photographic sensing 
of the earth's surface, Aerial cameras have always been one of 
the main product lines within the photogrammetric equipment 
range, which started in Jena with the Stereocomparator developed 
by C, Pulfrich in 1901, In the beginning the development of 
aerial cameras was almost synchronous with that of aviation 
engineering. 
This article will trace the constant efforts, right from the 
beginning, of the Jena works towards the improvement. of aerial 
photogrammetric equipment. This is evidenced by the almost 
confusing succession of product models that have left the 
workshops between 1910 and now, to be used all over the world. 
From the very start, the success of aerial photography was 
principally due to the excellent conditions existing at Jena 
with regard to the designing and manufacture of high-quality 
optics and precise mechanical systems, A third component being 
incorporated in an growing measure is microprocessor engineering, 
which Jena scientists and designers have been utilized with 
great success in recent years for a substantial increase in 
camera performance; this ist impressively proved by the technical 
features of the LMK and LMK-1000 camera systems, 
1, THE DEVELOPMENT OF AERIAL CAMERAS FROM 1910 TILL 1945 
The idea of using the new medium of photography for the purpose 
of a pictoral representation of the earth's surface features 
dates back to first practical experiments in the middle of the 
19th century (C.F. Tournachon, also known by the name of 
NADAR, 1858), But it took some substantial advances in aviation 
engineering as well as the creation of better performing camera 
lenses before Jena developed and produced the Model 18/1318 
Balloon Camera (Fig. 1) in 1910, for which again Pulfrich 
deserved a major part of the credit, This camera had a frame 
size of 130 mm x 180 mm, a fast lens of 180 mm focal length, 
and a plate locating frame provided with four marker holes, 
which served to establish the positions of the optical axis 
and the plate horizon. The camera was designed for being 
60