Innovation Gallery

Oscilloscope cameras produced permanent records of oscilloscope displays for use in engineering reports or in other situations where pictures of waveforms, or traces, were needed. These cameras could photograph single traces on the oscilloscope that were too short-lived for the eye to see.

The HP 197A employed an electronically operated and timed shutter that provided accurate exposure times from roughly 1/60 seconds to 4 seconds. The camera also featured all solid-state circuitry, remote operation, sync contacts to trigger external equipment and an f/1.9 Wollensak high light transmission lens. The back used a Polaroid Land Camera and moved vertically through 11 detented positions for multiple exposures and was rotatable or could be replaced with another camera back, such as the 4-inch by 5-inch Graflok back.