artifact

The ‘Process Camera’ was manufactured by Hunter Penrose Ltd., a company which was based in the United Kingdom where thousands of these devices were sold worldwide in 1890 until 1962. This camera which was a gift from the Department of Survey and Mapping Malaysia (JUPEM) was used since the British colonial. This initial model was fully mechanical and was used to facilitate students in understanding the principles and procedures of photography production. This KLIMCH ‘horizontal process camera’ was used at the Cartography Department, Faculty of Surveying during the early 1980s until the late 1990s. The students who undertook land surveying course drew map sketches on papers or tracing papers using technical pens to produce maps and graphics in a conventional method. The final drawing or manuscript was considered as a scientific document which could be used for various application specifically in the planning and development of land or landfill. The result of the sketch was displayed onto a specific location which was the focal point of the camera lens. Plates and films containing terracotta contour images were processed to produce black-and-white maps or coloured maps. Printed topographic maps were treated as ‘CONFIDENTAL’ and ‘LIMITED’ and used only for teaching and learning purposes in the Faculty. The application of this camera was ceased in early 2004 due to the advent of digital technology.

This Radial Plotter was used at the Department of Photogrammetry, Faculty of Surveying during the 1960s to 1990s to produce topographic maps using a photogrammetry method. The students were exposed to mapping concepts and topographic mapping procedures using photographs as the main data source. This tool was used as the basic for photogrammetry principles and procedures in laboratories and for Bachelor’s Degree Project (formerly known as Special Technical Project) of students specialising in photogrammetry. Photographs with overlapped images were attached to this device and the creation of 3D images were displayed through a telescope. With the aid of a floating point, the shape and height of the surface could be seen and this allowed the contours of the terrain which were consistent with the scale map be produced fast and accurately. The photogrammetry equipment changes as technology progresses. As a result, at the end of the 1990s, this tool was no longer in use after the Faculty relied heavily on stereo plotter and digital plotter which were controlled by a computer.