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{{Short description|American audio-visual products manufacturer (1899–1972)}}
{{No footnotes|date=November 2020}}
[[File:Wollensak portable reel-to-reel tape recorder.jpg|thumb|Wollensak portable [[reel-to-reel tape recorder]] ]]
'''Wollensak Optical''' was an [[United States|American]] manufacturer of audio-visual products. located in [[Rochester, New York]]. At the height of their popularity in the 1950s and 1960s, many brands of [[movie camera]]s came with a Wollensak '''Velostigmat''' lens. Wollensak [[reel-to-reel]] tape recorders were prized for their robust construction and value.{{citation needed|date=December 2009}} In the 19601960s, Wollensak was the choice tape recorder for amateur home, school, and office uses. They were produced in both stereo and mono designs.
 
The firm was founded in 1899 by '''Andrew Wollensak''' to produce camera shutters. At its peak in the 1950s, it employed over a thousand1000 people. The company had several owners, including [[Revere Camera Company]] and [[3M]] Company. Wollensak ceased operation in 1972.
 
==Camera equipment==
Wollensak began making camera lenses in 1902. The company also produced camera shutters for [[large format]] cameras. They made shutters such as the '''Betax''', '''Alphax''', '''Optimo''' and, for the [[Graflex]] Corporation, '''Rapax'''.
 
The Betax shutters were patented in 1912 and remain popular for large format photographers today. Betax shutters are made in different sizes from size #0 to the huge size #5. These shutters are very reliable and relatively easy to repair.
 
Wollensak purchased the '''Fastax''' high speed rotating-prism camera developed by [[Bell Labs]] from [[Western Electric]], and developedimproved it to a capabilityrate of 10,000 frameframes/s,second. Fastax cameras were used for recording projectiles and explosions, including nuclear explosions. The cameras, with the rotating prism removed, were often used for [[high speed photography|"streak" and "smear" photography. see [[High speed photography]].
 
Wollensak only ever made only one still camera model, the "Stereo 10" 35 mm [[Stereo camera|3D Cameracamera]].
 
They formed a partnership with the [[Revere Camera Company]] that led to them offering some movie cameras (mostly 8 mm) under their name in the 1950s and early 1960s.
==Audio-visual==
3M also used the Wollensak brand name on audio tape recorders for many years; the Wollensak recorders were solidly built with all-metal construction. They were among the first manufacturers of [[Compact Cassette|cassette]] decks, as well as [[8-track tape|8-track]] decks for home use.▼
 
==In pop cultureAudio-visual==
▲3M also used the Wollensak brand name on audio tape recorders for many years; the Wollensak recorders were solidly built with all-metal construction. They were among the first manufacturers of [[Compact Cassette|cassette]] decks, as well as [[8-track tape|8-track]] decks for home use.
Wollensak is often shown in the movie ''[[Saving Mr. Banks]]''.
 
==References==
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*[http://www.nwmangum.com/Kodak/Rochester.html#Wollensak A history of Rochester, New York camera and lens companies]
*[http://owyheesound.com/fastax.html A Wollensak Fastax camera]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081007132920/http://www.mphpa.org/classic/COLLECTIONS/LA-MDAV/Pages/LAP-MDAV-080.htm Archived Fastax camera footage] of the [[Trinity test|Trinity nuclear test]] (1945)
 
[[Category:Defunct manufacturing companies ofbased thein UnitedNew StatesYork (state)]]
 
 
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