Arlington "Lightining Eye": Latest Contribution to Speed and Accuracy in Judging Finishes, Daily Racing Form, 1937-06-16

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ARLINGTONS "LIGHTNING EYE" Latest Contribution to Speed and Accuracy in Judging Finishes. Fastest Photo-Finish Camera to Be Introduced to Chicago Patrons During Arlington Park Meeting. ARLINGTON PARK, 111., June 15. The fastest photo-finish camera in American racing will be introduced to mid-west racing fans for the first time during the thirty days Arlington Park meeting, which opens here June 28. Its the "Lightning Eye," Arlington Parks latest contribution to speed and accuracy in the sport of kings. It offers the fastest lens, the fastest exposure and the fastest development in photo-finish science. The "Lightning Eye," which provides automatic projection of the finished film for the inspection of the placing judges two minutes faster than any other photo-finish apparatus, was perfected by Jimmy J. Jones, youngest camera scientist in racing. Jones, a racing veteran despite his youth, set up the first Australian totalisator in America, at Hialeah Park. Formally known as the Jones Photo-Finish, the "Lightning Eye" is 20 per cent faster at its normal speed than the next fastest of the photo-finish cameras. The latest advance in racing camera speed and accuracy, it will offer a record of the finish before the jockeys have had time to dismount and weigh out The "Lightning Eye" normally photographs 200 frames, or pictures, a second, and can be made to operate at 250 frames a second. Its speed means that the camera Continued on thirty-ninth page. ARLINGTONS "LIGHTNING EYE" Continued from first page. will stop the winning horse with his nose either on the wire or so close to it that a magnifying glass is needed, to check the difference. It will accurately show all the money horses in their respective positions. The cameras speed, however, does not stop -with the lens and film. After recording the finish, the film passes automatically into the developing tank, where it is developed in the almost unheard of time of thirty seconds. Following its development, by Jimmy Jones own formula, the film is fed into the fixing solution, which makes permanent the work of the developer. Threading of the film into the projector is being completed at the same time by an expert in the "Lightning Eye" booth. At the end of forty seconds, during which the fixing is completed, the projector starts operating automatically. The picture is flashed on a two-way screen and may be viewed from either side of -the screen. The entire operation has taken but a minute and ten seconds, during which time the placing judges have had time to walk from their stand to their private projection room on the other side of the screen. The film of the finish is run at their command so they may determine the exact order of the money horses. Before the jockeys have had time to weigh out, the numbers of the top horses are flashed on the board.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1930s/drf1937061601/drf1937061601_1_4
Local Identifier: drf1937061601_1_4
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800