This paper presents a novel camera calibration method using a planar target with pure translation and a known translation distance. It only requires the straightness and position accuracy of the one-axis translational platform. There are theoretically no constraints among the normal direction of the planar target, the optical axis direction of the camera, and the moving direction of the translational platform. The paper analyzes the closed-form solution, followed by a nonlinear refinement based on the maximum likelihood criterion. Both computer simulation and real data are implemented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. Compared with Zhang's method, the proposed method realizes the camera calibration process automatically and evaluates the calibration process via the measurement accuracy of the calibrated camera, so it is a key factor to advance 3D computer vision one more step from expert to novice use.