A handmade 6x15 (?) panoramic camera

Thanks to the talented camera makers across the world, who's work help me in continuing this blog.

This time I found another handmade medium format panoramic camera from Thailand. The related web page(s) are in Thai language which I can't follow.

A Google translation indicates that the name of the camera maker is Mr. G Curtis and he's an accomplished photographer and recipient of many awards.

More details can be found here .

The Gakken panoramic conversion

The Gakken offers many good features as a candidate for panoramic conversion. Being a DIY camera, you can do quite some modifications during the assembly process itself. Unlike the Nimslo, the material of construction is completely plastic. This spares the craftsman from the hard metal milling works. The film path is 72 mm. long. Thus when used with a suitable medium/large format lens it gives an 1:3 aspect ratio panoramic.

Moominsean did an excellent job in converting the Gakken with a medium format lens. For more details visit his blog .

The Gakken stereo pinhole camera

The Gakken Stereo pinhole camera comes as a DIY kit. The Gakken is a Japanese company that makes novel educational and scientific toys. The Gakken camera is lens less and accepts 35 mm film. The camera body is made of plastic and it can take either a pair of 24X34 mm stereo or a single 24x72 (!!) panoramic. This makes it an ideal candidate for a stereo-to-panoramic conversion.

The camera comes with an instruction booklet written in Japanese. Most people found the pictorial description to be self explanatory, thus making the system quite easy to assemble. You can have a look at the instruction booklet pdf before buying one.

You can buy a Gakken camera from here or here .

In my next post I'll talk about panoramic conversion of the gakken.

I thank RPMDesign of f295.org for allowing me to use his pictures of the camera. For more pics visit this f295.org forum post .

Fuji G617 video

A good video on the venerable Fuji G617 . Unlike the GX this has a fixed lens.

The 'Yanulpan' behemoth

I always feel very excited every time I discover a new type of panoramic camera. This time I found the 'Yanulpan', a behemoth large format swing lens panoramic camera. The discovery was serendipitous, as I was searching ebay for panoramic cameras.

A little google search yielded quite a bit information about this camera. The 'Yanulpan delineator' cameras were hand made by Tom Yanul , a large format specialist.

These are very large format cameras and this particular one which is listed on ebay ( by Tom Yanul himself ) has 7" Dagor lens with 150 degrees horizontal coverage. A general description of the cameras he made can be found in this page .

Read more about Tom Yanul here . To know about the details of his camera visit the Yanulpan page. Some examples of panoramic shots of Chicago taken by this camera can be found here .

I thnak Mr. Yanul for allowing me to use the picture.

I later found a picture of the Yanulpan along with its creator Tom Yanul himself. I thank Metropole Paris for the picture.

Disclaimer: I'm no way related to the seller(s). Neither I'm endorsing their product anyway. If you are going to bid/buy based on the information I provided, bid/buy at your own risk.

Segmented and other alternative panoramas

I stumbled across this very good article by Joerg Colborg on alternative panoramas. He discussed about the works of some noted photographers who excels in segmented and other panoramic techniques.

I highy recommend that you have a look at the works of David Hilliard , Joachim Knill, Andreas Gursky , Susan Bowen and Tom Bamberger.

I thank Mr. David Hilliard for allowing me to use one of his great panoramas. You can view his artworks at www.davidhilliard.com

Y-pan: A Nimslo panoramic conversion

The Nimslo is a high end 3D or lenticular 35mm stereo camera. The camera takes four half frames exposure to make a final 3d print. The length of the film path is thus two frames long. This 72 mm long film path makes it an ideal candidate for a 1:3 aspect ratio panoramic camera, when used with a suitable medium or large format lens. You can have a look into the inetrnals of the Nimslo here.

There are some sources in both printed media and the Internet where some aspects of Nimslo conversion are discussed. The intricate steps of the construction process are however rarely documented. I found the detailed Nimslo conversion work of TheOtherSimon to be very impressive. Converting the Nimslo is not an easy job, given the stubborn pieces of metal to be milled off and other technicalities. Considering the hard work and craftsmanship involved, Simon's effort is very commendable.

The 'Y-pan" as he calls it, can be considered as a cheap alternative to it's famed 'X' cousin. Converted Nimslo's, if fitted with a suitable lens can yield stunning pictures(see my review on Meehan's book). This camera may look a bit rugged but nevertheless serves its main purpose, which is to say taking nice pictures.

It's good to know that Simon is making books filled with a series of pictures taken by this camera titled 'Journeys with my camera'. By the summer of 2009, more details of the book and photo will be available from his website www.simonlast.co.uk

Note: To view my other posts on panoramic conversion of stereocameras click HERE

The 'torpedo' panoramic camera

Some companies like Burke & James converted surplus WW-II torpedo cameras to sturdy medium format panoramic cameras. A few camera makers also modified them independently. Often they make their appearance in the used market.

I've noticed two such cameras put on auction recently in Ebay. You can find them here and here.

Disclaimer: I'm no way related to the seller(s). Neither I'm endorsing their product anyway. If you are going to bid/buy based on the information I provided, bid/buy at your own risk.

Panoramic photographer: Andrew Fleetwood

I found this artcle in Ephotozine, by Andrew Fleetwood. Mr. Fleetwood uses an Art Panorama 6x17 to shoot captivating panoramas. The artcle is a good source of information on general aspects of panoramic photography, including compositions, framing and metering. I thank him for allowing to use this picture.

To view more of his panoramas, partcularly great swiss landscapes, click here.

Razzledog's handmade 24x72 mm panoramic camera

In my earlier posts I've cited examples of some hand made 35mm panoramic cameras made by Olaf Matthes, Manfred Graumann and others.

I came across recently another such camera crafted by the renowned camera maker Razzledog.

For many of us who like handmade cameras, know how precious are Razzle's converted Polaroids. Apart from making fantastic 4x5s from obsolete Polaroids Razzle also takes interest in building panoramic cameras for both medium format and 35mm films.

More details about this camera's construction can be found in this APUG forum discussion thread. You may need to open a free account in APUG to see some of the pictures posted there. For more pictures of this camera visit this link. To find Razzle's some more panoramic cameras including handmade 6x17 go to this page.