A Graflex/Wray Stereographic conversion: the CieLisT panoramic camera

While searching google.co.uk for images of panoramic cameras, I stumbled upon a fascinating find on John Wade’s website. John is well known in the photographic community, having authored over thirty meticulously researched books on photographic history, antique and specialty cameras, and related topics.

This particular camera belongs to John’s personal collection. It was originally built by C. Leslie Thomson, an engineer renowned for fabricating his own panoramic and stereo cameras. 

Impressively, its film path measures 95 cm. In modifying what began as a Stereo Graphic camera, the twin-lens assembly was replaced by a rectangular lens cone fitted with a Schneider-Kreuznach Angulon 90mm f/6.8 lens. A Zeiss Ikon viewfinder designed for a 30mm lens (with panoramic masks) aids in composing the scene. Meanwhile, a new frame counter labeled “1–8” replaced the original counter, ensuring that the disc rotates fully twice as the 95 cm long exposed film is winded up.

I’m very grateful to John for allowing me to share these photographs. He even provided a rear-view image that shows the camera’s construction in greater detail.

I highly recommend you visit John’s site and explore the wealth of information he’s compiled. His many books are especially worth a look, and I’ve already put Clockwork Cameras on my personal wishlist.

You can listen to John's interview on panoramic cameras where this particular camera finds a special mention.

Manfred Graumann and his handmade cameras

Handmade cameras by Manfred Graumann  were the first ones to  capture my interest in DIY panoramic photography. I first came across his website in 2005 and was amazed to see  24x105 mm handmade cameras.

I wrote about Manfred Graumann in one of the earliest  posts in my blog. Over the time part of his website went defunct, and information on certain cameras were lost. Though, some information could still be salvaged using the "Wayback machine" site archiving tool.

Sometime ago I came across  reports on a camera show in Ratingen, Germany which featured Mr. Graumann as well. It was wonderful to see him going strong. May he live long and make new cameras.

I'm enclosing the links pointing to the event. The pic. in this post, with him holding a stereo camera was taken from the first link. In the second link you'll find him with his handmade 24x93 panoramic.

https://www.infranken.de/regional/lichtenfels/Immer-m-ehr-Profis-bei-der-Michelauer-Fotoboerse;art220,658035


https://www.wz.de/nrw/kreis-mettmann/ratingen/trotz-trends-zur-digitalen-fotografie-gab-s-viel-analoges_aid-27774745

You can find another old newspaper report on him here.

I thank Mr. Klaus Gagel for allowing me to use this picture in my blog.

Panoramic conversion of medium format stereo camera

This is a nice example of panoramic conversion of a medium format 'Sputnik' stereocamera. This 6x12 panoramic camera was handmade by Claudio Bottari, an eminent camera maker from Italy. The lens is a Schneider Super Angulon 1:5,6/65 mm and the viewfinder is salvaged from a Russian Horizont 35mm panoramic camera. The steps of the  fabrication process is given here.

Mr. Bottari made quite a few interesting cameras, panoramic back,  pano head etc.The details can be found from his website http://www.claudiobottari.com/

I thank Mr. Bottari for his permission to use this pics. Thanks also to Olaf Matthes who first pointed this website to me.

Stereo Realist Panoramic Conversion by Gene F Rhodes

 I remember this '625eq' camera while browsing the links in Robert Monaghan's site long time ago. Recently I rediscovered the same while I again started browsing  Robert's archived site. 

The camera was handmade by Gene F Rhodes well known for his  website photoprojects.net. Though the original website is now defunct, you can retrieve a good amount of information from the archived website available here.

This 35mm converted stereo camera is known as '625eq' because it offers the same aspect ratio what a 6x25 medium format panoramic could provide. The description as I copied exactly from his website is as follows: 
A hand built, fixed lens,  35 mm wide-angle / wide-image panoramic camera made from a damaged Stereo Realist camera body and a  47 mm  f8  view camera lens.  If this were a medium format camera it would be 6 x 25 cm. The Realist's frame and film advance gearing were rebuilt to accommodate a new enlarged 24 x 102 mm image frame.  Three scans are required to load each 102 mm negative into the computer. According to Ron Leven of Schneider Optical the 47 mm  f8 super angulon lens has an image circle of 113 mm at  f11, and a 40.5 mm  filter thread. After many light drop-off tests I find this lens to be unusable without some kind of center filtering, and B&H Photo accepted a  special order for a Heliopan center filter, but they never delivered. This project was my most interesting, but it is now terminated

 This is so far the most detailed description I found about  the panoramic conversion of a stereocamera:

Job 1--Film Advance:    In a Stereo Realist the film take-up spool pulls the film through the camera. The film drives a star wheel sprocket which is shaft connected to a slotted disk cam in the upper chamber.  A cam follower rides on the edge of the disk and is shaft linked to a spring coil brake around the shaft of the take-up spool. When the follower drops into the slot the brake is applied and the film stops. A reset pushbutton moves the cam follower out of the slot, releases the brake and allows the film to be advanced. For stereo format the star wheel makes one turn per exposure but in the new camera the star wheel makes 2.2 turns. The first job was to separate the star wheel and cam with gears to get the 2.2 :1 ratio. The star wheel bearing support was in the image area of the new camera and had to be removed and a new bracket had to be created to support the star wheel, gears and a new cam disk. This required the cam follower to be modified to align properly with the relocated cam. (The gears and bearings were scrounged from my junk box as was the items below.)

Job 2--Lens Mount:      I didn't want to do any unnecessary machining so I decided to use a screw thread focusing technique much like screwing a lid on a jar. In this case the jar is from a pressure transducer bought at an aircraft surplus store and a matching 55 mm threaded lid. The lens is mounted through the lid creating an assembly that is compact and easily removed. The jar was shortened and modified so the front cover could clamp it to the camera. The lens mount was something to be proud of until I discovered severe light leaks. Now it is light tight but kludged.

Job 3--Center Filter: The light drop off at the ends of my negatives is 2-3 stops, and none of my many hand made filters were usable.  I have been using Picture Publisher software to correct the light drop off by using a especially created filter mask. This was satisfactory for a time, but is not a permanent solution.  (See above photos for before/after comparison.)

Job 4--Focus Calibration:   1/8 turn = 20',   1/4 turn = 10',   1/2 turn = 7',   3/4 turn = 6',  1 turn = 5',    2 turns = 3',    4 turns = 2',   9 turns = 1'   and 12 turns = lens fall off.

Note:  The viewer lens is from a one shot Kodak pan camera, but it brackets the image and shows the horizon. When in doubt, I use the yellow bubble balance.

You can visit this page for the description.

The bottom  picture compares the film sizes obtainable by this camera with others.

I thank Mr. Rhodes very much for providing the picture and information on his great handmade panoramic camera.

Panoramic conversion of FED stereocamera

This is again from the collection Mr. Walter Dubronner. The camera was made from the body of a Russian FED stereocamera. The 47mm Scneider Super-Angulon is fixed on a unit to focus from 3 meter to infinity. The negative size is an astonishing 24x93 mm !!!!

For viewing such long panoramic slides Mr. Dubronner uses special frames (40x110 mm) and a special slide projector. The scanned  negatives can be  projected with a high quality beamer on a 4 Meter screen For exhibition he uses prints in different formats like 20 x 60 cm and up to 60 cm x200 cm.

I thank Mr. Dubronner very much for providing the details of this (and other) unusual panoramic cameras.Click here to see his handmade 6x15 panoramic camera.  I'll soon be writing on the other panoramic camera from his collection.

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 .

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

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.

Book Review: Panoramic Photography by Joseph Meehan

This is possibly the first book dedicated to the techniques and equipments of panoramic photography. First published in 1990, this book contains a plethora of information on film based panoramic photography.

Most panoramic cameras available at the time of publication, including swing lens, flat back and slit scan designs were discussed at length. These include some interesting handmade and made-in-small-scale cameras like the "pannaroma" ,"cyclops" or "liparirama". Comparisons of the field of view of a large number of panoramic cameras were provided too. This was done by taking photographs of the same scene by using  different panoramic cameras.

There were also voluminous discussions on compositional techniques( a topic which is not very often talked out) for each category of panoramic cameras.

The book assumes that the reader does not have any prior knowledge of basic photography techniques. So, a full chapter was dedicated to films, exposure and use of filters in the context of panoramic photography.

A full chapter is devoted to alternative panoramic techniques. These include strip photography, panoramic assemblage, multi projector panoramas etc.

There is a small discussion on panoramic conversion of a nimslo stereocamera by Andrew Davidhazy complemented with astounding examples of photos taken by the converted Nimslo. One of it appears (in a much smaller size:the Hungarian Parliament building) in Davidhazy's website.

The last chapter (but not the least) was on preservation, printing and presentation of panoramic photographs, covered in a concise but adequate way.

I found this book to be very useful for panoramic film photography and would be quite happy to recommend anybody who wants to get introduced to the same subject.

This book is out of print now but an used copy goes dirt cheap on amazon. Most likely your local library will also have a copy.

Nipan: Nikkormat goes panoramic

In another brilliant panoramic conversion by Olaf Matthes, two Nikkormat camera bodies were used. The cameras were fused together to give a long 24x108 mm negative. The lens used was a Super Angulon 5.6/65mm.

Thanks Olaff for sharing the information and permission for reproduction of the picture. The construction details are available here.

To see some pictures taken by this camera click here.

Nikon F2 based panoramic camera

A great 24x72 mm hand built panoramic camera by Olaf Matthes. In essence, the film path of the Nikon F2 was elongated by milling off portions of metal so as to expose two frames of film. The lens used to cover this new film path was a Sinaron digital 4.5/35mm with 120° angle of coverage.

Thanks to Mr. Matthes for providing the details of the camera . For more information about the fabrication click here.

Panoramic conversion of stereocamera

Quite a number of people converted different cameras to take panoramic pictures. The Nimslo 3D camera very often serves that purpose. In most such conversions a suitable large or medium format lens with built-in shutter is used which covers the two frame long film path of a 35mm stereocamera

I recently came across the website of Britt K Leckman, where he proposes the conversion of another stereocamera, Graflex Stereo Graphic with a Rodenstock Grandagon.

Handmade panoramic cameras for super sized 35 mm negatives

These handmade panoramic cameras produce nearly 1.5 to 2 times the length of negative that of X-pan. Imagine what could be better than the wide angle drama captured by super-angulons on 24X93 and 24x120 (!!!) sized velvia.



So, hold your breathe and have a look at:

http://www.panoramakameras.de/kb-pano.htm

See 'Presse und News' section in particular