Amateur Photographer - UK 2019-11-15)

56 9 November 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

UNLESS

OTHERW

SE

STATED

ALL

PCTURES

©

JOHN

WADE

P

anoramicandstereo

camerashavealwaysbeen

closecousins.A stereo

cameratakestwopictures

sidebyside.Combinetheirimageareas

withthedistancebetweenthemandyou

havea panoramicformat.Thatwasthe

thinkingbehindthisone-of-a-kind

cameramadein the1960s.It’snotreally

calleda stereopanocam,butit’sa name

thattypicallysumsit up.

ThecamerawasbuiltbyLeslie

Thomson,directorof a family-runclinic.

Hishobbywasbuildingstereocameras

andprojectors,a subjectonwhich,

underthenameC.LeslieThomson,he

wrotemagazinearticlesanda book

calledBuildYourOwnStereoEquipment

(FountainPress,1954).

Atuniversity,Leslieattaineda

bachelorof sciencedegreein chemistry,

laterusinghisknowledgetoexperiment

withcolourfilmhome-processingat a

timewhenfilmmakerswerereluctant

todivulgeprocessinginformation.He

wrotetwobooksonthataswell:Colour

TransparenciesandColourFilms(Focal

Press, 1948 and1958,respectively).

HissonDouglasremembershis

father’singenuitywithfondness.‘When

I was a kid, our radio was a converted

Combiningimagesfromastereocameracreates

apanoramicformat.JohnWadetellsushow this

led to the inventionofthestereopanocam

Introducing the

stereopanocam

Testbench FILM STARS

Insidethe

Stereo

Graphic

The

converted

panoramic

camera

Thepanoramic

cameraconverted

froma Wray

stereo camera

F I L M S TA RS