Amateur Photographer - UK 2019-11-15)

subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 9 November 2019 57

Above:A WrayStereo

Graphic:thestartingpointfor

the panoramic conversion

Right:Leslie

Thomsonusinga

16mmcinecamera

equippedwithone

ofhishome-built

stereo accessories

Astereopairfrom

theStereoGraphic.

Thedottedframe

showshowthe

twinimageswere

convertedto

makea singlea

panoramic format

downtof/16,withthesettingsindicated

byweatherconditionsthatappearedin

a smallwindowonthefrontof thebody.

Thefocusof eachlenswasfixedat a

differentdistance.Combinedwiththe

deepdepthof fieldfromthe35mm

wideanglelenses,thismeantat least

oneof thetwolenseswasin focus

between4ftandinfinity.

Theconversion

Toobtaina panoramicimageformat,

thesolidspacerbetweenthefilmgates

wasremoved.Witheachimage

measuring24x24mmandthespace

betweenthembeing47mm,thatadded

uptoa totalimagesizeacrossthefilm

planeof 24x95mm,theequivalentof

justoverof 2.5normal35mmframes.

TheoriginalWraylenseswerenot

suitableforthisformat.In theirplace,a

Schneider-KreuznachAngulon90mm

f/6.8lenswaschosen.In thedayswhen

photographersusedlarge-formatfilms

and plates, these lenses were much

favouredforuseaswideangleopticson

5x4incameras.Theywereknownfor

theirsharpness,containingsixelements

in twogroupsthatgavean80°angleof

viewwithanimagecircleof 152mm–

idealfora wideangleimageonthe

95mmwideformat.

Thelenswasfixedtoa box-shaped

extensionfittedtothefrontof thebody

andcolouredtomatchtheoriginaldark

greenWraycamera.Positioned90mm

fromthefilmplane,thelens’sfocuswas

fixedat infinity,butin thelidof the

camera’sspeciallymadeoutfit case,

thereweretwoclose-uplenses.Fitted

totheAngulon,theyadjustedfocusfor

8-20ftand16-40ft.

TheWraycamera’sshutterwasin the

body,buttheAngulonlenswas

containedin itsownSynchro-Compur

shutter,speeded1-1/500sec.Sothe

Wray’soriginalshutterreleaseon

the top of the body went out, as

communicationsreceiverfroma World
WarII Lancasterbomber,’herecalls.
‘Dadalsobuiltourfirsttelevisionin time
fortheQueen’sCoronationin 1953.’It
waswiththisbackgroundthatLeslie
builttheunusualpanoramiccamerayou
seehere– a beautifullycraftedpieceof
photographicengineeringbya man
who,professionally,wasneithera
photographernoranengineer.

Anunusualstereocamera
Thestartingpointwasa WrayStereo
Graphic,anEnglishcameramadein
1959 bytheWrayfactoryin Kentunder
licencefromGraflexin Americaon
whosecamerait wasbased.TheEnglish
versiondifferedin itsuseof Wraylenses
in placeof Graflex’sGraflaroptics.The
cameraproduced 15 stereopairsona
20-exposurefilmor 28 pairsona
36-exposurefilm.Theshutteroffered
aninstantaneous1/50secanda ‘B’
setting,adjustedona collararoundthe
shutter release. Apertures stopped

Left:Topplateofthecamera

showingtheframecounterandhow

thereleaseontherimofthelenswas

convertedformoreconvenientuse

closer to the rear of the body

COURTESY OF DOUGLAS THOMSON

Above:TheEssex

marshesat

Tollesburythrough

thelensofthe

panoramic camera