Amateur Photographer - UK 2019-11-15)

58 9 November 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

didtheframecounter,whena

new,perfectlymatchingtopplate

wasfitted.Withtheshutterreleasenow

ontherimof thelens,a sprungspindle

transferreditsoperationtoa smalllever

at thebackof thebody,placedtofall

undertherightforefinger.

A ZeissIkonaccessoryviewfinder

designedtocover30mmlenseson

35mmfilmwaschosentogivethe

correctfieldof viewlaterally,then

maskedat thetopandbottomto

providetheappropriatepanoramic

format.Thiswasstoredin anaccessory

shoeonthesideof thecamerawhen

notin use,andslippedintoa second

shoeonthenewtopplateforshooting

purposes.It wasaccurateforsubjectsat

infinity.A secondviewfinderadapted

fromtheoriginalWrayversionwas

maskedappropriatelyforparallax

purposeswhenshootingclosersubjects

withoneof theclose-uplensesfitted.

Intheoriginalcamerathefilmwind

knobanda sprocketwheeltoengage

with the film’s sprocket holes were

linkedtoactivatea framecounteron

thetopplatethatcounted1-28.In the

conversion,theframecounterwas

replacedwitha newrotatingdisc

counting1-8andlinkedonlytothe

sprocketwheel.Theflashsyncsocket,

originallyonthetopplate,disappeared,

butthecamerawassynchronisedfor

flashviaa socketonthenewshutter.

Thefilmwindandrewindknobsfrom

theoriginalcamerawereleftintact.

Anameplateonthetopof the

cameraidentifiesit asa CieLisT,which

Douglas says was a name his father

usedonallhishome-madestereo

camerasin referencetotheStereo

Realist,a popularAmericanstereo

camerafirstmadein 1947.CieLisTalso

incorporatesthe initials of C. Leslie

Thomson.

Thecamerainuse

Thecamerais stillveryusabletoday.

Releasinga catchonthebaseplate

allowsthebacktobeslidoff.A sprocket

wheelonthetopcentreof thefilm

planecontrolstheframecounter.Thisis

turneduntil‘5’is indicatedonthedial.A

cassetteof 35mmfilmis thenloadedin

theusualwayandthebackreplaced.

Turningthefilmwindknobadvances

thefilmandturnsthesprocketwheel

whichactivatestheframecounter.

Whenthecounterhasrevolved2.5

times,it comestorestat ‘1’andthefilm

is readyforthefirstexposure.

Shutterspeedsandaperturesareset

onringsaroundthelens.Theshutteris

tensionedbya leveronthesideand

releasedwiththeimprovisedlever-and-

spindlearrangementonthetopof the

body.Afterthefirstexposure,thefilmis

advancedbyturningthewindknob,

whilewatchingtheframecounter,which

mustrotatetwicebeforecomingtorest

on‘2’...andsoonthrougheight

exposures.Whenshooting,careneeds

tobetakentokeepthecameralevel;

eventheslightesttiltcanruinthekind

of panoramicpictureit produces.

Today,whenpanoramicpicturescan

betakenat thetouchof a button,or

easilystitchedtogetherfroma seriesof

conventionallyshapedimages,usingthe

cameracanseema bitcomplicated.But

remember,thiscamerais unique.You

won’tseeanother.Andthesuper-

widenegativesit produces,withnoneof

thedistortionassociatedwithother

panoramiccamerasandprocesses,

make all the faffing worthwhile.

Testbench FILM STARS

Above:A Victorianrailwayviaductat

Welwyn,Herts,is a perfectsubjectfor

panoramics.Stitchingtogetherfourdigital

imagesofthesamesubjectresults in

considerable distortion (right)

Above:A 24mmx

95mmsuper-wide

negativeproduced

bythecamera.The

dottedrectangle

correspondsto

a standard

35mm frame

Thecamera
in itsoutfit
casewith
thetwo
close-up
lensesin
the lid