Re: Who invented the Cirkut camera?

[Simon Nathan <simonwide@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

dear ron- life magazine's george strock was a
cirkut before he became staff photog at life. i was gonna buy george's
camera, but decided not in 1971. where lives this mcbride chap. i have
strock corresponce, knowledge about him. ditto the cyclopan joke and the
mike lawton experience.
simon nathan

Ron Klein wrote:

Seems to me that at the first meeting of IAPP we had Eugene DeSousa talk
about how he was an assistant to a Guy named Johnson who took out the
patent.  This was in Green River Wyoming back at the turn of the century.
Bill McBride without a doubt has all the history if you are interested.  I
think DeSousa was pushing 100 when he gave his talk. He smoked like a
chimney and had great stories about shooting cirkuts back in the 1900's.

I have a #22 cirkut camera that belonged to F.W. Shellor.  He was an early
day pan photographer here in Alaska.  His business card says "Operator of
the Largest Panoramic Machine in the World".  The Camera is totally handmade
and probably dates from the turn of the century as well.  Sadly not all the
parts remain or I'd be tempted to use it.

 There was also a fellow named Arthur Pillsbury that came in the Gold Rush
to Alaska in 1898 shooting with a camera that he made.  I'd like to find
that camera as I saw a photo of a steamboat going through a narrow gorge and
the water spray from the paddles appeared completely frozen from a very fast
exposure speed.  As you might know, top speed with any cirkut is 1/25 of a
second. (That is a fan camera running without a fan) His camera must have
been a dandy.

all for now

Ron Klein