Cirkut Camera and 3D

[ex836@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (James R. Motley)]

I have been following the thread pertaining to using a pair 
of #8 Cirkut cameras to get two prints 8 inches wide (high) by
5 feet long and then displaying the two (contact) prints in
a manner to get a 360 degree panoramic view in 3D.  This 
thread started with questions posed by Arvid Olson (ao20239@
ltec.net) on 15 Nov 95 in Digest #1056 and continued for at 
least thru Digest #1059.

In his response of 16 Nov 95, Bob Mannle gave what I consider
to be some excellent stereo information and included the 
comment "Not knowing what this camera is certainly puts me 
at a loss but I can tell you how some of the elements you
mention effect stereo depth".  I suspect that the majority
of the Photo-3D readers are not familar with the Cirkut 
camera and very few readers have actually seen one of these
fascinating cameras.  Having had the good fortune of seeing a
demonstration of a Cirkut camera, I thought other readers
might like to know something about the camera which was 
involved in this thread.

Quoting from my 1992-1993 McKEOWN'S CAMERAS Price Guide,
"Basically, a Cirkut OUTFIT is a revolving-back cycle view
camera with an accessory Cirkut back, tripod and gears. A
Cirkut CAMERA is designed exclusively for Cirkut photos and
cannot be used as a view camera.  Both types take panoramic
pictures by revolving the entire camera on a geared tripod 
head while the film moves past a narrow slit at the focal 
plane and is taken up on a drum.  They are capable of making
a full 360 degree photo.  These cameras are numbered according
to film width, the common sizes being 5, 6, 8, and 10 inches.
Early models used external air fans to regulate speed, but the
majority were made with governors."  This reference indicates
that these cameras were made from 1904 to about 1940 and shows
pictures of several models.  McKEOWN'S also includes a note as
follows: "All prices listed here are for complete original
outfits with tripods and gears.  Reconditioned models with
electric drive motors bring higher prices as usable cameras."

One of our members of the PHOTOGRAPHIC HISTORICAL SOCIETY of the
WESTERN RESERVE ( a sophisticated name for our Cleveland area
photographic collectors group) is the proud owner of a No. 10
Cirkut outfit.  About a year ago he made a presentation  at one
of the group's monthly meeting.  For ease of relating this story
I'll refer to this individual by the initials TR.  TR explained
and showed how the camera rotated at different speeds according
to which set of gears was used.  As the roll of 10 inch wide
(high) film moves in the opposite direction past a fixed slit,
the film exposure depends on the speed of rotation and which of
the focal lengths of the triple convertible lens is used with the
existing light.  Obviously, the spring wound motor drive and
gears must give a uniform rate of rotation or exposure would vary
with any hesitation and then forward jerk. In addition to the 
No. 10 Cirkut being able to use 10,8,6,5,inch widths, TR had an
adaptor which would allow the use of standard 120 roll film -
especially valuable for trial runs.

TR had a number of his and earlier Cirkut prints displayed on a
wall for easy viewing.  Perhaps the most interesting was a color
print 10 inch high and about 5 feet long of hundreds of people at
some anniversary of the Cleveland surburb of Independence,Ohio.
(This is the city where Dr. T works when he is not at home
working on Realist Red Button viewers.)  These hundreds of people 
were arranged in a circle with TR's Cirkut outfit at the center
of the circle.  GREAT PICTURE ! and as all of the people were the
same distant from the rotating camera, there was no distortion.
I understand that Cirkut photographers like to have someone in
such a picture move around after the camera has rotated past
their position so that the same person(s) appear at several
different places and this picture was no exception.

TR's story of his acquisition of his No. 10 Cirkut was a dream
come true.  Years ago when an long time photographer was closing
his studio and selling his equipment, TR asked him about his
Cirkut camera.  The response was that it was in the back with the
rubbish that was being thrown out and that TR could have it. TR's
offer to pay met a response to the effect that it had no value as
nobody wanted to be bothered with such cameras any more so
just take it.  My MCKEOWN'S shows $3000-$5000 price.  And here I
thought my $15 View Master Personal Stereo and $5 Cutter or my
garage sale buy of $10 for Nishika camera, case, & flash were
such exceptional bargains. 

How many WW II veterans still have pictures of their basic
training graduation which were rolled-up because they were too
long to handle flat?  I have such a picture which measures 8 x 17
inches and also a 1941 Church group picture which measures 8 x 28
inches. Although I gave it no thought at the time, these almost
certainly had to have been taken with Cirkut cameras.  The group
of people in both pictures were arranged in several rows in
essentially a straight line.  I could find no distortion near the
ends of these pictures which means to me that a relatively long
lens was used and the camera was rotated thru only a small
segment of a circle.  In a book of panoramic photos, I saw shots
where the camera was only a short distance from a row of
buildings and other fixed objects and the camera was rotated 180
degrees or more.  Some wierd distortion resulted from the
constantly changing distance to the "near" object as the camera
rotated.  

Back to Arvid's original questions, John Roberts response in
Digest #1058 included information that I believed to be very
helpful.  In addition to John's comments about rotating the two
cameras together about a vertical axis using the rotating 
mechanism of one camera to drive both cameras, I would add the 
following: (1) Vertical separation would be the only way to keep
the cameras from taking pictures of each other for level 360
degree rotation. (2) Vertical separation certainly appears
logical considering the intent to mount the resulting 8 x 60 inch
pictures one above the other.  (3) Synchronized electric motor
drives would permit whatever vertical separation is appropriate
using the 1 to 30 rule for the object distances encountered. 
 
After Arvid completes his 8 x 60 inch stereo pairs, perhaps
someone can scan them and place them in their Web page so we can
access them for "freeviewing".  For those without ready access to
the WWW or ftp, perhaps Tim Klein could e-mail the file to us. 
Of course I'm kidding (just "funning", with a weird sense of
humor), this really is exciting stuff. 
 
Jim Motley      ex836@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


------------------------------