Hey everyone,
So I've had this idea tumbling around in my noggin for some time now, but I'd like to actually see it in action some day. I could certainly use your ideas and input for the ideation stage.
In a nutshell, imagine a long, narrow box that would hold an entire roll of film (let's assume 35mm for now). The roll would be laid out flat in this dark box. The lens would then be in a track that runs along the length of the box, with a slit aperture between it and the film... much like a Widelux, or similar designs. The picture would be exposed by uncapping the lens and sliding the lens across the length of the film; the slit allowing a thin sliver of light to scan the film. Shutter speed could be altered by different sized slits or by the speed of the lens transport.
Your resulting image would be a continuous image the length of your film.. the ultimate panoramic!
This is the basic idea, and the only conditions that a prototype would need to meet.
The uses of a camera like this are yet to be determined. But in a horizontal position, set your 3 best buds on a love seat and scan away; you've now got a group shot that extends the length of a roll of film, each person captured head on. In a vertical position, take your favorite child (or least favorite, depending on their enjoyment of having dad or mom take their picture) and scan from head to toe, assuming you have a short kid...
It's really hard for me to imagine what the resulting pictures would look like, and that's a huge part of the impetus!
As for making this... I've got some ideas, but nothing concrete; just a starting place. First, you'd need a lens mount which could be taken from a junk camera or an extension tube or even a rear cap. The focal flange distance would of course have to be determined and your box & track based off of that. The hardest part in my mind would be an accordion, curtain or venetian-blind like material that would allow the lens to move from end to end and keep the light out.
Down the road, one could of course get quite fancy with motorized transport and the like... curvable boxes, and so forth.
What about a prototype box? Wood, mat-board, some found object?
So I've had this idea tumbling around in my noggin for some time now, but I'd like to actually see it in action some day. I could certainly use your ideas and input for the ideation stage.
In a nutshell, imagine a long, narrow box that would hold an entire roll of film (let's assume 35mm for now). The roll would be laid out flat in this dark box. The lens would then be in a track that runs along the length of the box, with a slit aperture between it and the film... much like a Widelux, or similar designs. The picture would be exposed by uncapping the lens and sliding the lens across the length of the film; the slit allowing a thin sliver of light to scan the film. Shutter speed could be altered by different sized slits or by the speed of the lens transport.
Your resulting image would be a continuous image the length of your film.. the ultimate panoramic!
This is the basic idea, and the only conditions that a prototype would need to meet.
The uses of a camera like this are yet to be determined. But in a horizontal position, set your 3 best buds on a love seat and scan away; you've now got a group shot that extends the length of a roll of film, each person captured head on. In a vertical position, take your favorite child (or least favorite, depending on their enjoyment of having dad or mom take their picture) and scan from head to toe, assuming you have a short kid...
It's really hard for me to imagine what the resulting pictures would look like, and that's a huge part of the impetus!
As for making this... I've got some ideas, but nothing concrete; just a starting place. First, you'd need a lens mount which could be taken from a junk camera or an extension tube or even a rear cap. The focal flange distance would of course have to be determined and your box & track based off of that. The hardest part in my mind would be an accordion, curtain or venetian-blind like material that would allow the lens to move from end to end and keep the light out.
Down the road, one could of course get quite fancy with motorized transport and the like... curvable boxes, and so forth.
What about a prototype box? Wood, mat-board, some found object?