> http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/05/090527-gigapan-pictures
> .html
>
>
>
> Eric Stevens
>
Crap.
I've often marveled at how people have managed to do panoramas and yet
have avoided any obvious sign that it was a stitch-job, especially
when there are active things like humans or cars in the scene.
The reason I said "crap" about the story was that the idea that some
automated shooting platform is some kind of technological miracle is
incredibly silly. Case in point, we've had amateur telescopes that
can home in on and track objects with several arc-second accuracy for
decades. What I do wonder is if anyone in the distant past produced
something like a mechanical device (no electronics) that allowed
this? I saw a 40 year old camera that had a wind-up motor drive the
other day, I thought that was pretty nifty.
I remember the 'Robot' camera from 1954 which used a wind-up drive.
According to http://www.vintagephoto.tv/robotjr.shtml the first Robot
was made in 1934 - 75 years ago.
Eric Stevens
Don't google panoramic camera. Just keep wondering.
John
>On May 30, 1:44�pm, Evan Platt <e...@theobvious.espphotography.com>
>wrote:
>> On Fri, 29 May 2009 12:30:27 +1200, Eric Stevens
>>
>> <eric.stev...@sum.co.nz> wrote:
>> >http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/05/090527-gigapan-pictur...
>>
>> There was a great site with the Obama photos, and comments such as
>> "Look! A two headed monster!" and a close up of a body with two heads
>> from the photograph.. :)
>
>I've often marveled at how people have managed to do panoramas and yet
>have avoided any obvious sign that it was a stitch-job, especially
>when there are active things like humans or cars in the scene.
>The reason I said "crap" about the story was that the idea that some
>automated shooting platform is some kind of technological miracle is
>incredibly silly.
I don't think the advance is the automated shooting platform. Its the
ability to later stitch together the photographs taken from that
platform to make an image with more detail than any single image.
>Case in point, we've had amateur telescopes that
>can home in on and track objects with several arc-second accuracy for
>decades. What I do wonder is if anyone in the distant past produced
>something like a mechanical device (no electronics) that allowed
>this?
Clockwork drives were becoming 'common' in the early 19th century.
>I saw a 40 year old camera that had a wind-up motor drive the
>other day, I thought that was pretty nifty.
Eric Stevens