Rotating lens camera

[Xandros]

Hello all,

I stumbled on a very interesting portfolio that I'm sure many of you have already seen, namely 'Travelling still'  ( http://www.travellingstill.com/portfolio.htm ) which is said to be done in-camera with a rotating lens camera.

I did a little research on such cameras and found a few results (some of them on LL), but still I fail to understand HOW exactly such a result can be produced with a rotating lens camera that normally shoots wide negatives (let's say 135° wide).

Could you please give me a possible explanation for the technique that could have been used ?

Thanks a lot

[K.C.]

Multiple exposures and or very long exposure with a wideluxe or comparable camera could produce the images on film.

Cibachome hasn't been made for many years. It's replacement Ilfochrome was discontinued in late 2010. So clearly he's not printing to those materials anymore.

[Rhossydd]

Looking at the images and format. I'd guess it's as simple as opening the shutter for a longish exposure and panning the camera on a tripod.
Maybe there's some complicated modifications to a panoramic camera like a Cirkit or Roundshot, or maybe a powered panning head to avoid banding, but there's no suggestion of that on the site. The only clue is the photo on the home page that seems to show a large format camera of some sort on a tripod being used.

For me the most successful part of the work is it's promotion ;-)

[Ellis Vener]

I think Rhossydd has it right, the he is panning the camera, probably starting and stopping it during  the exposure, possibly sometimes panning the camera in the opposite direction of the lens  movement and sometimes in the direction of the lens movement.
Also check out this page: http://people.rit.edu/andpph/text-better-scanner-cam.html

[Xandros]

Ok thanks a lot for your ideas.

From what i'm understanding, there was no real point of using a rotating lens camera, i mean probably a regular camera on a rotating tripod would do, right ?

[Ellis Vener]

Ok thanks a lot for your ideas.

From what i'm understanding, there was no real point of using a rotating lens camera, i mean probably a regular camera on a rotating tripod would do, right ?

Yes and no. It depends on what you want to do,  The end result can be different. The  angle of view recorded by  a swing lens camera is sort of like a very cropped (from the top and bottom)  image made with a full frame (for your camera format) fisheye, but with a swing lens camera the exposure across the frame is not instantaneous and that opens up some temporal possibilites. Try with the camera you have and if that doesn't create an effect you like then start looking at ways to make the photo.

[Xandros]

Thanks !

I'm not really trying to replicate this effect but learn something by understanding the technique behind it

[soberle]

The technique is called a "swipe". Tripod or not, doesn't matter.  Use a longish exposure (experiment, somewhere around 1/2 sec. to start) and pan the camera.  Experiment with different pan speeds as well as different shutter speeds.  When hand-holding, get in the habit of twisting your body, rather than moving just the camera.  Can be done with a vertical, horizontal or diagonal pan, depending on the subject.  See John Barclay's site for other examples...he experimented with over 1,500 shots before he perfected the technique.  http://www.barclayphoto.com/gallery/in-camera-effects/

[Xandros]

wow, very interesting and neat results indeed, thanks for the link !