"The people at the patent office must still be shaking their heads at the sheer creativity of it."
Nowhere does the article mention a patent. This dovetails with my experience of having worked with some Patent Office guys. If Ross had applied for a patent they'd still be laughing down there.
Imagine if a piece of wood could be formed into a perfect circle, and if this circle of wood could be suspended from another piece at its center, perhaps by several wooden rods radiating out from the center piece. Now imagine that you had two such circles of wood joined by another long rod perpendicular to the circles running through the center piece, and a platform might be loosely attached to this rod, such that when the two circles of wood were perpendicular to the ground, the rod and the circles of wood might be able to turn freely beneath the platform. This platform with the circles of wood might thus be pushed along or pulled along, the circles of wood spinning all the while, thus easing the task of transporting heavy objects. Do you think such circles of wood might qualify for a U.S. patent? Do you think the gentleman with the heavy camera might be interested in purchasing such an invention to transport his heavy camera?
The guy built a 9" X 18" camera with either front or back tilt that is designed to handle color film. It was a lot of work and took a touch of inventiveness to solve the problems that arose. My hats off to him.
I am just glad I don't have the problem of storing those image files.
"Do you think the gentleman with the heavy camera might be interested in purchasing such an invention to transport his heavy camera?"
Only if you beat him to the Patent Office.
Reading that story brought one word to mind: Wanker!
Anyone have any ideas where this "wanker" get his 9X18 inch color film from? I don't recall RVP coming in that size!
Brian Vuillemenot
I'm with David Goldfarb. My first thought from this article was that the guy is reinventing the wheel, but he only made it to those logs they used to roll the pyramid blocks on in ancient Egypt. I also agree with Jan Van Hove regarding reporters. I have had a different perspective on the media since the first time I was "quoted" in my local newspaper. Needless to say, it wasn't what I said! Anyway, the article is quite a load of crap meant to inspire a "Gee Whiz" from the general population.
Here's my take on it: a reporter was enamored with the camera!
As for large image size, I have a 13x36 panorama of downtown Seattle from Alki scanned from a Pentax 645 with Kodak E100S film. You can see every window in every building!! And this is from a $50 drum scan from Photobition (Ivey Seright).
So if 55mm is good for three feet, wouldn't that mean 250mm is good for 13 feet? Thus within the "bounds" of 5x10ft.
Well, there's no promotion like self-promotion. OK, guys, go and get yourselves in the paper tommorrow!! Schnell! Schnell!
"It's the way to educate your eyes. Stare. Pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long." - Walker Evans
Funny how the uneducated will gawk at something like this, like its never been done before.
I dont care how detailed a 10x15 foot print is, it does not give you the same feeling as BEING there. Also, it still needs to be a strong image. A strong image will beat out a detailed (yet dull) image any day.
That 9x18 camera doesnt compare to the 24x20 and 48x40 polaroid cameras that were discussed at the LF conference. Those were mamoths.
"Anyone have any ideas where this "wanker" get his 9X18 inch color film from?"
From the article, it is clear that he is using aerial negative film. He has to struggle with the high contrast of this film. This film would be 9 inch roll film. 9x18 was a standard format for some WWII aerial cameras. He seems to have adapted the back of an WWII aerial camera to a bellows. The thin roll film is probably the reason that a vacuum back is needed instead of a simple sheet film holder.
Various aerial films are available new from Kodak, but with high minimum orders. Sometimes expired film is sold at more reasonable prices and minimum orders.
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