Dec 03, 2023 09:00:00

What kind of camera is the world's first 'huge camera obscura that allows you to take selfies with your smartphone'?

A device called a ``

camera obscura '' that uses a small hole to project the scene in front of you onto a screen can be said to be the original camera for taking photographs. PetaPixel, a news site about photography and cameras, introduces that David White, who teaches photography at Falmouth University in the UK, has developed a huge ``selfie camera obscura'' measuring approximately 2 meters square.

The World's First Camera Obscura That You Can Take Selfies With | PetaPixel
https://petapixel.com/2023/11/15/the-worlds-first-camera-obscura-that-you-can-take-selfies-with/

The image below shows the selfie camera obscura made by Mr. White. It's about the size of a small hut, but this black tent is actually the camera itself.

Below is a selfie actually taken by Mr. White and members of the Falmouth University Photography Institute using an iPad.

The selfie taken by photographer Kate Dingering looks like this.

The basic structure is the same as a camera obscura, in which light enters through a small aperture and is projected onto a screen, which is then photographed by a Canon camera installed inside the tent. Therefore, the image actually projected onto the screen will be upside down. The screen installed inside the tent can be moved back and forth using a smartphone or iPad, and the Canon camera can also be controlled remotely from a smartphone or iPad. In other words, you can take selfies while focusing from a distance.

However, a lens is required to project onto a 6-foot (approximately 1.8 meter) wide screen. To create his gigantic selfie camera, White commissioned a custom large-format photography expert living in the United States to create a simple lens called the ' Wollaston Landscape Lens ', which is a single large lens with an aperture attached. . It seems that the price was 400 dollars (about 60,000 yen).

The focal length of the lens is 790mm, and the aperture is f/5.4.

Since the tent is the main frame, it is easy to transport once it is folded. You can take selfies anywhere, both outdoors and indoors, as long as there is a certain amount of space. However, because it is lightweight, it may be blown away if the wind is strong.

In addition, examples of shooting with Mr. White's selfie camera Obscura can be viewed below.

Camera Obscura Selfies - Portfolio - David White no spin photographer Cornwall
https://www.nospin.co.uk/albums/6Dbleb/camera-obscura-selfies-1