(animated stereo) Sydney Post Office, circa 1900
To animate view the image at original resolution or simply scroll down to the first comment.
Beachcomberaustralia pointed out two images of that seem to be a separated stereo pair depicting the Sydney G.P.O.: Image A and Image B. This is good news if correct. At first glance it the conclusion is uncertain because each covers a different field of view (image B is slightly wider) suggesting they come from an oddly calibrated stereo camera, which normally uses lenses with similar field of view, or that different cameras were used simultaneously. Also, image A has a watermark (lower left) that is seems an unlikely component of the original negative (the silver is not scratched off as one might expect for the era). Superposition and manipulation gave the image below.
The great distance to the subject combined with relatively low resolution scan eliminates the superposition differences one might expect when comparing views of a near object in front of a far object. This gives the feeling that the image is being stretched horizontally. I have not found references indicating stereograms were intentionally made with different fields of view, perhaps to increase perceived parallax. It is possible that a stereo camera was used, in this instance, to frame two different images with the intention of selecting the best one for a traditional print.
The Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, Australia offers a multitude of historical images in the Flickr commons. The original images of G.P.O. Sydney (undated) and General Post Ofice, Sydney (circa 1900) are from the Tyrrell photographic collection.
Technical trivia
Image A was arbitrarily assigned as the right frame and image B was the left. Rotation (L -1.5 degrees), resizing (L +1.4%; R -1.3%) and automatic color correction (right frame used as reference) produced the stereograph which was registered using features of the clock tower as the point of congruence. Both images were resized because resizing one image changes its apparent sharpness relative to the unaltered photo. Some distortion remains uncorrected. Image manipulations and animated gif generation done with StereoPhotoMaker, a freeware program by Masuji Suto & David Sykes.
(animated stereo) Sydney Post Office, circa 1900
To animate view the image at original resolution or simply scroll down to the first comment.
Beachcomberaustralia pointed out two images of that seem to be a separated stereo pair depicting the Sydney G.P.O.: Image A and Image B. This is good news if correct. At first glance it the conclusion is uncertain because each covers a different field of view (image B is slightly wider) suggesting they come from an oddly calibrated stereo camera, which normally uses lenses with similar field of view, or that different cameras were used simultaneously. Also, image A has a watermark (lower left) that is seems an unlikely component of the original negative (the silver is not scratched off as one might expect for the era). Superposition and manipulation gave the image below.
The great distance to the subject combined with relatively low resolution scan eliminates the superposition differences one might expect when comparing views of a near object in front of a far object. This gives the feeling that the image is being stretched horizontally. I have not found references indicating stereograms were intentionally made with different fields of view, perhaps to increase perceived parallax. It is possible that a stereo camera was used, in this instance, to frame two different images with the intention of selecting the best one for a traditional print.
The Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, Australia offers a multitude of historical images in the Flickr commons. The original images of G.P.O. Sydney (undated) and General Post Ofice, Sydney (circa 1900) are from the Tyrrell photographic collection.
Technical trivia
Image A was arbitrarily assigned as the right frame and image B was the left. Rotation (L -1.5 degrees), resizing (L +1.4%; R -1.3%) and automatic color correction (right frame used as reference) produced the stereograph which was registered using features of the clock tower as the point of congruence. Both images were resized because resizing one image changes its apparent sharpness relative to the unaltered photo. Some distortion remains uncorrected. Image manipulations and animated gif generation done with StereoPhotoMaker, a freeware program by Masuji Suto & David Sykes.