You've got that exactly backwards, Bruce. The best-known photograph showing elliptical wheels (and leaning spectators) was taken by J.H. Lartigue on June 26th, 1912 (see, for example, this article: http://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/1088); the distortion is caused because the shutter runs vertically.
Modern shutters (the horizontal rubber-and-silk one on the MX, and the vertical metal ones on just about everything since then) complete their travel in anything from 1/60 to 1/250 of a second, which isn't really long enough to cause much distortion. But with older large-format focal plane shutters needing 1/10 of a second or more to complete their travel, there was plenty of time for the relative separation of, say, the wheel and the spectator to change significantly between the time the bottom of the wheel is exposed and the time the moving slit exposes the top of the wheel. On Mon, May 21, 2007 at 04:07:06PM -0700, Bruce Dayton wrote: > This happens when the shutter is running the same or opposite > direction from the movement - so in this case, it was a horizontally > running shutter. Most modern shutters are now vertical. I think the > old MX is a horizontal shutter. > > -- > Bruce > > > Monday, May 21, 2007, 3:53:58 PM, you wrote: > > BW> Hint: J H Lartigue > > BW> http://arts.guardian.co.uk/pictures/image/0,8543,-10404954434,00.html > > BW> ...although the wheels aren't oblong. Don't know what kind of > BW> distortion would do that! > > BW> -- > BW> Bob > > > >> -----Original Message----- > >> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > >> Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >> Sent: 21 May 2007 22:39 > >> To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List > >> Subject: OT: Need help with my homework again > >> > >> The list rocks! John Francis' myth suggestion made the final > >> cut. It's a two page ad on sequential pages. The head line reads: > >> > >> Some medical experts once believed that travelling at over 40 > >> mph wold make it impossible to breathe. > >> > >> Some media experts still don't know three million new car > >> buyers can be found at AutoTrader.com. > >> > >> > >> Now I need a car photo. I'm looking for one of those very > >> early pics taken with the sliding shutter that distored the > >> wheels to an oblong shape and made the car lean forward. I > >> just need a web image for now. I'm trying to find one, but I > >> figure someone here might know where to look. This is just > >> one ad of about a dozen that I'm doing for the pitch, so my > >> attention is seriously divided. A hint wold be great. > >> > >> -- > >> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > >> [email protected] > >> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > >> > >> > > > > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
