Camera obscura

What is a camera obscura?

A camera obscura uses a lens and a
sequence of mirrors to project an image of
the surrounding landscape onto a viewing
surface - usually a large white table. The
images produced are so highly detailed that
one tends to forget that it is a live, moving
image from outside.

Camera = Latin for room Obscura = Latin for dark(3)

The camera obscura brings the outside inside. An adjustable lens and
mirror image capture the scene in a moving, full-colour display that
can be seen by a group of people in a darkened room. First time
viewers often exclaim as birds and aircraft swoop across the scene,
or as a crimson sunset blossoms on the table, often appearing more
vividly than normal.(1)

Go into a very dark room on a bright day. Make a small hole in a

Figure 1 Camera Obscura illustrations
in a 1817 encyclopaedia from the
Wilgus Collection
window cover and look at the opposite wall. What do you see? Magic!
There in full colour and movement will be the world outside the
window upside down! This magic is explained by a simple law of
the physical world. Light travels in a straight line and when some of
the rays reflected from a bright subject pass through a small hole in
thin material they do not scatter but cross and reform as an upside
down image on a flat surface held parallel to the hole. This law of
optics was known in
ancient times.(3)

The camera obscura appeals to observers of all

ages and interest landscape views, clouds,
sunsets, moon, sun and planets all are revealed
while you remain comfortable seated inside.

Light from the scene enters the instrument, and

is then reflected vertically downward by a first-
surface mirror.
Directly below the mirror is a lens, which
focuses the light onto a matte white table.
Observers around the table see a full colour
image of the outside world; those viewers with
their back to the scene see an image that is
right side up.
Most instruments have controls to rotate and
tilt the flat mirror so as to change the area of
land or sky that is presented on the table(1)

History

The camera obscura has been used for over a thousand years; its origin predates even the
discovery of the principals of optics. The first camera obscura was simply a small hole in one wall of
a darkened room or tent. Light passing through the hole formed an inverted (upside down) image of
the outside scene on a white screen placed across the room from the hole. The image was dim and
fuzzy, but it did accurately show the scenery in full colour along with the motion of birds, ocean
waves and tree branches swaying in the wind.
Artists were undoubtedly the first users of the
camera obscura, as they soon realized that one could
trace on the screen the outlines of buildings, trees,
shadows and animals. This rough sketch could later
be filled in with colour to achieve the artists objectives
while maintaining correct perspective and sizes for
near and distant objects.(3)

The earliest mention of this type of device was by the

Chinese philosopher Mo-Ti (5th century BC). He
formally recorded the creation of an inverted image formed by light rays passing through a pinhole
into a darkened room. He called this darkened room a "collecting place" or the "locked treasure
room."

Aristotle (384-322 BC) understood the optical principle of the camera obscura. He viewed the
crescent shape of a partially eclipsed sun projected on the ground through the holes in a sieve, and
the gaps between leaves of a plane tree.(4)

The Islamic scholar and scientist Alhazen (Abu Ali

al-Hasan Ibn al-Haitham) (c.965 - 1039) gave a full
account of the principle including experiments with
five lanterns outside a room with a small hole.

In 1490 Leonardo Da Vinci gave two clear

descriptions of the camera obscura in his
notebooks. Many of the first camera obscuras were
large rooms like that illustrated by the Dutch
scientist Reinerus Gemma-Frisius in 1544 for use in
observing a solar eclipse.

The image quality was improved with the addition of a convex

lens into the aperture in the 16th century and the later addition of
a mirror to reflect the image down onto a viewing surface.
Giovanni Battista Della Porta in his 1558 book Magiae Naturalis
recommended the use of this device as an aid for drawing for
artists.

The term "camera obscura" was first used by the German

astronomer Johannes Kepler in the early 17th century. He used
it for astronomical applications and had a portable tent camera
for surveying in Upper Austria.

Development

The development of the camera obscura took two tracks. One of these led to the portable box
device that was a drawing tool. In the 17th and 18th century many artists were aided by the use of
the camera obscura. Jan Vermeer, Canaletto, Guardi, and Paul Sandby are representative of this
group.

By the beginning of the 19th century the camera obscura was

ready with little or no modification to accept a sheet of light
sensitive material to become the photographic camera.

The other track became the camera obscura room, a

combination of education and entertainment. In the 19th
century, with improved lenses that could cast larger and
sharper images, the camera obscura flourished at the seaside
and in areas of scenic beauty. Today the camera obscura is enjoying a revival of interest. Older
cameras obscura are celebrated as cultural and historic treasures and new cameras obscura are
being built around the world.(3)

In South Africa Henry Carter Galpin built a camera obscura in

Grahamstown in the late 1880s which is still in use today. Typical
of its era, it has a single converging lens and a hollow screen
which compensates for distortions(6)

The camera obscura at the University of Pretoria was designed

and constructed by the South African optical firm, Eloptro. The
lens system consists of three elements and projects a huge
undistorted image of very high quality onto a flat horizontal
screen. (6)

Questions and answers

Who invented the camera obscura?

A. Nobody invented it. The camera obscura works on a naturally occurring phenomenon. You might
as well ask who invented the rainbow! Over the centuries many people made contributions to the
camera obscura as we know it but all are based on the underlying optical laws that are part of
nature.(3)

Is a camera obscura the same as a pinhole camera?

A. No. A pinhole camera is a type of camera obscura, as are all photographic cameras. The pinhole
camera starts with an enclosed container (AKA the "dark room") with a very small opening to let in
the light. It is therefore a camera obscura. Cameras that use an actual pinhole size aperture are
used to expose photographic film or paper but have limited use as viewing or drawing devices
because the light that the pinhole admits is very dim and the image would be very hard to see. Most
camera obscuras are made with lenses in the aperture since this makes the image much brighter
and sharper. Room sized camera obscuras are sometimes made with lensless apertures but these
openings are much larger than a pinhole. We have been told that an opening about the size of a US
quarter can work well in some rooms. (3)

Questions and answers (cont)

Why would you go into a dark room to look at the reflection of what you can see outside?

A. We have met a number of people who just don't get it when we explain what a camera obscura
is. Some of these people become converts to the cause when they actually stand inside the room
but some never do understand. Even modern children who are blas about technology have been
heard to call outCOOL! when the room goes dark and a small circle of the world appears on the
table, Its in colour! It moves! Watching the image on the table or wall is not the same as looking at
the view outside. The selection and isolation of the projected image and the feeling of watching the
world outside without being seen is indeed magic (3)

What does it cost to build a camera obscura?

A. It can cost almost nothing if you use recycled materials like cardboard cartons and a small hole in
thin material or as much as a couple of Ferraris, as I once read about a complex room camera
obscura. Jump t Main Content

It seems awkward to view an unsharp and inverted image. Can these problems be solved?

A. Both difficulties were solved soon after the invention of optics in the early 1600s. When a
converging lens is placed over a relatively large hole, an image is obtained which has the sharpness
of a small hole and the intensity of a large hole. The image formed is still inverted and the simple
lens tends to distort the edges of the image.(6) That problem is solved by arranging the lens to look
vertically upward into a flat mirror held at about 45 to the optical axis. Now the image is projected
down onto a horizontal white table where the scene will appear right side up if the viewer stands
with his back to the outside area of interest.
Early lenses were single pieces of glass that produced a greatly improved image but one that still
suffered from color fringes around bright objects and increasing unsharpness toward the edge of the
viewing table. A camera obscura today uses a lens with two or more glass elements that reduce
these problems.
Four hundred years ago, the flat mirror was simply a polished metal plate. About 1850, opticians
learned how to apply a shiny silver film to a polished flat piece of glass, thereby producing a flatter
mirror of much higher reflectivity. Today, most flat mirrors are made by evaporating a film of
aluminum onto a polished glass plate. This technique makes a much more durable reflecting
surface.

How can I make a simple camera obscura?

Such a basic device is often called a pinhole camera. It is made by cutting a inch hole in one end
of a light-tight cardboard box and placing a white paper viewing screen on the opposite side of the
box. The imaging pinhole is made in a small piece of aluminum foil that is taped in place over the
inch hole.
The pinhole is made in the foil with a needle to produce a clean, sharp hole with a diameter of about
1/100th of the distance from the hole to the screen. For example, if that distance is 10 inches, the
pinhole should be about 1/10th of an inch in diameter. Larger pinholes make a brighter but fuzzier
image, while because of optical effects; a smaller pinhole also yields a less sharp image.

The image on the white screen may be viewed by mounting the white screen over the hole cut in
the side of the box. In this case you view the inverted image through the backside of the white
screen. Another arrangement uses a small hole cut in the side of the box that is carefully shielded to
keep out stray light yet allow the viewer to see the screen. (3)

Questions and answers (cont)

How can I make a brighter and sharper image than I get with a pinhole camera?
A better image is made by replacing the pinhole with a lens whose focal length is equal to the
distance from the lens to the viewing screen. The diameter of the lens might be to 1 inch for a
focal length of 10 inches. In a basic instrument this can be a simple lens made of one lens element.
(1) Remember, both the pinhole and the lens produce an inverted image.

The pinhole camera is nice, but how can I make an image that shows more detail and
appears right side up?
To achieve these improvements you must make a much bigger camera obscura in which the viewer
sits inside the instrument. Such a device uses a larger lens of longer focal length and also includes
a flat mirror mounted above the lens. The viewers now sit or stand inside the darkened room to see
the image on a horizontal white table. Those viewers with their back to the scene of interest will see
a right side up image.
The smallest such instrument suitable for a single viewer might use a lens of 40 or 50-inch focal
length. This device would display details in the scene 4 or 5 times larger than produced by the 10-
inch instrument described above. Larger lenses with even longer focal length can reveal surprising
features of very distant objects. For instance, a lens of 100 inches focal length will show an image of
the full moon that is about 1 inch in diameter. Such a view is like looking at the scene with a 10
power binocular. The largest camera obscuras today use lenses of 12 to 14 inches diameter and
produce focal lengths of 250 to 350 inches.
Large instruments are usually equipped with electric motors to carefully rotate the flat mirror about
the vertical axis (azimuth) and to tilt the mirror to shift the view upwards or downwards (altitude).
Many camera obscuras also provide means to move the lens vertically over several inches to focus
the instrument on near or distant objects.
As the focal length of the lens is increased, the lens diameter must also be made larger in order to
maintain adequate image brightness. The ratio of lens focal length to diameter is called the speed or
f/number of the lens; this ratio determines the brightness of the scene on the table. This brightness
is proportional to the square of the f/number. For example, the image produced by an f/8 lens is four
times brighter than that made by an f/16 lens. Most camera obscuras use lenses of f/15 to f/30.
Note that the apparent image brightness is strongly affected by stray light; the viewing room must
be as near to total darkness as possible. (1)

Can I expect to view astronomical objects through the camera obscura?

Most camera obscuras are arranged to view the surrounding landscape of buildings, mountains, a
coastline or a harbor scene. These views occasionally will include a dramatic sunset or moonrise
and indeed, such a scene can be especially dramatic. Observers must use great care in looking
toward the sun, as even a reddened sun near the horizon can easily cause serious eye damage or
blindness if viewed directly. The solar image on the view table may be dazzling but it will not cause
permanent eye damage.
The instrument can be specially designed to see the moon and bright planets even when 30 or 40
above the horizon. Such a camera obscura must include a flat mirror that is significantly larger than
normal. A conventional camera obscura uses a flat mirror that is an inch or two wider than the lens
diameter and also about 1.5 times longer than its width. The difference between length and width is
cause by the need to place the mirror at 45 to the lens optical axis. For example, a lens of 6-inch
diameter would require a flat mirror of about 7x10 inches.
If the camera obscura is to view objects higher in the sky it must use a flat mirror of the standard
width but with up to twice the usual length. Such a flat will be much more expensive than a normal
mirror. (1)

Questions and answers (cont)

Can you create a camera obscura that can see farther than your immediate surroundings in
detail e.g. binoculars.

A: Yes. You would need more sophisticated optics, and even then the image would be fainter and
the field of view smaller. It would however be feasible to produce an image of the Moon (which is a
daylight object) about a metre across that, in the darkened room, would be clearly visible. (8)

What kind of lens is used? Can you use any lens?

A: In this camera obscura we used a spectacle lens, which is a positive meniscus lens, of the sort
used to correct the vision of people who are far-sighted. As you can see, the image quality is quite
good. Simpler lenses, such as biconvex (like in a magnifying glass) or plano-convex (one side flat,
the other convex) are unlikely to produce such good results. But you can experiment for fun and get
quite gratifying results. To get a better image would require more sophisticated lenses. Professional
examples have lenses that can cost as much as a good car. For that, you will get brighter, clearer
images with less distortion. (8)

At what angle is the mirror placed and how would the result change if the mirror was placed
at a different angle?

A: The mirror is on a hinge mechanism that lets it tilt up and down so that targets at different angles
from the horisontal can be imaged. The centre of this range of movement puts the mirror at 45
degrees; that allows the centre of the view to be horisontal. In other words, at 45 degrees, the
image of the horison will be projected vertically downwards to the screen. By tilting the mirror to a
higher angle, objects above the horison can be imaged. By tilting it downwards, nearer objects are
accessible. (8)

What is the magnification of the lens?

A: The term magnification refers to the apparent size of the image compared to the apparent size of
the object on which it is focused. Higher (more) magnification makes the object look bigger. But by
putting your face closer to the table, the objects will also look bigger, even though the image on the
table stays the same size. So in effect, you can change (zoom) the magnification by moving closer
to or farther away from the table. The answer is therefore not straightforward. However, the size of
the image is determined by the focal length of the lens and the distances from the object to the lens,
and from the lens to the table. We chose a focal length that would result in a sensible image size for
the dimensions of the camera obscura. (8)

Will the humidity in the tent create condensation on the lens and affect the picture reflected
by the mirror?

A: Condensation would occur if the lens was significantly colder than the surrounding air and the
level of humidity was high enough. In practice, this is only likely to occur in very cold weather or in
rainy/misty conditions. But yes, it is possible. In that case, the droplets of water condensed on the
lens would act like a whole lot of tiny lenses. Each of them would try to create their own image, most
likely quite strongly out of focus, and these multiple images would overlap one another. The result
would be a blurred, out of focus final image. (8)

The Camera Obscura at Scopex (8)
Most amateur astronomers, having an innate interest in optics, stumble over references to
the cameras obscura of days gone by. Those with an interest in telescope making are likely to
consider building one. A few may even have visited actual installations as far afield as Pretoria,
Johannesburg or Grahamstown a magical experience that leaves one wishing for ones own. It is
therefore unsurprising that several people sharing this desire thought it a fine idea to have one for
ScopeX.

And so the mission was launched. At the outset the objective was to create something effective,
affordable, safe, reusable, storable and transportable. Preferably it should also be reproducible by
other interested parties. Being able to reconfigure the structure for other purposes would be a
bonus. This is quite a tough set of criteria to meet.

Clearly, the first step was to work on the optical feasibility. Given telescope makers penchant for
scrounging and experimentation, it was soon empirically determined that a decent spectacle lens
paired with the mirror from a defunct overhead projector would do the job. Because spectacle
lenses are readily available in a variety of focal lengths, there was some design flexibility. Our
experiments also allowed us to determine the maximum image size that would sharp enough to be
pleasing to view. This in turn determined the size of the table which would act as a viewing screen.

From this followed a discussion on the size of

crowd that could comfortably be positioned
around the table and have a clear view. The
outcome was a decision on the necessary
minimum floor space. The minimum wall height
was decided on the basis that adults should be
able to walk through comfortably without fear of
bumping their heads on the doorframe. Further,
internal struts to support the roof were deemed
undesirable, to provide additional headroom and
remove the temptation for people to hang on
them. We had to take into account the needs to
use standard materials for economy, provide a

rigid structure that would not unduly vibrate the optics and also provide the necessary strength and
stability for safety.

Accordingly a zonohedral structure based on the rhombic cubeocta was chosen for the frame
design. The structure comprises eight identically sized rectangular wall frames, four identical
trapezoids for the roof structure, four identical struts to tie the trapezoids together for ease of
assembly and a square frame to house the optical turret. These parts are made from flat and angle
iron, bolt together easily and can be packed away flat in a small space. Assembly can be performed
by two people in a pinch. The integrity of design and implementation was verified by a structural
engineer.

To enclose the frame for the requisite low light conditions, tent material was chosen. Attached to the
frame with hook and loop( Velcro) fasteners, the walls can be removed almost instantly in case of
an emergency, or easily reconfigured to use the structure as a gazebo. The steel structures
assembled mass effectively anchors it against the wind.

The optical turret employs the Teflon-on-Formica azimuth bearing common in small telescopes. It is
easily rotated by hand and stays put when you let go. Altitude adjustment is by vertically moving a
rod attached to the pivoted mirror. Focusing is achieved by raising or lowering the table, which is
supported by a counterweighted piston that slides snugly inside a PVC water-pipe pedestal.

All in all the results have been gratifying. The design has proved effective and convenient. Many
hundreds of people have enjoyed using it, and keep asking for it to come back each year.

References
(1) http://www.cameraobscuras.com/details.html

(2) http://www.camera-obscura.co.uk/camera_obscura/camera_obscura.asp

(3) brightbytes.com/cosite/what.html

(4) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_obscura

(6) http://web.up.ac.za/default.asp?ipkCategoryID=2096

(7) http://www.acmi.net.au/AIC/CAMERA_OBSCURA.html

(8) Chris Stewart, ASSA council member

Compiled by M. Loubser 2012