Los Angeles herald., 1910-07-31
BlNoCULAR VS.. MONoCULAR

some miSchance been deprived of the
use of one eye and suffers the disad
vantage of being able to readily dis
tinguish the relative distances of the
various objects composing an ordi-
nary landscape, street scene, etc, is
no more to be pitied than the photog
rapher who for various reasons de-
prives him, or herself, of the satis-
faction and delights of binocular or
"stereoscopic" picture making. Orig
inally introduced in Europe about 1916,
and becoming enormously popular
about 1885, the crowning years of sue
cess were from about 1851 to 1865, dur
ing which period about 80 per cent of
Photographic pictures sold to the gen.
eral public were stereoscopic and every
home with any pretension to taste
made permanent and constant addi-
tionS to their collections of such pic
lures. In those days the instruments
for making these were chiefly in the
hands of professional workers, some
of whom had hundreds of duplicate
negatives constantly in use printing
these "stereograms'' to meet the enor-
nous demand therefor. The viewing
apparatus for these was usually of a
somewhat cumbersome order, though
so far as perfection of results is con-
cerned they have never been surpassed.
Gradually the introduction of easier
and stereoscopic photography is re-
claiming much of the ground it re-
linquished for generation.
We owe much to the genius of the
camera makers, as indeed to the Ger
mans also, for the improvements in
stereoscopic apparatus of the present
day, and in this country the most
convenient stereoscopic camera uses
rollable films and is as handy as any
1r1 obi inH an1n
brated for his writings, one of our
great men is most worthy of respect
and admiration for his invention of
probably the most successful hand
stereoscope in use today and to DR..
oliver Wendell Holmes by all honor
and praise from the devotees of stere-
ography.
Now as to the comparison with mon
ocular photography. AS everyone
knows, an ordinary camera makes one,
picture with one lens and naturally
the result is a picture perfectly f1at
and dependent upon the graduated
sizes of objects portrayed for any i'm
preston of perspective it may be able
to transmit and were it not that our
minds have been educated to the reali-
ties of distance, solidity, etc, the OBJ
jects seen therein might seem to be
as fiat as the surface of the print in
spected. Since we depend chiefly upon
our pair of eyes for knowledge of the
solidness of objects and by their aid
gain the impression of relief and per-
spectives, it is natural to find that by
taking photographs with a pair of
lenses, side by side to match our eyes,
and viewing the pictures so produced
with a stereoscope which assists our
natural eye to converge the two i'm
ages into one we are enabled to gain
that effect of relief and natural per-
spectiVe that is the great delight of
the 'Stereogram."
To make stereographic photographs
two lenses, or a double camera are not
absolutely essential; some of the most
interesting "stereograms" have been
made with a single camera, by making
two separate exposures of the same
subject, shifting the camera to one
side after making the first exposure.
In this method stereoscopic effect can
be much exaggerated by abnormally
increasing this separation. The writer
has seen several pictures thus made in
which the distance between exposures
treatment is only suitable or permis-
sible in long distance landscapes in
which no foreground is included, as
any near objects would cause a dis
torted and impossible picture. 1t is
probable that only one in million
"stereograms" are taken under such
conditions as described, but they are
quite possible. The little rollable
film Hawkeye Stereo camera has be-
come exceedingly popular in recent
years and the writer would never
think of making a trip into the coun-
try without his; rather would he