Leme panoramic camera

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The Leme panoramic camera was invented by: Sebastião Carvalho Leme - a photographer living in Marília, São Paulo, Brasil.

Leme's 360º panoramic camera

Marília Airport, São Paulo, Brasil

Câmara Municipal of Marília, São Paulo, Brasil - photo by Sebastião Carvalho Leme

In 1957 an entrepreneur requested a picture of his buildings which stood at three of the corners of a street-crossing, and he wanted to show the group of buildings in one single photo, which meant that it would have to cover 360º . Using a Rolleiflex with a panoramic head, 10 negatives were taken that, enlarged and mounted, resulted in a 360º photo. Then the challenge presented itself: why not take a 360º photo in a single negative? Leme put this challenge on his agenda and started looking for a solution. The embryo of an idea appeared: in a little can of tomato purée he put a lens, an internal device which is the principle of the invention and a piece of film fixed inside the can. With a hand movement he made the lens rotate, thus making the first test to check the possibilities. The test was made in front of the SENAI building. With the film developed, there came the confirmation, although a precarious one, of the possibility of taking 360º photos.

The first prototype, entirely mechanical, brought the confirmation. Three prototypes were made, and it took one year to improve them. In the meantime, sure of having found the solution to taking 360º photos, Leme applied for a patent registration, a process that went on for some years at the National Department of Industrial Property, where they check for the viability of the system and for the existence of similar inventions.

In April 23 1962 the patent was conceded under nº 61.472. About 20 years after the concession of the patent there appeared in the United States a similar system, but without the internal device mentioned above. The camera remained out of use for 15 years. At the end of 1997 it was taken up again and it was improved and put to use once more. “The lack of industrial manufacturing of the invention is another story, too long to be told now”.