Stereo rangefinder

Abstract

Abstract A PHOTOGRAPHIC CAMERA INCORPORATES A STEREO RANGEFINDER RESPONSIVE TO FOCUS AND APERTURE ADJUSTMENTS OF THE CAMERA OBJECTIVE LENS. THE RANGEFINDER INCLUDES STEREOSCOPICALLY RELATES LEFT AND RIGHT RETICLES AND MEANS FOR PROJECTING VIRTUAL IMAGES OF THE RETICLES A LIKE DISTANCE ALONG CONVERGENT LEFT AND RIGHT STEREO AXES TO CREATE A BINOCULARLY OBSERVABLE THREE-DIMENSIONAL RETICLE IMAGE WHICH APPEARS TO BE LOCATED AT THE POINT OF CONVERGENCE OF THE STEREO AXES. MEANS ARE SHOWN FOR SELECTIVELY CAUSING THE STEREO IMAGE TO RESEDE OR ADVANCE IN THE VIEWED FIELD IN CORRESPONDENCE WITH CHANGES IN THE FOCUSED DISTANCE OF THE CAMERA OBJECTIVE LENS. THE NEAR AND FAR LIMITS OF THE STEREO IMAGE EMBRACE THOSE OBJECTS IN THE VIEWED FIELD WHICH ARE FOCUS, THE SEPARATION OF THE NEAR AND FAR LIMITS INDICATES THE DEPTH OF FIELD OF THE OBJECTIVE. THE MAGNITUDE OF THE DEPTH-WISE EXTENSION OF THE STEREO IMAGE, I.E., FROM APPARENT SEPARATION OF THE NEAR AND FAR LIMITS OF THE STEREO IMAGE, IS CAUSED TO VARY WITH ADJUSTMENTS OF THE LENS EFFECTIVE APERTURE SUCH THAT THE DEPTH OF FIELD INDICATED BY THE STEREO IMAGE TAKES INTO EFFECT DEPTH OF FIELD CHANGES INDUCED BY LENS APERTURE ADJUSTMENTS. THE VARIATION IN THE APPARENT MAGNITUDE OF THE DEPTH-WISE EXTENSION OF THE STEREO IMAGE IS ACCOMPLISHED BY ADJUSTING THE RELATIVE STEREO VIEWPOINTS REPRESENTED BY THE LEFT AND RIGHT STEREO RETICLES.

Inventors

• 👤 Alfred H Bellows

Bibliographic Details