RE: filmscanners: Kodak Grand Central Diorama (Was: the 10 foot print from 35mm...)

["LAURIE SOLOMON" <LAURIE@ADVANCENET.NET>]

>What was truly astonishing was the fact that
>the tiny 35mm transparency, though magnified an incredible 516 times,
>retained sharpness. A very impressive testimonial to the quality of Leica
>lenses and photographer Ernst Haas. The camera: Leicaflex SL with Summicron
>50mm lens".

Also quite possibly to the fact that one was not looking at the print
through a loupe or at a close distance but from typically a football field's
width away or further depending where you stood in the station.

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-filmscanners@halftone.co.uk
[mailto:owner-filmscanners@halftone.co.uk]On Behalf Of David Freedman
Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2001 10:29 AM
To: filmscanners@halftone.co.uk
Subject: Re: filmscanners: Kodak Grand Central Diorama (Was: the 10 foot
print from 35mm...)


I'm a little late to this thread so if this has already been mentioned, my
apologies.  Actually at least one of the Kodak Grand Central Colorama's was
made from a 35mm transparency. Here's a posting from Phil Greenspun's site:

"I would like to remind a very good example of the enlargement from Popular
Photography, September 1978, p.75: "For the first time ever, a 35mm
transparency was used for Kodak's 60-foot long Colorama in New York's Grand
Central Station. All previous Kodak Coloramas (27 years worth) were made
from Large-format negatives. What was truly astonishing was the fact that
the tiny 35mm transparency, though magnified an incredible 516 times,
retained sharpness. A very impressive testimonial to the quality of Leica
lenses and photographer Ernst Haas. The camera: Leicaflex SL with Summicron
50mm lens". Good luck,

-- Victor Randin (www.ved@enran.com.ua), October 19, 2000. "

Dave F.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Arthur Entlich" <artistic@ampsc.com>
To: <filmscanners@halftone.co.uk>
Sent: Monday, November 12, 2001 2:25 AM
Subject: Re: filmscanners: Kodak Grand Central Diorama (Was: the 10 foot
print from 35mm...)


> Frank,
>
> Thanks for the correction on this.  It did seem working from 35mm would
> have been "a stretch", obviously more a stretch than reasonable at the
> best.  I can't recall the subject matter of the ones I saw, just that
> they were pretty impressive, and very large!  Do you recall what the
> enlargement ratio was from the 9" x 18" film image to  _____??
>
> Art
>
> FrankPeele@aol.com wrote:
>
> > The Grand Central Station transparencies were made from large format
> > originals. Some were shot with 9 x 18 inch aerial cameras; the one
> > featuring the U.S. Navy "Blue Angels" flying formation over (I forget --
> > it was either Niagara Falls or Mt. Rushmore), for example. That one was
> > the subject of a Kodak "documentary" film made at the time and used for
> > promotional purposes. Showed pretty much the whole complex production
> > process for the huge transparencies.
> >
> > All the best,
> > Frank Peele
> > Pacific Photographic
> > Redlands, CA
>
>
>
>