Apollo Discussions > The Reality of Apollo

Bugbear needs help - Photo alignment

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TimberWolfAu:
Hey, something that has bugged me for a while, and I haven't looked much into, but why does the alignment of the photo on the original transparency change? Some of them rotate 90° on the same magazine, which seems odd given the camera had a very up and down alignment, whilst some others flip 180º entirely.

And as I'm typing, the thought has occurred to check which photos and which lens' were used at the time, since I've seen the same happen just switching between different eyepieces on the telescopes.

For ref, while I go dig a bit more, AS17-139-21204 would be an example of a 90° rotation, while AS17-137-20960 has a 180° flip (compared to other photos from the same magazine, although it's possible this is just a scanning issue). All photos being compared are from March to the Moon (https://tothemoon.ser.asu.edu/)

TimberWolfAu:
Huh, quick update, just having a scroll through March (and using an Apollo 15 list of photos and lens) it looks like all the ones that used the 500mm rotate 90° anti-clockwise. Seems the same on Apollo 17 too.

Cool, gotta be an effect of the lens, so I wonder if it was noted somewhere of if it's just 'duh, any half decent photographer would know this'? (Hint; that aint me ;D)

Peter B:
They're not rotated on the Lunar and Planetary Institute website, checking the specific A17 photos you mentioned, and magazines 84 and 89 (500mm) on A15.

TimberWolfAu:

--- Quote from: Peter B on January 09, 2025, 07:05:37 AM ---They're not rotated on the Lunar and Planetary Institute website, checking the specific A17 photos you mentioned, and magazines 84 and 89 (500mm) on A15.

--- End quote ---

Why I noted I was looking at March to the Moon, which are supposed to be scans of the full transparency.

\/ See attached. Green are with the 500mm, and are rotated 90°, while the red group is the 60mm

Peter B:
Fair enough.

So I did a little checking...

On Apollo 12, while he was inside the LM, Alan Bean took four photos of Pete Conrad out on the porch (AS12-46-6715 to 6718). According to the ALSJ, Bean held the camera upside-down (and at knee level) to take the four photos. On the LPI site, 6715 is shown right way up, while the other three are shown upside-down.

I checked the photos in question on MTTM, and all four were upside-down.

So I think it's reasonable to assume the MTTM photos are all aligned as they were taken - so, sometimes, for various reasons, the astronauts held the cameras sideways or upside down.

This video of Dave Scott tripping on a rock also shows him using the camera with the 500mm lens. I can't tell for sure, but I suppose it's possible he's holding the camera sideways: https://youtube.com/watch?v=pNN7fTMfRVc

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