Cirkut (camera)

The Cirkut is a rotating panoramic camera of the type known as "full rotation". It was patented by William J. Johnston in 1904 and manufactured by Rochester Panoramic Camera Company starting in 1905; during that same year, the company was acquired by Century Camera Co. (which itself was owned by Eastman Kodak at the time). The manufacture of the camera continued through 1949.

There were several models: No. 5, No. 6, No. 8, No. 10, and No. 16, named according to the maximum width of the film accepted, in inches. The length of the film (corresponding to the width of the panorama) varied by a model as well, ranging up to 18 feet (5.5 m) for No. 16, yielding a single negative with an area of more than 24 square feet (2.2 m²). Thus, the information content of Cirkut images can be in the gigapixel range.