Thomas and J. R. Connon, a Photographic Legacy: The Panoramic Camera

Perhaps John's best known invention was the cycloramic panoramic camera which was patented in 1887, when Connon was living in New York. It was patented in England in the same year and in Canada in 1888.

The camera was fitted with a lens of fixed focus and the film traveled between two rollers while the camera was turned by hand on the optical centre of the lens. With this design the camera was capable of capturing a full 360 degree picture.The picture to the right shows the camera's rotating mechanism. Notice that the lens is in line with the axis of the circle through which the camera rotates during the exposure.

The view below shows the rollers that advance the film during the exposure and the mechanism that rotates the camera.

Photography equipment,
[between 1860 and 1900] (detail)
Thomas Connon
Stereograph
Connon family fonds
Reference Code: C 286-2-0-7
Archives of Ontario, I0011459

Photo: Whole circuit panoramic camera invented by John R. Connon, [ca. 1887]

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Whole circuit panoramic camera invented by John R. Connon, [ca. 1887]
John R. Connon
Black and white print
Connon family fonds
Reference Code: C 286-4-0-4
Archives of Ontario, I0011657

The picture to the left below shows the panoramic camera set up ready to take a picture. The river is likely the Grand River shown flowing through the Elora Gorge. The American patent document is to the right and below. During the late 1800s numerous panoramic processes were developed by other inventors but Connon's is believed to be one of the first.

Photo: John Connon's whole circuit panoramic camera

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John Connon's whole circuit panoramic camera, patented in Britain and the United States in 1887 and in Canada in 1888. Camera is set up over a river, likely the Elora Gorge, [ca. 1887]
Thomas or John R. Connon
Connon family fonds
Reference Code: C 286-5-0-9
Archives of Ontario, I0011664

American Letters patent for John R. Connon's whole circuit panoramic camera, 1887 - Page 1

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American Letters patent for John R. Connon's whole circuit panoramic camera, 1887
Connon family fonds
Reference Code: C 286-6
Archives of Ontario

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Diagram for whole circuit panoramic camera invented by John R. Connon, 1887
Connon family fonds
Reference Code: C 286-6
Archives of Ontario

The paper negative below may be one of the earliest photographs taken in the Elora area with the panoramic camera.

Photo: Panoramic paper negative [of Elora?], [ca. 1887]

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Panoramic paper negative [of Elora?], [ca. 1887]
John R. Connon
Black and white negative
Connon family fonds
Reference Code: C 286-4-0-2
Archives of Ontario, I0011420

The letter below is from a company in New York and it details arrangements with Connon for them to manufacture the panoramic camera. It goes on to describe details of an arrangement for Connon to handle Canadian sales of another camera, on their behalf.

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Letter from Stirn and Lyon, 1889 [page 1]
Connon family fonds
Reference Code: C 286-6
Archives of Ontario

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Letter from Stirn and Lyon, 1889 [page 2]
Connon family fonds
Reference Code: C 286-6
Archives of Ontario

The image below is a panoramic photograph of the Brooklyn Bridge taken from the deck of a Ferry crossing the East River in New York. At the time the photograph was taken the bridge would have been about seven years old.

Photo: Panoramic print of men standing on a ferry looking at the Brooklyn Bridge, [ca. 1890]

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Panoramic print of men standing on a ferry looking at the Brooklyn Bridge, [ca. 1890]
John R. Connon
Black and white print
Connon family fonds
Reference Code: C 286-4-0-5
Archives of Ontario, I0011669

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