Formulated in 1904 by the Austrian Theodor Scheimpflug (but acknowledged by him to have been anticipated by a Frenchman, Jules Carpentier), this applies to cameras with front and rear movements, when photographing a subject that lies largely in a plane that is not perpendicular to the lens axis. It states that for sharp overall focus the planes of the subject, film, and lens panel must all meet in a single line (the ‘Scheimpflug line’). The proof is an extension of Newtonian lens laws. Principal applications are in architectural and studio table-top (e.g. pack shot) photography.
— Robin Lenman
Bibliography
- Jacobson, R. E., et al., The Manual of Photography (2000)
