Perspective restitution from view cameras photos

Abstract

The paper aims at discussing the accuracy of perspective restitution from view camera photos; view cameras are non-standard cameras frequently used in the past century for on field shooting of buildings and urban sites; this is why the reconstruction of lost buildings often deals with photos taken with a view camera. The case study chosen for the proposed experiment is an urban complex built in Palermo in the ‘50s. The site features a very regular layout with surfaces at right angle, that supports the graphic reconstruction of photos’ inner and outer orientation. The site has been surveyed with a laser scanner; the point cloud provided the metric information needed for the evaluation of the accuracy of perspective restitution. The experiment used three sets of photos: a photo taken by Studio Alinari in the ‘60s; a couple of photos taken during the research work with a view camera; a photo taken with a standard mirrorless camera. The results of the experiment prove that view cameras do not modify the projective layout of perspective and that the accuracy of restitution from view camera photos is comparable to the accuracy of restitution from images taken with a standard camera.