What the heck is this thing?/Parellipse Question

[Schniapereli]

I found a full box of this thing and I have no idea what it is. I do not have a digital camera, but I did my best to draw it on Paint.

It's just a lens behind a donut, which can be fastened to something by tightening the rubber and metal layes around it. (sandwich around what you want to clamp it to.)

It doesn't fit any of our fixtures, but I found a peice of one next to where we used to keep some parellipses.

I will try to get a digital picture.

But, what the heck is it called? What does it do? When do you use it?


Also, what was a parellipse used for? Do they still use them sometimes today? When would you use one? (is that the right spelling?)

If you know anything else about either, then please share.

[Van]

Hmm Can't be exactly sure. ok i'm sort of guessing. Possibly a degree changing lens for the paralipsphere ? I'mnot sure. Nice drawing though. As for thier original use Paralipspheres were an alternative to a Leko-lite, and were used the same way. I believe there are still a few left in the 2 world trade center theatre here in portland. I worked in that theatre for 7 years and we about 20 something para's < I Aint gonna keep typing it > we used them on evry show. They're not the greatest in the world but they work.
I can't say I ever saw that particular attachment however.

[ship]

Never heard of that term before.

My rough guess, if these are anything like a Bantam Superspot, could be part of a slide projector lens adaptor. Just a guess.

[Schniapereli]

...I always call them parellipses... I can never remember their real name.

I'm not sure if it was for one of the PS's, but that's what I'm assuming since I know almost nothing about them. I cannot find anything on the internet.
(the only results are to this site.)

[gafftaper]

WOW you stumped Van AND Ship!!! I didn't think that was possible.

[dbn]

I'm guessing, too, but it looks like Van may be right. These look like they may be lenses that were intended to mount inside the barrel of an instrument via a narrow slot and slide back and forth for variable focus or zoom. The rubber layers and the tightening wing-nut look like they would accomodate holding the lens assembly stable within the barrel, by means of the slot. Or maybe it was a fixed position, rather than a slot. No way of telling, really.

I've never come across anything like this in my travels. Thanks for posting this. It has high entertainment value. :-)

[Van]

P.S. If I can get over to the world trade center I'll shoot a picture of some para-lipse-sphere's < god what a stupid name for a fixture>

[Schniapereli]

We have some old Paralipspheres, but they are broken, and do not seem to have a lamp bases, or a place to put them...

For others who are curious to know more about them, I have found this so far on the internet.

"The Paralipsphere is a further improvement of the ERS. It replaces the portion of the Ellipsoid behind the bulb with a parabolic reflector focused on the filament, and additionally replaces the portion of the Ellipsoid immediately surrounding the aperture with a spherical reflector focused on the bulb. Para(bola)+(El)lip(soidal)+Sphere = Paralipsphere. From a lighting design point of view, Paralipsphere's are merely a more efficient ERS, but from a technical point of view they are an interesting and significant variation."

...and that's about it.

I am going to stay after school one of these days (when I don't have too much homework) and I'm going to try putting the lense thingy in different fixtures, (hopefully, also take some pictures) and then report back to ya'll.

[Van]

Originally Posted by Schniapereli

"The Paralipsphere is a further improvement of the ERS. It replaces the portion of the Ellipsoid behind the bulb with a parabolic reflector focused on the filament, and additionally replaces the portion of the Ellipsoid immediately surrounding the aperture with a spherical reflector focused on the bulb. Para(bola)+(El)lip(soidal)+Sphere = Paralipsphere. From a lighting design point of view, Paralipsphere's are merely a more efficient ERS, but from a technical point of view they are an interesting and significant variation."

Hmm I don't know if I would call them an "Improvement" but they were definately different. Wow I tried like crazy and could find anything on the internet. I bow to your superior Google-ing skills.

[Footer]

Heres some info on the 7367A Parellipisphere that I pulled of Wyg (and from what I could remember about them from using them 8 or so years ago). It was made by Electro Controls, is a zoom fixture (19 to 33 degs) though if I remember the zoom was a very loose term. Strangely they look very similar to the source4 zoom. But yes, the folks at cast got a hold of one and took the time to test it and get it into wyg.