Camera Obscura

Located behind The Cliff House.
It opened in 1946.
$ 3 admission
$ 2 kids and senior
Pay the person in the booth. You walk in through the door on the right. The room is dark with a large circular piece of wood in the middle, little hologram pictures on the walls. The person from the booth came in and gave a shpeal on where to stand and the workings of a camera obscura. This particular one has a hole on the roof where a live feed of the Seal Rock area is projected onto that wooden wheel in the center of the room. This technology was used by artists and astronomers. I learned about this optical device called Camera Obscura in an Art History class and it was cool to see one in person.
The guy in the booth was nice and he was cool about answering questions and being informative.
If I hadn’t had any prior knowledge or had heard of camera obscure before I don’t think I would have enjoyed it the same. You walk in and look at the projected images for however long and exit the other door when you’re ready. So much more is right outside so I don’t know how long you’d want to be in there but Camera Obscura is something to see, something to experience.
. another piece of San Francisco history but the technology is historic as well.

Camera Obscura is situated in the cutest little camera house right next to the ocean. According to it’s website:
«The camera obscura is a rare device, based on a 15^th century design by Leonardo da Vinci. It produces 360 degrees of spectacular Live Images of the Seal Rock Area».
Inside is very dark and quiet with only the sounds of the ocean. In the center lies a projection of a slow rotating view of the ocean and beach outside. Hologram photos adorn the walls. I’d say you’d need 5 – 10 minutes max there. I think Camera Obscura is a great place to check out after eating at the Cliff House or hiking around the Suetro Baths/Land’s End trail though I would say it’s not really a destination in itself unless one is into early century photography.

This place is not to be missed. I’ve been taking my photography classes here for years and it’s great. Robert, the owner is a fountain of great information about camera obscures and the local area. And three bucks is a steal.

At first i was like where the heck is this place at. When i got there i was like oh i been here before. so where have i been was the cliff house sutra bistro for brunch 2 yrs ago for my bday. i knew there was an observation deck but didn’t know that was this place so yea its behind the restaurant.
when i got here i was like theres a stairway to walk down and then a nice balcony with a view of the seagull rocks and what i mean by the rocks is, the rocks are filled with bird dodo and the rock is almost all white lol.
i do remember when i was here 2 yrs ago having brunch and saw a surfer got stuck on the seagull rocks and needed help and helicopter came to rescue. it was amazing how i witnessed all that and i was like i wish i knew about this place because it would have been cool to witness on this special lens from this place.
let me tell you they do have a little building with a camera imaging the area around and projected on the white ceramic palet its amazing i don’t know how to tell you but its was crisp clear because yesterday on 4 16 15 it was an amazing clear day. so this piece of art projecting real life scene was discovered by Leonardo. i mean they only charge 3 bucks for the fee of entering the room and looking at the amazing art was totally worth every penny. i suggest you to go try it if you haven’t try it before but make sure its a clear warm beautiful sunny cali weather to really enjoy it. you will see when you go. Anyways i am a fan and will be back when I’m the tour guide to my family members. hope you enjoy this review and thanks for your time. have a nice day and happy Unilocaling. remember to vote useful or funny or cool if you like it thanks Unilocaler!

Yes it’s the oldest camera in the world. Do you have a question? I mean Renaissance painters use this to paint some of the most beautiful paintings known to man. It’s the oldest camera in the world it’s amazing look at the picture. If you care at all about photography, if you care about cinematography and if you care about history then you must visit camera obscura.

Absolutely awesome. Well worth the $ 3 charge. Get a full 360 view around Camera Obscura.

Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! I fly all the way across the country, the weather is 70 degrees and absolutely gorgeous and the camera is CLOSED at 2 in the afternoon. They post hours from 11 – 5 daily, but this is apparently dependent upon whether or not anyone bothers to show up. I called their number three times in one day to no avail and the people at the Cliff House say they are not affiliated. Whoever runs this «landmark» should at least be honest and post that they aren’t really open regular hours. This would save people a lot of wasted time. At least the scenery nearby is gorgeous on a BEAUTIFUL SUNNY DAY.

I’d heard of the Camera Obscura years ago, but had never been and wasn’t entirely sure where it was. I was delighted to find it open! I didn’t see any holographs. (It’s very dark inside, so, I’m not sure how one would see them.)
It’s worth $ 3.

Every time I tried to check this place out it was closed.
Finally, I’m visiting SF and it’s open!
$ 3 later I’m inside gazing at their «hologram gallery» that consists of about 10 holograms and the actual camera obscura.
I’m glad I checked it out, so the mystery is solved :)

It’s kinda impressive and kinda not. It’s neat to see a pinhole camera and lens rendering images far out as if in HDTV. But after viewing it for a few minutes the novelty wears out as you only see images of the ocean, beach and the Cliff House. Not that exciting.
Peeps more into historic oddities may find it more interesting. But even after reading the explanation I remained only slightly impressed.
It’s $ 3 cash. Borderline value for me. Not sure I would recommend it for everyone.

Likes: Big camera with history by the Cliff House and ocean. Good view of the ocean and beautiful waves regardless of the time of day.
Dislikes: Not much to do around here in terms of the camera. just the amazing view and the cliff house restaurant and gift shop and the ocean

Camera Obscura is a shack that sits behind Cliff House. Inside is a small room with a round, concave table in the middle of it. Projected on the table is a 360 degree «live feed» of the surrounding area, created by a lens and mirror contraption in the cupola.
If you like visual stimuli and bizarre artifacts from yesteryear, you should definitely go. However, make sure that the stars align first.
5 steps to a perfect experience:
1) Call ahead and ask for the hours
2) Confirm that it’s a clear day on the beach
3) Bring cash ($ 3 for adults and $ 2 for kids 12 & under)
4) Ask the booth guy to give you an explanation /​demonstration
5) Stare at the image for at least 18 minutes (3 full rotations)
Camera Obscura is a fascinating piece of SF history that has been in operation since 1946. It’s currently on the National Register of Historic Places, so let’s hope that it stays open for many years to come.

If this cost any more than $ 3 (like even $ 5), I would not have been very happy because, let’s face it, it’s a concave orb reflecting a blurry, not-​very-​clear panorama of the surrounding cliffside. Why would anyone pay to see that when they could just go outside and get the real view for free? Fortunately, one of the other viewers was able to explain the history and significance of the camera, which made the experience a little more worth it. There weren’t exactly pamphlets or signs explaining anything. So… yeah. Make this the bottom of your priority list when you’re at Cliff House.

Paid $ 3 admission
Nice to see. Very small building behind the Cliff House Restaurant.
My rating went from meh to A-​OK when we realized they had holographics on the walls. Really retro stuff.
If you want to touristy stuff, give this place a go.

This is a decent experience, if you are at the Cliff House area, it is definitely worth checking out. I would not go all the way there just for the camera obscura, but if you are there anyway, you can find a new experience for a relatively inexpensive cost.
Learn about the history of it to enhance your experience, and ask the guy at the front lots of questions and for a tour to enhance your experience.

On a sunny (or partially sunny) day, this is a real visual treat. Don’t go if you’re put off by externalities — the shack is a shack, the holographs are only visible by people who are 5’6′ or taller, the whole place is held together by baling wire — just go to stand inside and watch the surf.
We had just been at the Venetian Masters exhibit at the de Young, so were very keyed into the interplay of light, and watching the surf roll in was mesmerizing. It is, if you can believe it, so much prettier than outside … can’t quite describe.
Definitely call ahead. $ 3 admission, $ 2 for kids 12 and under.

My girlfriend really wanted to check this out so we went during open hours… fail. it was closed!
Attempt 2: It was open and didn’t know there was a admission price. Only $ 3 so not bad at all to fulfill our wonders of what’s inside. It was either pay the $ 3 or spend our lives wondering what was in there haha.
We went in and the guy explained how it worked. That was a treat because he didn’t seem to do the same to the other two that came in later while we were still in there. He was nice though so I’m sure if you asked to explain how the camera worked, he’ll tell you.
Really interesting and now i can say i been in a giant camera!

Can’t remember if I paid $ 5 or $ 3 to visit the camera obscura, but it was a really fun experience. Don’t expect anything too fancy in this tiny shack located close to the Sutro Bath Ruins. I mean, the whole photography technology itself is pretty fancy to me, but the shack itself isn’t. It can comfortably fit up to 6 people at once. Any more than that will leave some people feeling claustrophobic.
It was fun watching people watching from the camera obscura and even more fun waving to the camera from the outside. I personally started jumping up and down like a crazy person hoping whomever was inside would try to wave back and feel silly hehehe.

This is incredible. Ever since researching camera obscuras for a presentation on photography and finding out that a world renown one is in my city, I’d been wanting to check it out.
In short, the camera obscura uses mirrors and lenses to take an outside image and project it into a concave bowl inside the camera obscura. The result is a better-​than-​1080p view of what the device is focused on (mostly an ocean view). This is well worth the two bucks and a great place to take an out of town visitor.

At our fingertips and even in our pocket we have technology indistinguishable from magic. But in past times, that sort of magic was a special rarity.
The Cliff House camera obscura is a reminder of that time and a great magic make out spot.
It’s a dark room with an about 9 foot diameter horizontal dished projection screen in the room’s center that shows an image from a slowly rotating lens above, the sea and surrounds.
Optics!
It’s a little SF history from the olden times, very romantic.