RE: Sputnik Success

["Menzel, Greg" <Greg.Menzel@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Brian, I have been playing around with a Sputnik for a few months now,
and
had pretty good luck using rubber cement for both the flocked paper and
yarn.
I also had good luck with a Testors flat black "paint pen" found in the
plastic model
section of stores. This worked well for hitting those spots too small or
awkward for
flocked paper.

I agree about the focusing - usually I just guess and hope shooting f22 or
f16 will
provide the necessary depth of field. I found my best shots were focused
anywhere
from 8 m to inf. m. The focusing lens is useless on the Sputnik in my
opinion.

I had excellent luck with Velvia, Ektachrome E100VS, and the new Provia
100F.
>From my observations so far, the Provia 100F has the best grain, and has
more
neutral colors than Velvia or the E100VS. The E100VS is not good for skin
tones -
too red, but works well for fall color shots. The Velvia did really well for
some of
my bright sun shots (when I can still shoot f16 with ISO of 50).

I just completed my first "official" Sputnik collection this weekend.  I
mounted,
labeled, and placed in a three-slot-per-page photo album 24 shots from I
took
a few weekends ago. I look forward to sharing some of them in a folio.

Greg M.


> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Brian Reynolds [SMTP:reynolds@xxxxxxxxx]
> Sent:	Tuesday, October 19, 1999 10:11 AM
> To:	rkymtmem-3d@xxxxxxxx
> Subject:	Sputnik Success
> 
> I'm back from a week long vacation in Massachusetts, Vermont, New
> Hampshire and upstate New York.  I brought along a whole collection of
> cameras and astronomical instruments.  I wound up using my Speed
> Graphic and Yashicamat (which is showing some problems) for non-stereo
> work and the Sputnik for some stereo pictures of a sheep dog demo at
> the Dutchess County (New York) Sheep & Wool Festival and the
> flightline at Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome.  My K1000 came along as
> ballast.  (Actually I was going to do some astrophotography with it,
> but used the Yashicamat instead.)
> 
> I hadn't had time to modify my Sputnik before the trip but things
> still went better than previous attempts.  I think I just work better
> when the camera is on a tripod and I have to stop and think about what
> I'm doing.
> 
> Because I was shooting into the Sun on a clear sunny day, none of the
> sheep dog shots are any good.  There is an incredible amount of flare
> and a light leak on the left (I think) top of the camera.  I've gotten
> a couple of PVC caps and will be building lens shades soon.  I'm also
> going to flock the interior and add yarn to the light trap.  Does
> anyone want to recommend a glue for doing this?
> 
> I tried using my ground glass loupe to focus on the ground spot in the
> view finder of the Sputnik, but it didn't really help.  I wound up
> setting the aperture to f/16 (or f/22) and focusing on the hyperfocal
> distance.  The view finders on my Lubitels are much better than the
> Sputnik's.
> 
> The Aerodrome pictures turned out pretty good.  After I mount them I
> have to check them against a pair I took of their Sopwith Camel on an
> earlier trip.  The Camel pair is really sharp (although almost nothing
> else from that trip is), and I want to see if hyperfocal focusing is
> that different.  Focusing the Sputnik is pretty random.
> 
> My antiquing find of the trip was a pair of Linhof Prontor
> Professional shutters (with the aperture and time setting devices) for
> $20 each in an antique shop in Chester, Vermont.  They didn't have the
> retaining rings, but at that price I wasn't going to haggle.  :) I'm
> going to talk to Steve Grimes about having him make some rings and
> mounting a couple of barrel lenses on these shutters.  Anyone want to
> recommend barrel lenses I should be on the look out for?  I have to
> measure the shutters to verify their sizes.
> 
> -- 
> Brian Reynolds                  | "Dee Dee!  Don't touch that button!"
> reynolds@xxxxxxxxx              | "Oooh!"
> http://www.panix.com/~reynolds  |    -- Dexter and Dee Dee
> NAR# 54438                      |       "Dexter's Laboratory"