Re: Sputnik advice (was: Focusing a SaturnSlide viewer)

[Greg Erker <erker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>Before you shoot your Sputnik, I'd strongly suggest you check focus via
>ground glass... one of the two lenses is more often than not off. You
>probably also are already clued in to operating this querky camera...
>because of slop in the focusing mechanism and because of the inherently
>tight tolerances of front cell focusers, it's important to always focus
>in one direction only and set your camera's focus up for however you
>choose to do it (ie always focusing from far to near).
>
>Also, you will only want to shoot af f/22; the lenses on these guys just
>don't hold up at larger apertures. Because of this and the lack of slow
>shutter speeds, I'd recommend steering clear of Velvia (which is really
>an asa 40 film by my tests) and go with something such as Kodak's W100S
>which in addition to the higher shutter speeds also seems to have a
>longer contrast range than the velvia and holds up better in the
>shadows.
>
>Finally, from the cross sample of Sputnik chromes I've seen, I'd
>recommend against trying to hand hold this most unergonomic beast, no
>matter what speed you shoot.

  As always Eric gives good advice. To
maximize your odds of getting good photos
I'd recommend following it.

  That said, I violate most of those rules.
I don't focus from one direction. But I usually
just focus at 5m or 10m on a scene rather than
a specific subject. My few indoor Sputnik shots
have not worked well, perhaps becuase of my
incorrect focusing.

  I almost always shoot Velvia. It works for me,
but the slow speed means that I've had to simulate
1/4 sec exposure with my thumb on the cable release.
Works for me. Though I do like the look of my test
roll of E100SW.

  F16 and f22 work on my Sputnik. I wouldn't go wider
with my camera. Some people on the list have stated
that theirs is sharpest at f11. Though with front
cell focusers it may depend a lot on the distance
they are focused at.

  And I will strongly support the use of a tripod.
I try to use one all the time. The hand held folio
shots I've seen aren't as sharp as I'd like (camera
shake combined with shooting fairly wide open).

Good luck - Greg