[MF3D.FORUM:1223] PSA Albuquerque report, Part I

[Paul Talbot <ptww@xxxxxxxxx>]

At the beginning of September I drove out to the annual PSA
conference, held this year in Albuquerque, NM.  I took a
SaturnSlide(tm) viewer and my entire collection of MF 3D
slides (not having had time to sort through them ahead of
time).  I figured I might have a chance to introduce MF 3D
to some folks who were not familar with the format.  What a
good guess that turned out to be!

Due to an administrative mixup, David Morrison (member of Joel's
3D club and famous for his rock climbing 3D photos) was kind
of scrambling to find things to put on display at the "stereo
den" (table in the exhibit area).  So I finished up putting
all my slides in the new MF 3D slide protectors (more on those
later), selected about a half dozen of my images and eight more
from Sam Smith, Don Lopp, and Bill Glickman (which I also put in
the new protective sleeves), and took them to the exhibit area.
My impression: they were a huge hit!

Medium format stereo slides seemed to be a totally new concept to
everyone who came by the PSA table.  One thing I found particularly
interesting was the number of Realist-format stereo shooters who
mentioned that they had 2-1/4" cameras.  A common question was
something like "You mean I could put my [Hassleblad/Rollei/etc]
on a slide bar and do 2-1/4" stereo and view it in a viewer like
this?"

I don't expect a flood of newcomers to the practice of medium format
3D from this...just as few people who are impressed with 35mm stereo
actually take up the hobby.  But I think it was a worthwhile 
"evangelical" ;-) mission.

Paul Talbot