Twin camera 3D (was: Re: Beam Splitters)

[Joel.Alpers@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Tim Smith writes:

#Now for my next question. In the middle of this I came across a pair of 
#Nikon F bodies.  The bodies are in great shape but the meters of course have 
#gone the way of many Photomic finder meters...the metering resister wears 
#out.  Anyway...I now have a couple of extra surplus camera bodies that I may 
#or may not have repaired (finder assemblies or even the metering components 
#cost more than the bodies).  Is anyone doing anything with dual 35mm full 
#frame matched cameras?  

Yes, lots of us!

#I though about mounting them up on a bar and use an 
#external hand-held meter (I know...a little more bulky and more patience). 
# I'm just assuming that the combination of good Nikkor glass, good slide 
#film and full frame 35mm would add to the overall quality.  Now the key 
#question is alignment and separation...any recommendations?  

It depends somewhat on the size of the cameras. The problem is that two
camera bodies side-by-side make the inter-lens distance more than
the typical 65mm (2.5"). But this isn't really that bad, it makes your
photos a little more "hyper" (there was a recent discussion of just this,
so I won't go into lots of detail). The main thing here is that you'll
want to limit the nearest part of your subject which touches the edge
of the frame to _more_ than the typical 2m (6-7') for dedicated
stereo cameras. How much depends on the lens separation, but it's on
the order of 10' or so.

#What do you use for viewers for full frame 35mm?

Several routes are possible - 

1. Reel-3D sells a "steal the light" viewer for twin 35mm shots. I _think_ 
   it is $4.95. I have one and like it just fine, though I don't use it 
   much anymore because of #2
2. You can mount the two film chips in a slide mount which fits a Realist
   format slide (41x101mm) and simply use it in a Red Button, Kodaslide,
   or similar 50's viewer.

There are two mounts I carry which work well with this: RBT plastic
mounts (which come in 28, 31.5 and 33.5mm sizes) and a cardboard tape-shut
mount in 31.5mm. However, normal viewers (designed for Realist format)
usually require modification to open up the film apertures so you can
see the whole 28mm of a European format, and may or may not be modifiable
for the full 31.5 or 33mm.

You can get around this problem by "wasting" some of the image area, and
cropping down to 28mm (European format).

Joel Alpers
Rocky Mountain Memories - Equipment and Supplies for the 3D Photographer
rkymtmem@xxxxxxxxxxx


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