Re: A New Beamsplitter Design

[John Roberts <roberts@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>Date: Sun, 26 Nov 1995 09:57:35 -0600
>From: "John O. Merritt" <JOMERRITT@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: Re:  A New Beamsplitter Design

>Is the expense of such a dual-lens SLR attachment going to exceed the cost
>of a specialized dual-lens stereo camera? Or is the existing film transport,
>shutter mechanism, and exposure control in an existing SLR a big leg-up on
>the total cost of a stereo camera?  A dual lens SLR attachment might have
>no moving parts except for focus, and could have fixed "optimal" aperture,
>relying on the SLR
>typically wide shutter speed range to control exposure...

Perhaps more important than production cost is *design and startup* cost.
It was pointed out earlier this year that the research and development,
tooling, etc. to introduce a stereo camera with the modern conveniences could
cost up to several hundred thousand dollars. By taking advantage of the
features that are already built into SLRs, and by limiting the scope of the
design effort, this "up front" cost may be substantially reduced.

John R


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