Neophypte Introduction

[Mark_Poole@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Mark Poole)]

     Greetings,
     
     I have just become aware of, and now am a part of this newsgroup.  I 
     was pleasantly surprised to find it while browsing the 'net.
     
     Please allow me to introduce myself:
     
     I became enthralled by stereo images at a very young age, not with 
     Viewmaster, but with a set of images of prewar Germany-Austria that 
     came in a pasteboard box (about the size of a hardback book) and a 
     folding metal viewer with glass lenses.  My uncle had obtained it for 
     my dad following W.W.II.
     
     As a child, I just stumbled across it one day on a bookshelf, and 
     discovered a new world.  The 12 or so (a few images were missing) 
     black and white images had a depth that drew me in.  It was as if 
     someone had taken slices of reality and put it in a box.  One image 
     was of a violin maker in a shop, with dozens of these fine instruments 
     hanging about him in various stages of construction.  The complexity 
     of the little shop would have made a "busy" 2d image, but made for a 
     fascinating 3d universe, one that begged for hours of study.  Other 
     favorites are a fountain, the water jets stilled by the shutter, but 
     brought to life by the viewer, and a view of a church and stream, 
     covered by a generous blanket of snow.
     
     Later, we had a Viewmaster, but, even though they were in color, the 
     tiny images were not as brilliant as the paper card viewer.  Also the 
     composition and subject matter failed to hold our attention, as 
     children.
     
     All this was forgotten, until a little over three years ago.  My 
     father was moving out of our childhood home, and he asked us to come 
     back and get whatever items we might hold dear, before he sold it all 
     in a garage sale.  I found the old book viewer and German images, and 
     all the memories flooded back.  I began to wonder how they were 
     created.  My local library had very little.  So I called Kodak.  A 
     very nice person suggested I call Reel 3-D Enterprises.  I talked to 
     Susan Pinsky for quite a while, and she suggested a few books, which I 
     bought.
     
     After reading about the different options, I settled on the twin 
     camera shooting slide film approach.  I felt it offered me the 
     greatest flexibility and ease of processing.  I ordered a twin slide 
     viewer from Reel 3-D.
     
     I already had a Minolta 7000 with a 52mm lens, so I tried to buy 
     another.  I found that it had been replaced with the 7000i.  I bought 
     that, obtained a Bogen tripod, and screwed both cameras down to a 
     piece of plywood.
     
     On a cold day in December, I went out and shot a few frames by just 
     hitting both buttons at (more or less) the same time.  It was a clear 
     windless day, and I just took still lifes of an old tobacco barn and 
     farm equipment. I also went up to the Blue Ridge Parkway (I live in 
     Lynchburg, VA) and took some shots around "Johnson Farm."  The images, 
     by some miracle, turned out great.
     
     I soon discovered some limitations of this approach:
     
     I had the cameras set on auto-everything.  Since the cameras had 
     slight metering differences, sometimes the aperture would be changed, 
     instead of shutter speed.  After a few rolls, I learned to set the 
     cameras to aperture-priority, usually at f16 - f22.
     
     The two cameras were dissimilar in focusing, so sometimes, one would 
     take a shot, while the other was still trying to get a clear fix. Toss 
     that shot out...
     
     The obvious drawback of trying to get simultaneous images from hitting 
     each button with two separate hands.  Minolta, in it's infinite wisdom 
     (read: greed), had discarded the ol' cable release, and has gone to 
     electronic (read:expensive) release.  I obtained an Infrared Master 
     and two Slaves at an enormous cost.  The nice thing about this rig is 
     that both units go off at once, so I can now include moving people and 
     objects, and (most importantly, hee, hee), I can now be in the 
     picture.  The range is incredible.  I have triggered the things from 
     at least 20 yards away.  The disadvantage is that the trigger does not 
     activate the autofocus.  This must be preset.
     
     I also obtained another 7000i, to get rid of most of the focusing and 
     metering problems.  The 7000 is now a backup.
     
     In order to dabble with hyper-stereo, I created a bar and slide 
     mechanism from pieces on an old aluminum storm door and plywood.  It 
     was ugly as sin, but worked tolerably well.  I made two carriages for 
     the cameras to slide along the bar, so I could experiment with the 
     separation distance.  I also found some mounts that allow the cameras 
     to be flipped up 90 degrees so that I can have a vertical orientation 
     for waterfalls, tall buildings, etc.  This has produced some very good 
     results, but it is very cumbersome to lug about.  I am in the process 
     of converting this over to aluminum square tubing, to get rid of some 
     yaw movement of the carriages (kind of loose, and it jiggles about) 
     and to make the system look a bit less haphazard.
     
     A few words about this:
     
     When using twin Minoltas, cover the viewfinders with a flap.  They are 
     designed to have the eyepiece covered by your eye, and the stray light 
     throws off the exposure metering.
     
     I have spent a lot of money on the rig, and it is probably overkill.  
     I could have probably gotten away with some point & shoot cheapies. 
     
     I have yet to try to project these images, I have only viewed them in 
     the small viewer.  I would like to try the twin projection with 
     polarized filters, but the cost has held me back.
     
     
     I now have several hundred images, with a few dozen that I think are 
     really good.  I am in the process of renovating a Victorian Home in 
     the historic district of Lynchburg, so I have not had the time to 
     devote to this wonderful hobby.
     
     I am intrigued by the new possibilities made available by modern 
     technology.  I am particularly interested in 3-d video and computer 
     with moving images.
     
     Thanks for making this list available, I look forward to conversing 
     with you al on various topics.
     
     Mark Poole


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