Re: Realist - Viewmaster image comparisons

[Joel.Alpers@xxxxxxxxxxx]

#     
#     I (being of scientific persuasion) pursued this curiosity further by 
#     performing a test with a couple of unsuspecting friends.  I hauled out 
#     some realist slide and VM reels and we sat around looking at slides in 
#     each.  My observation was that they confirmed my own behavior, i.e., 
#     they spent two to three times the amount of time looking at a Realist 
#     image as opposed to looking at a VM image.  Let me clarify --- I don't 
#     include the extra time to pick up and replace the slides in the 
#     Realist viewer compared to the rapid firing of the VM viewer.  I am 
#     referring only to the time spent letting their eyes roam the images.
#     

I have noticed this as well, and even more so with medium format stereo -
I have personally, and noticed friends, taking more time looking at
medium format than at Realist/European, and more yet than ViewMaster.

This is not format bashing - I shoot all three formats and enjoy them
all.

I suspect that it is because, the larger the format, the more information
there is - you get an increase in detail.

So, I suspect that somewhere between 4x5" and 8x10" film chips, there
is a knee in the curve, where you'll _never_ be done viewing the image ;)

Interesting tidbit - when I finished my first "prototype" medium format
viewer, I put in a slide, and --- was rather disappointed. Sure, it looked
good, but... not what I had hoped. Then I ran and got my Red Button with
a Realist slide, and did a side-by-side - WOW! The differences were
obvious! While I like the Realist format, it has a grain or mottling in
even tones (like sky) that I often find distracting, even though I use
only fine-grained films like Velvia. Just not a problem in MF!


Joel "Medium Format is my Life ;)" Alpers
Rocky Mountain Memories - Equipment and Supplies for the 3D Photographer
rkymtmem@xxxxxxxx
http://www.frii.com/~rkymtmem


------------------------------