Can you make prints from a Realist?

[thorpe@xxxxxxxxxx (Robert Thorpe)]

The purpose of ANY stereo camera is to capture 2 views of a subject that have
the same spacing as the human eyes. It makes no difference if you have slide or
print film in the camera. If you use print film, you will have some difficulties
however. You must decide if you want to deal with these because a lot more of 
the burden will be placed on you.

The Realist has a "non-standard" format as far as photo processors are 
concerned. They do not have masks for that size. This means that they either
have to use a larger mask (regular 35mm) or a smaller mask (half-frame, if they
even have one). The first includes a little of the frame before and after which
can throw off exposure and color balance in the print. The second will severely
crop your image. Assuming you can get the photo lab to even print these for you,
you must get them to print the images so they are the right size for mounting
on the cards. Unless you are lucky like I have been, you could be paying
custom rates for every print. I use a Nimslo and have cultivated a local 1-hour
lab to print the first and fourth images of each set onto a standard 4x6 print.
This yields an image about 3.5 inches high and 2.5 inches wide, resulting in
about 1.75 inches of waste on each of the left and right sides. They expose the
first image, record the exposure settings, and then expose the second image with
the same settings. I then trim the prints for the proper stereo window and mount
them on acid-free cards. All this is not VERY difficult if you get things 
organized but it does complicate the hobby. I don't think it's any worse than
mounting your own Realist slides, and it is definitely no worse than mounting
ViewMaster chips. I like the Holmes-style card format best because anyone can
look at the prints without a viewer. They may not see stereo without one but
they can see the print as a regular photo. With slides, they must have at least
some kind of viewer. I am always on the lookout for stereoscopes at antique
shops and garage sales. They have gone up a lot in price over the last couple
of years. I used to be able to get a good one for $25 if I was lucky (Iowa 
prices) but recently they have been more like $75. Still that's not out of line
compared to a 3D slide viewer. I keep three or four on hand so everyone can
have one.

If you want to pursue this, I have written a little paper on doing this which
I will send out. I may even convert it and put it up on my web page if there
is enough interest.

Robert Thorpe


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