Comments on the Toshiba camcorder and Realist Macro and thanks

[P3D John D. Roll <johnroll@xxxxxxx>]

Marvin Jones writes:
"A couple of months ago a fellow advertised one in Stereo World for $800 or
so; it
was snatched up immediately. We may never know whether the buyer was the same
guy who was advertising one in the following issue for $5,000!"

I have personal knowledge that the buyer was not the guy who was advertising
in the following issue.  Those were different cameras.  So now you can rest
easy.  :^)

Jamie Drouin writes:
" I must admit now feeling
somewhat posessed by the idea of making my own macro 'realist', and
although I'm probably completely insane for considering it, I am going to
give it a try.
        If anyone has attempted a similar project I'd appreciate hearing
from you.  My first question is if a regular 35mm body will accomplish the
same thing as altering a Realist body?
        I was also blown away by the quality of photography in these
articles.  This is DEFINITELY my favorite issue since I joined 15 months
ago!"

At the Atlanta NSA, a gentleman from St. Louis was showing a Macro camera
made from the body of a Retina Reflex.  The Retina Reflex has enough room to
mill out space for two five perforation exposures like the Realist Macro.
At the time, that was the only camera made.  It was made by a different
gentleman from St. Louis also.  Bids were being taken to see if there was
enough interest for him to make several.  I have had some phone
conversations with the man taking the bids.  I don't think any are going to
be made available.  It is a shame, because the workmanship was first rate,
and the picture quality was good.  The choice of lenses could be better, so
I think the picture quality could even be superior with appropriate lens
selection.
I personally would not put out the effort to build such a thing unless you
are a real craftsman.  By the way, that is strange advice, considering the
source, if you know much about me!  The reason I say this is because I have
heard from one person at the Milwaukee NSA that he is working on a macro
stereo camera, to be made available for all of us to consider.  I also heard
at the Atlanta NSA from another person that he is also working on Macro
Stereo.  I have seen and held the prototype and was quite impressed! I would
recommend being patient and saving lots of money for either of these!  They
are bound to be of much higher quality than what we could put together.  I
have put my plans for a macro setup with twin SLR cameras on hold.  I had
even bought all of the materials to complete the project!
Thank you for the comment on the photography in the articles.  Dean and I
worked very hard and shot a lot of film for our contributions.

Also thanks to everyone who responded to my request for depth of field
information.  In addition to that information let me post some equations
given to me this evening by a friend here in town that I asked.
Dn = near distance
D = distance to best focus
Df = far distance
c = circle of confusion
f = lens apeture
F = focal length  F2 = focal length squared
Dn = D/[1+(Dxcxf/F2)]
Df = D/[1-(Dxcxf/F2)]
My friend suggested a circle of confusion of .001 inch which is .0254 mm
which is very close to the previously mentioned value of .03mm.
John Roll,Rockford, IL, USA


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