Re: Viewers...

[P3D Dr. George A. Themelis <DrT-3d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Gabriel Jacob writes:

>>Yes I can understand your skepticism with modifying a viewmaster 
>>for viewing 35mm slides, it does sound far fetched and that is 
>>why I attempted it! Another reason is because if I showed people
>>my 3d full frame slides with regular modified slide viewers their
>>reaction, is what is that. But when they see a modified viewmaster
>>they know what it is pretty readily. 

Yes, until they try to "advance"... ;)

At the end, it comes down to your standards and expectations...
If you feel that the modified VM viewer works well for full-frame
35 mm, then it works well for you.  But not for me...

I hear this all the time:  The $3 Realist plastic viewer is the
best for the money... Yes, that might be true... But I am at 
a point that I am not looking for the best viewer for the 
money, but for the best viewer.  Period.  The best viewer that
I can afford, that is... 

>Now that I have seen the 3Discover I really did not see much 
>of a difference between the two in size or quality!

Again, perhaps "much of a difference" is the answer here.  Some
people do not see "much of a difference" between the $3 viewer
and the Realist red button or between the Kodaslide I and II
viewers.  Exactly how much of a difference is important for you?

Most viewers will show an OK sharp image at the center.  The
difference in quality among viewers is more obvious as you move
away from the center.  But, in most cases, the main subject is
at or close to the center.  Many people do not pay much attention
at the edges.  You said that your modified VM viewer will cut off
10% from the edges but that does not matter because the image is
so wide.  Well, the 3Discover viewer did not cut anything from
the edges and the distortion and chromatic aberration is within a
reasonable limit right at the edge.  That sounds like a better
viewer to me...  Take a second look and check your viewer again.  
There should be a difference but maybe this difference is not 
important for you...

Some people would not see a difference between the achromatic
stereoscope discussed earlier and the regular stereoscope.  There
is a big difference for me and any price difference would be
justified.

My eyes at this point can see difference not only between
different viewers but between viewers of the same model!
And these differences are important for me.

My personal recommendation when it comes to viewers is to buy
the best viewer that you can afford.  A good viewer helps you
properly evaluate and enjoy your own photography.  

For a beginner is stereo photography, most any picture viewed
in any viewer, is a success.  With time the eyes and taste become
more discriminating.  I started with the $3 viewer and was happy.
I then moved to the Realist red button.  Today, using the $3 viewer
is equivalent to torture... Just the other day I selected a few
slides for a friend (hi Wolfie!) and checked them with the $3 
viewer because that was the viewer shipped and will be used
to view the slides.  The slides that looked best through this
viewer were not the same that looked best through the red 
button.  There was a slide of me taken by my father that was
obviously blurred in the red button but was OK in the $3 viewer.
With cheap viewers bad slides look OK and very good slides also
look OK.  A good viewer will let you enjoy your best work and
get rid of the junk.

Going back to the modified VM viewer, as I said, it you like
it, then it works for you.  There is not much of a choice in
full-frame 35 mm viewers any way... But if you tell me that
you use this or a similar viewer for Realist format slides, 
then I have a few better choices to recommend...

George Themelis


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