3D Deja-vu

[P3D Sam Smith <sam@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

While searching my file of old photo mags, looking for an article on the
Kindar attachment for Elliott Swanson ( Which I still can't find ), I came
across some interesting quotes and stuff.

Regarding interest in Stereo Photography:

" Based on the correspondence received here, the writer would judge there
are just about as many careful amateurs engaged in stereo at present as in
any of the specialized branches of photography - yes, there are hundreds,
even thousands of stereo photographers working today! Stereo is not due for
a revival, that revival is here!"

A quote from Photo-3D Digest? Nope. Herbert C. McKay, American Photography
magazine, May 1942. In this issue he also reviewed the Kirk Stereo, a low
cost, low quality moulded plastic camera. Regarding that, he states:

" The camera lacks the refinements which we have come to respect upon good
stereo cameras, but good stereo cameras are so costly that they can hardly
become truly popular....Certainly it will open the stereo field to hundreds
who might otherwise be denied the pleasure on account of the cost of the
more elaborate machines which up to now have been the only ones available."

This was of course a few years before the "boom", so there wasn't the
advantages we have today of picking up a cheap Realist type camera. But
don't you think the above quote would be a good comparison between the Loreo
and the RBT ?

For those into building your own camera, you've got to check out the
December 1942 issue of American Photography. It shows you how to build your
own 35mm 8P stereo camera and projector, well before the F40 or Realist.

I seems to me that although the boom has been generally credited to the
Stereo Realist and Hollywood, there were several other contributors that
never seem to get much mention:
- Herbert McKay, who wrote regular articles on stereo from the early 40s to
the mid 50s in both American Photography and US Camera.
- Arthur Judge, who wrote and revised three editions of " Stereoscopic
Photography" from 1926 to 1950
- The Polaroid Laboratory, for it's polarizing filters and Vectograph
- Eastman Kodak, for the introduction of Kodachrome 35mm film.

and the list goes on....

It seems odd that from the very first photo mags in the 1900's, right up to
the early 1960s, stereo photography was well advertised and promoted as an
acceptable field in photography. Then it dropped like a dead fly. Are
today's photo mags really an informative resource, or merely a propaganda
tool for the big camera manufacturers? Could anybody afford the full-page
high profile advertising like the Realist promotions of the 50s in today's
market? Of course there's some of us who think this may be a blessing...
Sam
website: http://www.barint.on.ca/~sam/imn23d.htm


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