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Realist leak report



People responded so far:    29
Total Realists reported:    52
Leaky Realists:             26  (50%)
OK Realists:                26

Thank you for your public and private responses!  This it the most
responses I have ever received from any of my photo-3d postings!
I would like to sample 100 Realists so if you have not bothered to
respond so far, please do it now!  (DrT-3d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)

Observations:

1. 50% of all Realists appear to suffer from a light leak.
2. Results are possibly biased because people with problems might be
   more interested in reporting.  This however is counterbalanced by
   those who said they always use a case and even though they have not
   seen a leak (I counted this as OK), the leak might still be there.
3. I counted everything reported, except for Dalia's non specific
   report ("I only had one camera returned for this reason from all the
   Realists I have sold" - this does not mean much to me) and I counted
   Ron Fross for 5 OK cameras even though he says he has used at least
   10.  He has the record of most cameras reported on only one side.
   Several people had 3 cameras leaking.
4. Other cameras with reported leak:  TDC Vivid, VM Personal, Wirgin.
   These appear to be exceptions, unlike the Realist where the leak is
   a feature. ;)
5. A conclusive leak test for me is to take a camera with ASA around 100
   film and leave it (without case) in direct sun for one hour, turning
   it around every 15 minutes.  If no leak shows up then the camera can
   be safely assumed to be leak-free.
6. Obviously there are various degrees of the problem and many owners of
   Realists with only a slight problem have learned to live with it.  
   Most common and simple prevention method appears to be keeping at least
   the bottom part of the case on.
7. I would like to develop a test to detect leaks without using film.
   Putting a small light bulb inside the camera sounds a great idea but
   I'll have to check if and how can this be done.
8. I will investigate different leak-prevention methods and will post the
   results in this FREE forum later...
9. With more data and experience we could all ("from the photo-3d list
   under the direction of Dr. T"?) publish an article in Stereo World
   and help all those unfortunate leaky-Realist owners ;) out there.

Personal note:  With a simple and effective method to detect and correct
the problem, I might offer this service for sale for, say $20 service
charge.  Considering that 130,000 cameras were sold, 60,000 cameras have
the problem.  If 10,000 of them come to me, I might be making $200,000
out of this deal!  That will not be enough to retire but it is a first 
good step. ;) ;) ;) 

Please keep sending your Realist light leak reports!  

Thank you!!!  -- George Themelis


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