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SUC or Single-Use Cameras. Looong
- From: P3D Gabriel Jacob <jacob@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Subject: SUC or Single-Use Cameras. Looong
- Date: Sun, 20 Oct 1996 20:03:40 -0400
With all of Georges reports about the RBT more or less covering the high
end of the spectrum and the middle ground pretty much covered in depth
(and I don't mean 3d stereoscopic depth) with the Realists, Kodaks and
the like I thought I would touch base with the bottom of the heap or spectrum.
I have finally taken some new shots with the 3Dmagic by ImageTech. Now don't get
me wrong I love my 3DMagic , it has alot of things going for it such as holding
the record for lightest camera in its class! What I have done is reuse a single
use 3DMagic camera. Now that's no big deal in itself but I wanted to skirt the
lower envelope of quality, but still being acceptable. Here is my report.
First of I didn't and don't use the 3Dmagic to get back lenticular prints but
rather regular 4x6 prints at my local film processor. Now I have reused my
3DMagic camera before but as I said I wanted to push the envelope, I wanted
to try 100 ASA film since I was not happy with the grainyness of 400 ASA film
and quality is of upmost importance to me ;-), that and 100 ASA being cheaper.
But I wanted to take pictures inside for a change since it's been a while I
took
any pics of my child (joke), but the problem was that even with 400 ASA film it
was not sensitive enough without a flash. The version of 3DMagic camera that I
had was without the flash. Now I know there is one with a flash but was not
about
to go out and buy another one with a flash. Instead I canniblized another of my
single-use cameras that came with a flash built in. It was an easy matter to
take apart the flash on it. The tricky part was to connect it to the hotshoe
of the 3DMagic. (One caveat before any one attempts doing what I did, is be
warned
that hi voltages are present in the flash electronics for triggering the Xe
lamp,
you could get an unpleasent shock if your not careful.) I didn't have the
proper connector or cables to do this so I just took the two wires that
originally went
to the old camera and connected those with some tape and cardboard to hold it
securely in place on the hotshoe. This was a good solution since the camera
was only going to be used a single time ;-).
Now back to the film part. I still had some 200 and 400 ASA films lying around
but didn't have any 100 ASA film, so I thought. But I vaguely remembered
(thanks to mnemonics) having some old vintage film stock down in the "film"
cellar. A trip down there proved fruitful and was rewarded with a circa 1986
Fuji HR100. The box indicated that its expiry date was June 1987 and that it
it was the official film of the World Cup 1986 in Mexico. Oh yes almost forgot
it was a 12 exposure roll. I went to the only room in the house that doesn't
have a window, the upstairs washroom and proceeded to put the film into the
so called single-use camera and unwind the film. After it was completely
unwound I closed the back of the camera securely to prevent any light leaks.
BTW I don't have light leaks with 3DMagic cameras.
Now I was ready to shoot some pics. Used up the whole roll in one session as
I remembered well what had happened with my last experience of not developing
the pics soon after taking them. After I got them back I wasn't expecting
much for a first trial but was pleasantly surprised to see any exposure at all.
Sure they were a bit grainy but next time I'll use a fresher film stock. There
was poor contrast also but hey at least I don't have to put Vaseline on my
lenses.
Most all the pictures came out underexposed with one properly exposed but
that one
was taken near a window. If I used a more powerful flash that might have also
helped with the grainyness, therefore for my next trial I will use two single-
use flashes in tandem.
If you want to see some examples of the pics that were taken with my single-use
camera with single-use flash and old film check out
http://generation.net/~jacob/basketan.jpg
http://generation.net/~jacob/test1an.jpg
http://generation.net/~jacob/test2pr.jpg
The first two are anaglyphs and the third is a stereo crosseyed pair. As you
can see the quality is rather poor but I have seen excellent and also bad 3d
pics on the net with better equipment. I will report in the future my exploits
when I get another single use flash and fresher film.
Finally to see an example of the 3DMagic camera, flash version check out
http://www.frii.com/~rkymtmem/cameras/3dmagicplus.jpeg.html
at Rocky Mountain Memories. Or check out the ImageTech homepage, makers of
the 3DMagic at
http://www.wnwolfe.com/3dit/
Finally if you want to see the other side of the spectrum and see what George
is playing with, check out P3D list members Yannick Corroenne page at
http://www.imaginet.fr/~yc/rbt.html
to see a nice front and back picture of the RBT and spec sheet.
Singles-use cameras are not one night stands.
Gabriel
jacob@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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