fun things to try

[P3D romney <romney@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

It would be fun to find all kinds of simple ways to test shutters and
lenses.Here are some you can try and if you know any more please e mail me
direct or post here as you please and it may save me duplicating work that
has already been done. Examples
1.You can buy 1/100 sec. wristwatch digital stopwatches very cheaply, a few
dollars. If you gated one with a CDS cell it should read slower shutter
speeds very well. How would you do this, would you turn the power on and
off? I'm not a solid state designer by any means. That is how a digital
shutter tester actually  works; a CDS cell turns on and off a digital clock
running at 1/10,000 sec.
2. There is a nice oscilloscope program you install in a MAC, download it
from Utex MAC archives, turns your pooter into a scope, inputs x + y are
the stereo mike inputs. Install CDS cell in place of mike and there is your
shutter tester!!   BUT I use  nothing but MACS... anyone want to try it
with Windows machine and tell me how it is??  What is best Win oscilloscope
program? Does anyone care(??) or is it like the time I wrote the Univex
Mercury repair text??? They're still around 20 yrs later!
3. Another fun thing is a little laser  like those pens lecturers use to
point to vu-graphs and slides. Stick it in the eyepiece of your coupled RF.
It makes two spots like the old Kalart Focus Spot but very  bright. At a
correct infinity setting the spots are the base of the RF apart at ANY
distance. The spots come together as one spot (or one above the other in
split image RF's) at the distance the camera is focussed to.Best way to set
a RF by far! Take pictures with it too. I made up one for my Speed Graphic
KAlart RF to go in place of the old Focuspot. But don't use it on people,
only on things. Laser light is dangerous. Surely there are many more
interesting things to do with these little lasers. Any ideas??..
4.Collimation by improvisation.  Put a good 3D slide in the back  of a
Realist or Kodak Stereo. Leave back open, put opal glass or something
behind the slide and a light behind it . Now look into the lenses of the
stereo at the slide like it would be in   a viewer. You ought to detect
misalignment, lens defects  this way... does it work for you?. Next take
an SLR with 135mm or longer tele lens you know is good. Set it to inf. Look
at your slide from 2 meters or so away. Set both stereo lenses to inf.too.
Slide should be equally sharp at ANY distance. That's how I usually
collimate a camera. The trouble in the business is many camera repair
people  are overly dependent on expensive (and often inaccurate) test
equipment and very weak on old time  basic science. I wish I had students
to try all this stuff and give me more feedback...there is only ONE of me.
any one tried this stuff???
5. Kodak Stereos, I like em about as well as Realist, any need for a repair
book or are they pretty obvious?
Ed Romney



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