My new Konica FT-1 Twin SLR system!!!

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

Hi!  I just became the proud owner of Dr. Bernard Stell's Konica FT-1
twin SLR system!!!  For those who don't know, Dr. Stell is a well
known PSA member who has fantastic 3d work.  He is best known for
his stereos of hummingbirds in flight... I've seen one slide,
multiple exposures of the same bird in its way to the feeder.
Fantastic!!! For those who have seen hummingbirds they know what
a challenge it is to photograph them properly.  Dr. Stell has many
award winning PSA slides and has written a number of articles in
the PSA Journal.  He has done stereo work with a Realist, twin
SLRs, single SLR macro work.  He did a lot of flash stop action
work and has produced a number of slides shows...

Dr. Stell used the Konica system together with flash and triggering
sensors.  I now own most of that stuff... all I need is to find the
hummingbirds!  I also got other things, including three wonderful
stereo slide shows (more about that later...) Some of the things
that I do not need I sold already so if you got something with
Dr. Stell's name in it (he put his label in everything) don't take
it off because you own a piece of history!

Now, to the Konicas... they look lovely!  They are compact and
have a built in motor.  Work with 4 AAA batteries.  They came with
only one set of 135 lenses.  I am looking for 40mm/1.8 lenses.  These
two pairs make a complete system for me.  These Konicas FT-1s have
been a favorite stereo system of the past.  Allan Giffin (the
Australian stereo legend) first used them and published many reports
in Stereoscopy on how to select them check synchronization, etc.

Dr. Stell claimed that these were factory synchronized.  I checked
synch myself and found that, unlike my Minolta X-700s, the Konicas
are consistent.  They are 100% synchronized up to 1/125 s but not
at 1/250.  Griffin's suggestion was to either check the cameras
before buying a pair or buy a pair with as close as possible serial
numbers. 

Dr. Stell was the kind of person (he is still around doing well but
has given up stereo photography) that would either buy the best
available or build things his own if not available.  In addition
to the cameras I bought a few things that were built around these
cameras, including two slide bars.  One will take the cameras bottom
to bottom which results to only 3" interocular distance.  I am looking
forward to using the cameras in this configuration...

[just to put things straight:  I did not get that stuff for free!
I paid a fair and reasonable amount of money for each and every piece 
that I got and the ones that I do not have use for I am selling at 
reasonable prices too!]

If any photo-3d members have experience with the Konicas FT-1 I would
love to hear comments, ideas, suggestions...

George Themelis, with too much equipment in his hands right now!


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