Revere vs. Wollensak

[P3D Jonathan R. Gross <catalyst@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Could someone tell me the basic differences, if any, between the Revere 33
> camera and the Wollensak 10? Thanks-
> 
> Stefano
I have both a Revere and a Wollensak 10, and I like them both very much.

Both have bodies by Revere (Chicago) and 35mm Amaton lenses by Wollensak
(Milwaukee).
The Revere camera has f3.5 lenses, and the W10 has f2.7 lenses, the
fastest of any fixed lens stereo camera I know of. At one time I was led
to believe that the f2.7 lenses had rare earth elements added to
increase the index of refraction of the glass.  This results in a faster
lens with less barreling and distortion.  Realist custom owners like to
believe that theirs are the only cameras with such fine German lenses,
but I wonder what proportion of the population in Beer Town is of German
heritage.
The Revere uses Series IV filters, and the W10 uses Series V.
The Revere has shutter speeds from 2 to 200 (plus T & B), and the W10
has speeds from 2 to 300 (plus T & B).
The Revere camera body is covered with brown leather in natural grain,
and the W10 is covered with black leather embossed with a window pane
pattern of about 1/4" each.
The Revere has an embossed Revere logo on the front with a strange
symbology the meaning of which I have yet to discover.  The W10 has an
embossed logo in the front sporting a large red "W".  Fortunately, the
logos are exactly the same shape.
Wollensak sold its lenses to Revere camera, and Revere camera sold
bodies to Wollensak.  Since the lenses were are large portion of the
cost of the camera, Revere used the less expensive lenses and sold a
lower priced camera at $175, and Wollensak went upscale to $199.  Prices
now run about $225 and $900 respectively.   Perhaps the number of units
sold explains the difference; 30,000 Reveres vs. 5,000 W10s.


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