Re: Medium format 3d

[P3D Eric Goldstein <egoldste@xxxxxx>]

A couple of small additions to what Greg Erker wrote:

>   Cameras: Sputniks are fairly common. They sell for about
> $250 US in working order. They originally came with some
> sort of print viewer which I've never seen. Would probably
> cost more if you got one with the viewer included.

There were two types of Sputnik viewers, an early (plastic?) one, and a
later one made of tube aluminum and with metal lens mounts and holder.
This later viewer will accomodate both prints and slides (steal the
light) and has fairly decent single element glass lenses of fairly large
aperture. It may not be the most aesthetic piece in the world, but
functionally it is a good design and optically, I'd say it is clearly
superior to the King Inn. IMO, if your going to go Sputnik, it is worth
finding one with this viewer...

>   Sputniks are prone to light leaks (mine's very bad and
> I haven't had time to fix it).

Here, too, there were early and late versions, the later version with
shutter speeds up to 1/125th indicated. From what I can tell, these
later cameras might be less prone to the problems Greg refers to, and it
would seem that lens performance (particularly contrast) is a bit
better. Again, I'd suggest if your gonna buy one, buy the later version.

I'd just add that these cameras are an acquired taste, with just
adequate lens performance, operational quirks and design problems. The
end result can be a bit better resolution than say a Belplasca or RBT,
and of course less film grain, because of the image size. MF chromes are
impressive to view, and once you start it is hard to go back...

I've seen the chrome's from Greg Erker and Sam Smith's twin rigs, and
they are really quite nice. If you're serious about MF, you might want
to get more info from these folk...


Eric G.


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