Re: Kodaslide vs. Red Button viewers

[P3D Elliott Swanson <e3d@xxxxxxxxxx>]

George Themelis posted:

/snip/
 
The Kodaslide uses inferior materials, like plastic interocular gears,
brittle lens' holders, riveted contacts. The lamp holder of the KII is
subject to electrical problems (wires breaking at the base) and the one
piece plastic design makes it impossible to repair properly.
 
The red button uses metal and screws, much easier to maintain/repair.  The
metal rack and pinion focusing of the RB is accurate and durable, the lamp
compartment distributes light more effectively, the switch contacts are
more accessible.
 
Good Realist optics (clear) are equivalent to Wollensak optics IMO.

Elliott responds:

---------------- What George describes is accurate. (I didn't include the
K2 AC/lamp holder in the equation, since there is no equivalent for the
Red Button. It is admittedly not a good design, but fairly easy to fix
with a soldering iron and form-a-gasket in most instances.) I've repaired
and modified perhaps a dozen Red Button viewers (no where near as many as
George!) and maybe 6 or 7 Kodaslides. I haven't found the Realist rack and
pinion focusing assembly to offer any advantages over a Kodaslide with the
Themelis tube upgrade installed. George is right re the lens holders and
interocular assemblies of the Red Button being tougher, but they're
contained in a fragile bakelite housing. Why Realist would build a camera
you could drive a tank over and a viewer that turns into a pile of black
potato chips and glass if you drop it once is something I'll never figure
out. It's like Kodak the the Realist line took the exact opposite approach
to cameras and viewers (the Kodak camera is mostly plastic, for those who 
have never seen one... %-)

The Wollensak, Kodaslide 2, and Red Button have optics of comparable
quality, but the K2 has an edge due to the 25mm diameter acromats vs. 20mm
for the others.

I do have to admit, the Red Button is a *prettier* viewer.   :)

I haven't run into any electrical problems I couldn't repair in the
Kodaslide, but maybe when I do and end up snarling at some unit in the
future, I'll change my mind. In the meantime Kodak Rules!  (Cameras *and*
viewers!) A Kodaslide 2 with its 25mm diameter lenses and a few
millimeters of metal removed from the slide carrier is the nicest 7p
viewer out there that's still affordable by the average citizen...

Added attraction:

I was talking about the Kodak camera adjustment described in Dalia's
Inside 3D magazine with repairman Jess Powell, and he confirms that with
the correct setup, the Kodak takes some of the sharpest stereo images he's
ever seen. 

--Elliott


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