Re: Iloca Rapid advise

[P3D Michael Watters <mwatters@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I used to use a Realist 45 as my primary stereo camera.  The 45 was made for Realist by Iloca  
and was essentially identical in most respects).   I always found the camera to be very reliable  
and performed very well mechanically and optically.  The wind lever (instead of those darn little  
knobs) was a real bonus!   The rewind on the camera bit the big one though.  The rewind knob  
pops out of the bottom of the camera.  It wouldn't be that bad except if you accidentally pull the  
knob out a little (easy to do while winding it) it dissengages from the film spool and you lose all the  
tension you built up.   I'd always thought it'd be worthwhile swapping the stock knob for one  
scavenged from an SLR or something in order to get a flip-out lever to assist in rewinding.  I'd  
switched to different cameras before ever getting around to that though.

Even given that flaw, I'd go back to a Realist 45 or Iloca Rapid if I decided to switch back to  
Realist format at any time.  The vignetting thing on the regular Realists always drove me nuts and  
I thought the Kodak was just too cheezy of a camera (at least they're easy to fix though and  
they've got the best rewind on any stereo camera, hands-down!)

mkw


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