Slide mounts

[P3D David W. Kesner <drdave@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I just returned from a week and a half in the DC / Williamsburg area.
I took my new-to-me 2.8 German-lensed Realist and shot 12 rolls of 36
exposure Ektachrome Elite II ($4.00 a roll at Price Costco). If I
have my usual 90% success rate that means a little over 300 slides to
mount. I only have 100 Albion masks left and unless someone out there
has a few hundred to offer me, I am going to be forced to buy a
different type. I need help in deciding.

I would like to go with RBT's, but two things bother me. One is price
and the other is the apparent reflection on the beveled window when
viewed in a hand held viewer. I have only seen the RBT's once when I
got 3d-expo2. How annoying is the reflection? Can you learn to live
with it?

Cardboard is attractive because of the price, but several things
bother me. First and foremost is the difficulty to precision mount. I
have seen the mounting jig on Mr. Spicer's web page and read about
using a trimmed RBT here. If I understand right, both of these
methods still require you to tape your chips down before checking in
a viewer. If they are not precise, then you have to rip the tape off,
move them, and then retape as many times as necessary. I find I
adjust my chips two or three times in the Albion before I am
completely satisfied. This may be due to the fact that the old 3.5
Realist I am using does not have perfectly matched lenses. The 2.8
seemed better on the one test roll I shot before this trip and may
alleviate this problem. I won't use slip in mounts and I think heat
seal is too time consuming and possibly dangerous to the chips, so I
have been leaning towards the Spicer Mounts. Does anyone have any
comments to share on these?

Are there any other options out there that I am not aware of?

Thanks for the time,

David W. Kesner
Boise, Idaho, USA
drdave@xxxxxxxxxx
(No I'm not a doctor - just a nickname)


------------------------------