Do your own mounting Charlie!

[P3D Dr. George A. Themelis <fj834@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

What will take for Charlie Hotchkiss and other veterans in this list to 
learn to mount their own slides?

Charlie has no problem waiting 5 weeks to get a questionable mounting job
back from Kodak.  He says that instant gratification is for infants. 
Mature adults with a nice hobby like stereo photography could make an
effort and control the final product all the way to the end, same way as
they control the first part when they expose the film.  What is the
problem?  Lack of time?  Lack of skills?  Lack of interest?  What?

The greatest danger in having others (especially incompetent people) mount
your slides is that you never learn what effect mounting can have on your
images.  I hear that there are stereo photographers who get back
pseudo-mounted slides which they toss away because they "look funny".  At
occasions (random in nature) they get back a slide where the window is
"just right" and they get thrilled... not knowing what is it that makes
them enjoy the image.

My "theory" (sorry, no data for that either :-)) is that the mounts and not
the mounting process make mounting a chore.  The most user-friendly mount
ever made was the EMDE mount (not 7p - 5p or less).  You just cut your
chips and stick them in the pockets.  Fit perfectly, set the window exactly
where it should be (selection of Distant, Medium, Close-up and Ultra
Close-up was available), nice clean edges, perfect alignment.  That's how I
got started and got others started without any problem.

Nothing today comes close.  The heat-seal cardboard mounts are among the
most difficult to use.  The Spicer mounts are only for experienced users. 
The slip-in mounts are terrible in terms of alignment and appearance.  The
RBT mounts are too expensive for everyday use.  IMO, always.

What we need is a good, inexpensive, cardboard mount (or even plastic or
aluminum) that will let you position the chips quickly and accurately, with
minimum amount of work or room for errors.  If such mount was available, I
believe mounting would not have been such an issue.  The Spicer mounts
could have come close to that had they provided an edge or pockets for the
chip to rest.

Regards, George Themelis


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