P3D Heaven IV - WinCam will scan slides!

[fj834@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Dr. George A. Themelis)]

I am in Heaven - Part IV - WinCam.One

Remember I was asking about scanning stereo slides?  Prices of scanners
have dropped to $500 but before disposing this respectable sum of money, I
decided to first try my WinCam.One.  

What is that?  It is an inexpensive digital camera that I got one and a
half years ago for $200.  It is still available from StarDot Technologies
(http://www.wincam.com/wincam_one) at this price.  It has a 3-element, 8 mm
FL manually focusable glass lens that will focus from infinity down to one 
inch .  The image from this lens is digitized  at a 640x480 resolution and
24 bit color.  

I bought the camera to take pictures for my viewer books.  Without this
camera I would normally shoot print film (using my Minolta camera and a
macro lens), process the film, select the best prints, scan them (using a
flat bed scanner) and then put them into the computer with the text.  With
the WinCam camera I can skip the film processing part and record the
pictures directly in the computer.  This saves considerable time and some
money too.  For the purpose of taking close-up of equipment for publication
(including the web) this camera works very well.

Scanning slides is just another function of this versatile camera. Here is
how I do it:  I put the camera on my copy stand and put the slide over a
light table in the stand.  I carefully frame and focus (focusing is done by
manually turning the lens and observing a rough image in the computer
screen; once the camera is focused for slide copying, it does not need to
be focused again)  I first record the right image and then the left image. 
The software that came with the camera allow exposure and contrast control.
I save the images and then import them in the Microsoft Publisher (the
program I use for our newsletter) where I align them and crop them.  The
camera will work with color but I do all my scans in black and white for
paper publication.

I do not have a web page to show you the results but I have a few examples
of scanned stereo slides in an article in the upcoming issue of
"Stereogram".  If you are not a subscriber and do not intend to subscribe
:-) send me a SASE envelope and I will send you a copy of this article (and
if I am in a good mood, possibly the entire newsletter).

I am very happy that I don't need the slide scanner now. I am sure two
years from now the prices will be half what they are now or get more for
the same amount of money.  When it comes to digital technology, not being a
pioneer might be a good money-saving strategy.

George Themelis


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