P3D Re: Twin rigs Flawed?

[boris@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Boris Starosta)]

I really enjoyed Brian Reynolds post about his experience shooting with a
MF twin rig. Several comments came to mind.

Brian wrote:

>Date: Sun, 1 Mar 1998 15:32:57 -0500
>From: Brian Reynolds <reynolds@xxxxxxxxx>
...
>Boris' comparison centered on 35mm twin rigs for novices.  I thought
>that as a recent novice (I started shooting with a twin rig in
>April/May 1997) I would mention Medium Format (MF or 120 format)
>twin rigs for the novice.  After all if the higher resolution
>available from a 2x2 (inch) slide (as compared to an approximately
>half frame Realist slide) is worth going for, imagine the improvement
>with a 6x6 (cm) slide.

I started almost exactly the same time Brian did.  And had similar ideas!
I had surfed Sam "the Hacker" Smith's site in June, and had seriously
considered the MF stereo cameras that he offers.  At the time, he said he
could not build me one until late summer.  I still dream of getting one.
Not long after, I settled on the 35mm twin rig as the most convenient and
cost effective solution for me.


>A recent check showed that I could mount my Pentax K-1000SE
>(currently out on loan to a friend) and my Pentax ME Super on this
>bar for landscape views.
>

Funny coincidence, but that's exactly the pair of cameras I started with.
There's a picture of that rig in my 3D Showcase web page.  My biggest
problem with them, was that you had to look through the ME, just to see
what speed the shutter was set to, or to change the speed.  Not much later,
I started looking for another K1000.  (the ME Super was my pre-stereo
camera, the K1000 my first purchase towards stereo).

>> -you need to match lens f.l.
>> -you need to match lens apertures
>> -you need to match camera body shutter speeds
>
>I didn't bother doing any of this.  I later discovered that one of
>my cameras has a shutter that is slow by at least one stop (based on
>looking at the processed slides).  This doesn't seem to effect the
>final stereo pair.
>

I had the same experience when I started.  I was just lucky with my first
pair of lenses, which were not even the same speed (a 50mm f1,7 and 50mm
f1.4, if I recall correctly);  they had almost perfectly matched f.l.  But
they also had badly mismatched apertures.  It was not until the "second
go-around", when I wanted to get two matched cameras, that I discovered all
of these factors that needed matching.  I never realized how much leeway
was to be found in lens specs. for example.

>than the cable release set up.  I eventually bought the Olympus twin
>cable release for about $40.

Also what I use.  An excellent item!

If and when I can afford MF, I will use it to shoot (maybe even re-shoot)
my best images, for my own pleasure and collection.  Like you say, the MF
is not so convenient for duping (unless you dupe down to 35mm, which is
custom work and costly).  It will be more like creating a very rare
original of unmatched quality, which very much appeals to the artist in me.

Regards,




Boris Starosta

usa 804 979 3930

boris@xxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.starosta.com
http://www.starosta.com/3dshowcase



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