P3D Re: Beamsplitters

[SHIELDS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Um, George, now _you_ are forcing me to say it--beamsplitter results
are excellent! When I bought mine, sharpness was a key issue in my mind.
One list member assured me it was no problem. I put my big toe in the water
with the Stereo-tach, and I was impressed. Then I went for the Pentax for
some of its superior features.

I'm a confirmed Kodachrome addict who loves sharpness. I would _never_ have
continued with the beamsplitters if they had been anything less. I suppose
you might say I had been covering up the lack of sharpness with Kodachrome
200, but I was just wowed myself with my first Kodachrome 64 shots with
the beamsplitter (and the Stereo-tach at that).

I do frequently look also at the "flat" shots I made before getting the
beamsplitter. I have never had the least suspicion that the shots without
the splitter were any better than those with. The front-surface mirror
is a marvelous optical device!

A splitter can have irritating problems with edge darkening, and you have
to be able to live with and control the aperture choices, but especially
with Kodachrome 200 I find that to be not much of a problem. Shooting in
bright sun can be tough if you run out of upper shutter speeds, but I
really prefer shooting in softer light.

I also get the picture that a splitter can be fine on some lenses but not
on others. But for me it's great with the Olympus 50mm f/1.8.

It's not for everybody, but I love it!

Mark

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http://www.netcom.com/~northws1/stmatt.htm
"Let the little children come to Me," Jesus said, "and don't keep
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  -Matthew 19:14



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