P3D Re: Nishika & Nimslo

["Dr. George A. Themelis" <DrT-3d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Bill Walton posted an interesting experiment regarding the comparison
between Nishika and Nimslo.

Before I comment, let me say that I do not have any pesonal
experience using either of the two, but I have seen good prints from
a Nishika and good slides from a Nimslo.  Also, being convinced that
there is much more to good photography than the camera, I would
encourage everyone to try whatever they can get their hands on.
So, if a cheap Nishika shows up, get it and use it by all means!

Now, here is what Bill did (in his own words - slightly edited):

>I shot a roll of color film with a Nimslo and another with a Nishika...
>I made "people pictures" or more correctly people/dog pictures.
>I had them reproduced as lenticular prints.  Then I
>took what I considered was the best image from both cameras and , using
>panalure paper, reproduced  these negatives as Black & White Stereo Cards. 

The judging process:

>I put the two lenticulars and the two BW stereo cards in a SSA print
>folio  and asked all the members of that folio to tell me which
>lenticular and card came from the Nimslo and the same on the Nishika. 
>Out of 22 members of that folio only two made the correct choice on the
>Nimslo.  This indicates to me there is not a great deal of difference in
>the quality of the lenses of the two cameras.

Yes, indddeed.  One could say that the "judges" liked the Nishika
pictures better than the Nimslo?

Now here is my comment regarding camera testing:  Both cameras are fixed 
focus set at around 15 to 20 feet.  So they will tend to work best for 
subjects at these distances.  Also, a person is not a good subject for 
testing lens sharpness.  Very sharp portraits are distracting.  That's 
why we have soft-focus lenses.

If I were going to test lenses or cameras, I would include infinity
with small details.  Of course, what you are going to use the camera
for is a factor too.  We know that Bill likes "people pictures".
So his choice was good for him.  Possibly not good for a landscape
photographer.  It might as well be that the pictures that Bill likes
are the easiest for any camera to take.  And a Nishika might be a
good as anything else for this type of photography (which is also
one of my favorite types too).

George Themelis


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