P3D Cool Realist/tripod tricks (was: Filters for Realist)

[Paul Talbot <ptww@xxxxxxxxx>]

Mark Dottle wrote:

> A word of caution however.....make sure sun and other light does not
> reflect against the back of the filter.....this will cause reflections
> and flairs that ruin the image. It would be helpful to rig some type of
> lense hood or stand in the shade to eliminate this possibility.

Or make your own shade!  I've observed recently that with the Realist
mounted on a tripod it is quite easy to shade the lenses from the sun.
You can lean over the camera and let your head cast a shadow on the
lenses, or hold an object like a baseball cap above the lenses and
watch where the shadow falls, then trip the shutter with the cable
release.

Having trouble using your Realist on a tripod?  I did for a long
time.  The camera platform of the tripod either got in the way and
kept me from cocking the shutter easily, and/or it got in the way
of looking through the viewfinder.  Finally (yeah I'm slow with
spatial concepts) I figured out the perfect way to mount the camera
on the tripod to avoid all interferences.  My tripod head has a
platform with a "T" shaped slot for the mounting bolt.  It looks
something like this:

        ___________
       |           |
       |     |     |    S
       |     |   ^ |     ^
       | --------X |            <--- "X" marks the spot!
       |___________|
                     VR

The carets (^) indicate the camera lenses and the direction they
face.  VR is the locations of the viewfinder and the rangefinder;
S is the location of the shutter cocking lever.  X marks the
spot to attach the camera to the tripod.  In this orientation,
V, R, and S are all clear of the mounting platform.  The camera
is a bit less than 1/2 on the platform, but it holds rock solid,
even for tripping with the shutter release button.  Why?  Because
the brilliant designer (way to go, Seton!) put the shutter release
button on the left, and the left side of the camera is firmly
supported on the tripod.

> Someday, I may try a
> Realist shot without filters....I understand the camera takes a pretty
> good shot that way also. :-)

That's right, Mark!  I understand most club competition winners are
shot....*filterless*!!  <gasp>  Something to consider....  ;) ;) ;)

[That's just some good natured needling, folks!]

(OTOH, at the May Detroit meeting a slide that the maker described
as not very good was awarded a perfect 27 points, perhaps largely
due to the extreme polarization that rendered the sky almost black.
This was one case where the judges and "the people" definitely seemed
to have extremely divergent opinions!)

Paul Talbot


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