P3D Re: RBTs ... which one to choose

["Gregory J. Wageman" <gjw@xxxxxxxxxx>]

 Peter Davis <pd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

>Well, now that the illustrious Dr. T has succumbed to the charms of
>the RBT, I'm finding it increasingly difficult to hold out with my
>Realist.  So, I'm starting to think about an RBT, and my first
>question is ... which to choose.  The features I'm looking for, in no
>particular order, include:

>1) fully automatic exposure (and focus? (and motordrive?))

>2) full frame and standard spacing -- I'd like to be able to send the
>   film to any commercial lab, and get back 2x2 mounted slides.  I can
>   then re-mount the really choice ones if I want to.

>3) excellent optics, mechanics, etc.

>4) zoom lenses would be a plus ... something on the order of 35-80 or
>   so perhaps.

>5) high reliability

This perfectly describes the RBT X2B (except that both focus and aperture
selection are manual functions).  It is otherwise completely automatic
(film load, wind, rewind, 1-3-1 advance, shutter speed).  Shutter speed
can be set manually.  The Tokina SZ-X zooms I have are 35-70mm.  With the
fixed 75mm stereobase, 70mm lenses result in obvious compression of the
depth dimension, so you probably wouldn't want to exceed that by too much
anyway.  Optically and mechanically the camera is excellent, if a bit on
the heavy side.  It WILL get you noticed. :-)

The X2 camera is based on a pair of Ricoh KR-10M's.

The downside is that, as I understand it, the X2 is no longer in production.
I believe the X3 is functionally similar, but I don't have any personal
experience with it.

        -Greg


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