P3D Sputnik - Space Junk or Stereo Camera?

["Ray Moxom" <raymoxom@xxxxxxxxxx>]

In P3D-3293 Steven Stultz <steven@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> asked:
>Does anyone use the Sputnik medium format stereo camera from the old USSR?
>I've seen them on ebay, and thought it might be a nice step up from a
135-format
>Kodak Stereo.

I am not a medium format user, however I wrote this brief item for our local
Sydney Stereo Camera Club bulletin a couple of years ago. I hope that it is
of some assistance.

The space age commenced with the launching of Sputnik 1 by the then USSR in
October 1957. Today there are thousands of inert spacecraft and spent, upper
stages of space-launch vehicles circling the earth. These objects are known
as "Space Junk".
In the late 1950s the USSR launched the Sputnik medium format 6 x 13 (ie
twin 6 x 6) Stereo camera on an unsuspecting photographic market.

The Sputnik is a triple-lens stereo reflex camera. The centre viewing lens
focuses onto a ground glass screen. The outer taking lenses are coupled to
the viewing  lens  in a similar  way to that of a twin lens reflex. The
taking lenses are 75mm f4.5 and the viewing lens is 75mm f2.8. Most had
shutter speeds of 1/15 to 1/125 sec, however, early models had speeds of
1/10 to 1/100 sec.

The Sputnik was manufactured by the Leningrad Optical Mechanical
Organisation (LOMO) and takes six stereo pairs on 120 film. While most
cameras sold outside the USSR were labelled "SPUTNIK" there are a number
around with Cyrillic letters that resemble "CNYTHNK".

Some Sputniks tend to suffer from light leaks, internal reflections and lens
flare. Light leaks and internal reflections can be reduced by painting
internal reflective surfaces with a matt black finish. It is very important
to use lens hoods with this camera to reduce lens flare.

The combination of the taking lens separation of 63mm with 75mm focal length
lenses makes this an ideal stereo camera for portraiture. If your finished
stereo pictures are to be realist mount slides then you can mark your final
picture size on the ground glass screen in soft pencil and cut your 6 x 6cm
transparencies down to the required size.

Ray Moxom <raymoxom@xxxxxxxxxx>




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