P3D Nimslo, beamsplitter users?

[SHIELDS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Hi!

I'm enjoying stereo shooting after a year and a half, and counting
just under 60 "best" slides in my trays. Everything I've learned about
stereo, I learned right here!

I find my Nimslo great for people shots at a range of 6 feet, and
fabulous for portraits at 30 inches, (length of my arm to subject's 
nose) using the lens from StereoType--I like this better than an SLR since
I can't make an error in focusing! I haven't quite gotten the hang of 
flower shots with the "macro" lens yet. I also have the "Scenics" distance 
lenses for shots beyond 6 feet. I have Velcro on the lenses and on the 
camera, so I can put them in front of the prime lenses or park them 
beside. They're nice and tiny, but also easy to lose, as I discovered at 
the National Arboretum! I use an ND 0.3 filter over the photocell to 
shoot Kodachrome 200. It's a handy small, light camera to take on bicycle 
rides, etc. I made a little shorting device to go in the hot shoe to
press down for time exposures--have some great night shots of trains.

Kodachrome 200 goes in the Olympus OM-10, too, with 50mm f/1.8 Olympus
lens and Pentax beamsplitter. I like the short telephoto effect of
this setup and use it for everything else--it also works fine for
people shots and is definitely better than the Nimslo for scenery,
at least using Kodachrome 200. I have done some Kodachrome 64 shots,
too, but so often shoot in dim light that I don't keep it in the
camera. Sometimes the edge darkening can be annoying, but I have found
that I can often use f/4 instead of the recommended f/5.6 with my
particular lens, without any center overlapping problems. Careful
mounting also helps, and these are easier to mount than the Nimslo
shots since they are already transposed and fastened together at the
center!  :-)  I could let Kodak mount them, but I usually get them
back unmounted. My Stereo-tach beamsplitter puts the images closer
together and is nice for moderately close portraits (it will also
overlap like crazy if you aren't careful!). I do love using
half as much film with the beamsplitters (as compared to the Nimslo--
it has standard film advance--I'm aware of the Teco modification
but don't want to mess with unusual advance sequences when switching
from normal shots to closeups--I can also get extra frames for "flat"
slides this way!).

I mount the Nimslo pairs in vertically hand-cropped 2X2 mounts, placing
the chips side by side, and view them mixed with my beamsplitter slides
in a Pentax viewer attached to a brilliant fluorescent illuminator
(with a UV filter to protect the slides from any possible UV damage).
It has interocular adjustment and the brilliant light source helps make
up for the lack of focusing provision (makes your eyes stop down for
added depth of field!)

I'd love to hear from anyone else who uses a Nimslo or a beamsplitter
to shoot slides. I'd also like to hear from anyone who uses a Miida
or Stitz beamsplitter, which can be adjusted for longer focal lengths.
Some 85mm shots would be nice!

I've been thinking about a FED or a twin rig (especially with Olympus
XA2's--I already have one of them!) but I'm happy with the shots I've
gotten so far.

Mark Shields

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