P3D Kodachrome 64, stereo

[SHIELDS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

The Kodachrome 64 bug has bitten again, and I will probably never
recover (groan).   :-)

I shot the stuff for years and then for awhile shot prints on
Kodacolor 400, living too fast to take the time for tripods
and agonizing exercises in maintaining depth of field. Then
Kodachrome 200 came out and I figured I had the best of both
worlds.

But last summer I decided to try the 64 again, for an important stereo
portrait, and I wasn't disappointed. This spring I was thinking about my
stereo format (beamsplitter and Nimslo--half frame) and how
the 64's increased sharpness helped both with retaining
distant detail and with improved stereo perception, which
depends on having a lot of detail across the board. I
I also started noticing 200's grain more as well--it didn't matter
so much in full-frame "flat" slides. Both the grain and the relative
lack of detail were particularly noticeable in my Nimslo shots, as the 
Nimslo has 30mm lenses and so objects tend to appear smaller. (I 
use a 50mm with the beamsplitter, giving a moderate telephoto 
effect.) Ironically, the Nimslo needs the extra speed of the 200 since 
its shutter bottoms out at 1/30 second (I did modify it for time exposures,
though). It's also my camera of choice for bike rides and other situations
where I have to travel light and shoot live subjects (read: kids) in 
dim light (lots of trees along the Youghiogheny River Trail) and the 64 just 
won't do.

I just got back two gorgeous :-) scenery shots taken in
West Virginia's New River Gorge. It is particularly
noticeable how trees at a medium-far distance (about
200 feet away) still stand out in stereo, with the 64. Then there
was a still life shot (if you must know, a Barbie doll--
this very special person likes to make clothes for them
and have me take pictures--and it was a wedding dress,
with real flowers!) and my first successful stereo closeup
of a flower--fuchsia, at the North Carolina arboretum.
That one had to be a cha-cha shot, and I took a total
of six frames. One pair was a winner--all three blossoms,
as well as the buds, in good focus. It's also the first
stereo shot I've made where an object "jumps out of the frame."

It doesn't hurt that the 64 costs less than the 200!

On the minus side, I didn't manage to keep both my parents
and the mountains in sharp focus in twilight shooting along
the Blue Ridge Parkway.

I still like the color rendition of the 200 better,
and it will always be there for the shots where the 64
just won't do (maybe that Nimslo 200 shot along the Parkway
will turn out better, using Craig Daniels' Scenics lenses).  :-)

Mark Shields

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shields@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.netcom.com/~northws1/stmatt.htm
"Let the little children come to Me," Jesus said, "and don't keep
 them away. The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."
  -Matthew 19:14



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