P3D Re: Lupa stereo Polaroid camera: experiences?

[Brian Reynolds <reynolds@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dogbreath wrote:
> Just spent the afternoon repairing an unusual camera called a
> Lupa. Ever used one? I'd never heard of such a thing - I just
> stumbled on it in a surplus shop. The shutter was broken, so it was
> cheap. I took it home and disassembled it. The shutter was revealed
> to be a simple sliding plate with two holes in it. It does have an
> adjustable aperture but the shutter speed as well as focus distance
> are fixed. The shutter speed isn't marked, but my rough calculations
> place it at a 60th. The focus distance is about 55", so perhaps it
> was designed as a portrait camera. But I have to wonder who would
> use such a camera? I mean, it seems to be a commercial/institutional
> tool, like a passport camera. No camera this specialized could have
> been intended for the consumer marker, I don't think.

That sure sounds like a passport/portrait camera.  Although not
necessarily marketed to consumers (except perhaps through the "Start
your own photography business" ads in the back of magazines), there's
nothing to stop anyone from buying one of these cameras.  Calumet
currently has a sale on three of the new Polaroid passport/portrait
cameras.  Unfortunately they're a bit pricey ($400-700), and it
doesn't look like they use the peel-a-part films.

> Oh, I should mention that the camera itself has no means of
> processing the film - it's only desinged to accept a 545 Polaroid
> processor. Of course, it could also accept a standard 4x5 film
> holder if you were interested in medium format stereo (my principal
> motivation for buying it). It's fun to free-view a stereo pair only
> seconds after you take it. However, when you consider that each
> sheet of film will cost almost $2, it kinda takes some the thrill
> out of it.
> 

If you use regular 4x5 film holders (and do your own darkroom
processing) it should cost a lot less than $2/shot.

-- 
Brian Reynolds                  | "Dee Dee!  Don't touch that button!"
reynolds@xxxxxxxxx              | "Oooh!"
http://www.panix.com/~reynolds  |    -- Dexter and Dee Dee
NAR# 54438                      |       "Dexter's Laboratory"