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P3D Best viewers - Part II



I am now moving to the "electrical" or illumination components.  
Brightness is a function of the light bulb, power source, reflector, 
and geometry of the illumination housing.  You can change bulbs, power 
sources and reflectors to make illumination as bright and even as 
possible.  You mentioned:

>On most of my tests using an original GE bulb verses a newer halogen 
>bulb, I sometimes feel that the standard bulb is brighter.

This is a sign of trouble.  An original no. 14 GE bulb runs at 0.3A 
while a halogen bulb runs at 0.8A.  I can assure you that the halogen 
bulb is significantly brighter, if powered at the rated voltage.  Let 
me explain what does "powered at the rated voltage" means.  Both the 
No. 14 and the halogen bulb are rated 2.5V.  The actual voltage 
applied on the bulb might vary.  If you use exhausted batteries, or 
batteries or transformers that cannot supply the needed current then
you will get a voltage drop and you will not not take advantage of the 
extra halogen bust.  For example, an transformer rated 2.5V/300mA will 
make the no. 14 bulb light up well at 2.5 V while the halogen bulb 
will be dim at 1.0V.  I suggest that you use fresh batteries and 
measure the actual voltage of the bulb with a voltmeter if in doubt.

You asked:

>Do you believe that the Red-button is still better in all respects to 
>a Kodaslide II ?

What I think and what others think can be two different things and 
we might all be correct.  I prefer the red button viewer.  Others 
prefer the Kodaslide II viewer.  The Kodaslide II viewer has large 
clear lenses (larger than the RB), nice styling (perhaps it fits better 
in the face of some people) and is used primarily in AC (even though it 
can be switched to DC).  Now, AC bulbs have a distinctly orange color, 
as compared to the halogen 2.5V bulbs.  I believe that many people 
prefer this warm illumination which affects their choice of viewer.  
As I've said before, I think it is better to view the slides as they 
are (with as close to daylight color of illumination as possible).  
If someone prefers warmer pictures in general, then they should use 
warming filters in the camera in the first place.

I noticed you mentioned ,"finger-free lighting" in your list of viewer 
desirable qualities.  This feature is not in my list, as I believe it
causes more trouble that benefits.  In a sequential or demonstration 
viewer I understand how this is an advantage but in a single-slide 
viewer it is easy to press a button while looking through the viewer.  
The drawback of these designs (one example is the Life-Like viewer) is 
that this "finger-free" operation is achieved with electrical contacts 
that are not easily accessible for cleaning.  Flicker is common at 
points of contacts and these need to be cleaned from time to time.  
More contacts which not easily accessible is a problem IMO.

The bottom line is that we can talk for hours and never agree on which 
is the best viewer and why.  Even for the most fundamental, optical 
quality, we might not agree because some things that bother me (like 
chromatic aberration) might not bother you as much.  Mechanical 
construction or "general feel"?  Forget it!  Totally subjective!
Illumination is a bit more objective because we can measure it, but it 
is easy to change it in most viewers.  And if we agree that, say, the 
deWijs "Comby" is a great viewer, we still have to talk about availability 
and prices.  Better, yes, but at what cost?  Or, "is it worth it???"

Here are two viewers that people have said they liked, not mentioned 
above:  TDC Deluxe, Wollensak.

Good luck in the pursuit of finding the "best viewer".  When done, 
please let me know what you find to be the best!

George Themelis