P3D Re: Stitz beamsplitter

[Mark Shields <beamsplitter@xxxxxxxx>]

Peter,

I believe a 55mm lens would probably be a better choice all
the way around. Someone else who wanted to use the Stitz told
me that, for his camera anyway, they weren't all that expensive--
you just have to hunt around a bit. I would think that for a
Nikon you should have several choices. The optical quality and
lens speed are going to be much better than using a tele-converter,
and it would only add to the Stitz bulk (see below).

So far I've found the Stitz to be finicky, although I think it
is going to be good for what I got it for--closeups of flowers,
etc. with a longer lens. It's really quite bulky for general
photography.

The shots I mentioned were using an Olympus 85mm f/2 lens.
For whatever reason, using the longer lens seemed to call
for more stopping down, which is probably why Stitz put in
the adjustable curtains in front, to eliminate overlap at
larger apertures--my earlier soccer shots suffered from
overlap even at f/5.6. My three test shots were at
f/8, f/11, and f/16. Even at f/16 the dark band in the
middle didn't seem objectionable, but we'll wait to see
the final results (on slide film this time). I don't plan
to keep on taking normal shots with this combination because
an 85mm lens calls for a longer stereobase than the Stitz,
which has the standard 70mm. Some day I hope to get around to
putting those front-surface mirrors into my Franka, which has
a 110mm stereobase.

For all-around use it is hard to beat the Pentax--compact,
light, reasonably sturdy, well-made, and gives reasonable
choice (IMHO) of f/stops. If you learn to deal with the
idiosyncrasies of a beamslitter, results are excellent
and repeatable. I think it is no accident that they
still make it, despite the unpopularity of the device
in general.

Happy hunting!

Mark

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beamsplitter@xxxxxxxx
http://www.stmattpitt.org
"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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