P3D Re: FED stereo

[Alan Lewis <3-d@xxxxxxxx>]

Mark Shields responded:
> Some of them have gone from these three guys on eBay for around
> $130. They've been around awhile and their feedback looks O.K.,
> but I'm not sure what they would do if the camera didn't work right.
> You could e-mail them and ask.
> 
> I'm asking myself the question... do I want to take the risk to get
> one for $130.....

If you can afford the $130 then I would say yes (for the FED BOY only).
I think this camera is a bargain.
  
I'm not sure one (Boy model) would acually go for $130, it would
probably be bid up. I've picked up two of them from one of the
Russia/U.S. suppliers and I am very pleased so far.  

The first one I got was a pleasant surprise.  I got a soft case that was
actually pretty good quality and feel (unlike some other cases that you
can't even stand to touch the material). The instuctions were German,
meaning that it was handled by someone after the factory (Hence the
BOY), and I found a hand drawn graph of the exposure meter calibration
in the manual done by BOY.  Very nice.

The camera body and construction wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting
from the comments I've read over the years from others.  The camera is
cast metal and pretty well designed.  Very solid.

I took the top off to do the 8 perf modification and I found that the
film advance mechanism was largely made from metal, so at least an
attempt was made to use reasonably good material.  Keep in mind that the
Wirgin/Edixa stereo camera is also notorious for bad film advance (I
know, I had to fix it).  

I disassebled the advance mechanism to modify the counter wheel, and
after I re-assembled it everything still worked.  I did not notice any
problems with the film advance.  I do operate the film advance lever
slowly and deliberately though, just like I do with my German Wirgin
stereo.

Following the instuctions on STeve Berezin's site on 8 perf mod's I
machined the film windows to 8 perf.  I mathematically corrected the
centerline of the windows relative to the lens centerline to get the
stereo window as close as I could get.  I managed to get the stereo
window set at 9.5 feet and still use the full 8 perf.  So I can
comfortable view most full 36mm wide slide images in a conventional
mount without having to mask down to 33mm or less. This is a wide image,
very pleasing. 

The exposure meter worked very well.  All pictures were exposed
correctly (to my satisfaction).

I had one spot only where some light must have leaked in, I got a single
fogged area over the perfs and slightly into the image.  Why only one on
the entire length of film I'm not sure, maybe the sun made a reflection
into the camera momentarily. I'm tracking that down next.

As a "user" stereo camera I think the BOY model is a steal!  Not
perfect, but worth the risk.  As a full frame (8p) "user" I think it's
Great!

If you're wondering about the second FED BOY camera I bought: I haven't
done anything with it yet, but the soft case is made from the worst
feeling material I have ever encountered (unlike the first camera's
case).  I can't even stand to touch the case!.  I did not find the
exposure meter calibration chart with the second camera.


-- 
Alan Lewis  
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