[photo-3d] Twinned Camera Sync and Filters

[Pixschack@xxxxxxx]

My experience with my 4 Ricoh XR-10M (KR-10M) bodies,(only this model) has 
been that the sync has been virtually dead on almost all the time.  Water 
droplets, birds wings, vehicles, all stopped in identical positions.  I've 
also had success with flash sync although this is a little more mysterious.  
I mount a Sunpak shoe mount flash on one of the bodies but I always test 
first by looking through the backs of the empty bodies.  Sometimes I have to 
move the flash from one body to the other to get proper sync, this apparent 
difference has not evidenced itself in available light shots.

The fact that these cameras go into sleep mode after 30 seconds was an 
annoyance to me at first but I have long since gotten used to it. Waking them 
up is just part of my routine, a small price to pay for all the capability 
that these cameras provide.

Twinning of SLR's allows the use of filters, which is something you don't get 
with paired point and shoot cameras and vintage stereo cameras.  To me this 
is a huge advantage that is somewhat overlooked by many stereo shooters.  
Subject matter for stereo is infinite of course, but many of us are shooting 
landscapes and scenics in daylight. My shooting style is slow and 
contemplative.  I'll wait for the best light if possible, but this is not 
always practical.  Sometimes you're there when you're there, and you've got 
to get your shot. Even in less than perfect light, creative use of filters 
can give you the kind of color saturation that you see in coffee table books, 
especially with modern slide film.  

First up, polarizers.  Everyone knows that these can deepen the color of the 
sky but they improve color saturation in all parts of an image.  The best 
example I can think of is a view with a lot of foliage.  In sunlight, each 
little leaf has a whitish reflection that washes out the deep green color.  
Polarizers can eliminate this and give you the deep greens you want to see in 
the image. Take the same shot with a stereo camera with naked lenses and the 
difference is dramatic.  I've got pairs of 28mm, 40mm (tiny lenses), 50mm and 
135mm lenses for my twinned Ricoh's.  All take 49 mm filters. Planning pays 
off!  

Also in the filter arsenal: enhancing filters which deepen reds and browns, 
and graduated neutral density filters, usually used to 
decrease the contrast range between bright skies and darker land.  Slide film 
is actually less capable of handling a great range of contrast than print 
film.

Gary Schacker 


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