[photo-3d] Olympus Epic Twin

[ChouMaster@xxxxxxx]

For some strange reason, in the Digest # 104, starting from message 11 to the 
end the display format was all messed up. I am sending a new message again:

Brenda and others who are interested in the Olympus Epic Twin:

A few months back, we have talked about twinning the Epic camera.  I have 
been busy testing the new rig. And these are the initial findings:

This is the 1999 model Olympus Epic DLX with all the bells and whistles of a 
modern P&S camera.

35 mm f 2.8 lens, four elements in four groups.      Shutter speed from 4 
second @   f 2.8 to 1/000 second @ f 11.  Auto focus from 13 inches to 
infinity with focus lock.  Spot metering also possible.  Panorama mode.  Six 
modes of flash control.  Auto flash activation when camera senses fluorescent 
light source (wow !).  Infrared remote control is available.

Advantage of system:

1.  Small and light weight; it is only 14 oz. with mounting bar.  While my 
TDC Vidid is 26 oz, and my twin Pentax SLR is 46 oz. (4 lbs.).

2.  Stereo base is 110 mm with side-by-side mount.  A bit hyper, but I like 
the added dramatic stereo effect.  It views OK as long as your nearest 
subject is farther than 5 feet.  And 55 mm separation with base-to-base 
mount, great for close-ups and head-and-shoulder portraits. Will fit a 5p 
mount vertically.  It only takes 5 seconds to switch mount with my design.  I 
also made a longer bar that can mount the cameras with 200 mm to 450 mm 
separation.  It only weights 5 oz.  I can change from the standard bar to the 
long bar within 10 seconds.

3.  Individually focusable on left or right.  If you have some very near 
subjects on either side of the picture, you can do a selective focus easily.

4.  Good performance 35 mm f 2.8 lenses (I try not to use the word "sharp" as 
it may bother someone with a very critical definition of that word).  This is 
a 4 elements in 4 groups Tessar type lens design.  While the older Zeiss 
Tessar was a 4 elements in 3 groups, it had some edge fall off.  But this new 
Olympus lens seems to improve the edge a lot.  And the sharpness and contrast 
can match my Pentax 50 mm f 1.7, but not as good as my 55 mm Micro Nikon. 
This lens meets my expectation.

Disadvantage of system:

5.  Not easy to get an internal wired sync. With the push buttons one can get 
to 1/10 second at best.  So, in some of the 3D pictures, I have birds with 4 
wings and people with 3 legs.  Since this camera is weather proof. I don't 
like to break into the inside to do the hot wiring without the manufacturer's 
instruction.  It is also a two-stage trigger.  I have to practice with; first 
click "focus", and second click "shoot" sequence every time in order to get a 
better sync.

6.  This is a shutter priority system. If the light level is low, it will 
select a larger lens opening first, thus reduce the depth of field, which is 
not preferred for stereo photos. In order to overcome this problem,  I use a 
faster film, such as the Ektachrome 400 to maintain at f 11 for most the 
time.  Some may think the grain of the film is not acceptable, but with my 
test results, I found it over all usable.  With the ISO 400 film, the 
build-in flash will light up to 27 feet with negative film and 19 feet with 
slides. Great for parties.

7.  No manual override for exposure controls.  When sunlight hits the photo 
sensor directly, it will cause the picture to be way under exposure.  So, 
shade the cameras with you hand or something, which is difficult to do when 
you need both hands on the triggers.  This is a common problem for most P&S 
cameras.

General comments:

Combining all the good and the evil. I thinks this is a very usable, high 
tech 3D camera system for around $200. Unless you can spend $4K to buy a 
RBT-S1 for a first class camera, but you still cannot have a 200 mm or 
however wide stereo base like my 14 oz. twin, which I am going to test it out 
on the Great Wall in China on my vacation next month.

I don't want to make this message too long, but will be happy to answer any 
additional questions.  I wonder how is Grant doing with his twin T4?  Wlad 
and Gabriel doing with their Rioch 35R?

Kevin Chou