Re: [photo-3d] Re: Medium format viewer

[Brian Reynolds <reynolds@xxxxxxxxx>]

Linda Nygren wrote:
> Although I would agree that a stereo camera may not be worth the
> expense in your situation, I do think that a good stereo viewer such
> as a Red Button with halogen bulb (and preferably widened to 7p or
> 8p for your purposes) would be a worthwhile investment, and makes a
> huge difference in viewing your results. IMO, the step up in quality
> and brilliance from cheap viewer to a Red Button is a greater leap
> than from 35mm to MF.
> 

I agree that the step up from a cheap view to a good viewer is well
worth it, but in my experience the move from (full frame) 35mm to MF
to is still significant.

I started with the plastic fold up viewer from "The Civil War in
Depth" that I used with my MF slides.  The improvement when I built my
SaturnSlide MF viewer was incredible.  It was like seeing brand new
slides.  There was a level of detail that I hadn't been able to see
before.  The first pair I looked at through the SaturnSlide was one of
my honeymoon shots of a castle in Ireland.  There are people at the
top of the tower that I had not been able to see with the plastic
viewer.

I have also done some full frame 35mm slide bar stereo with a Pentax
K1000 and 50mm f/2 lens.  I can tell the difference between my Franka
viewer (unmodified) and the Red Button viewers I see at the Third
Friday Stereo Dinner.

To test the two formats out I have shot the same scene (a view of the
Empire State Building from Herald Square) with the Pentax and my
Yashicamat.  There is no mistaking the two.  With the Pentax shot I
can tell that the foreground buildings have brick walls.  With the
Yashicamat shot I can count the bricks and see their texture.

Of course in the end the important thing is is the photo interesting?
A perfectly exposed and mounted MF image of a resolution chart is not
better than a Realist shot of your puppy (or whatever interests you).
MF gives you the tools to take more detailed images, it does not do
the important work of picking a subject and composing the image.

-- 
Brian Reynolds                  | "Dee Dee!  Don't touch that button!"
reynolds@xxxxxxxxx              | "Oooh!"
http://www.panix.com/~reynolds  |    -- Dexter and Dee Dee
NAR# 54438                      |       "Dexter's Laboratory"