[photo-3d] Re: TDC Vivid reflection problem

[bsspringsteen@xxxxxxxxx]

Dr. G. Themelis asked:

> About the reflection, Bruce Springsteen (whatever
> happened to him?)

I have no idea.  Probably broke his typing finger.

> had brought this issue up and a
> number of TDC Vivid owners reported the same
> problem.  Paul Talbot mentioned that Don Lopp (sp?)
> had found a fix for it.  My friend (the TDC Vivid owner)
> and I looked at it very carefully but could not find
> what was causing this very strange reflection (thin
> and irregular).  Because he could not get rid of
> the reflection (it does not show up in every picture
> only in a few frames in a sunny day), my friend
> decided to sell it.
> 
> Any help to resolve this issue will be appreciated! 
> (especially by the new owner of this camera!!!)

I call it Springsteen's Comet.  I identified the problem without
creating or implementing a solution - as is usually the case with
me.  In situations where bright light is reflected up from the
ground, there is a molded shape in the TDC Vivid's left
compartment, at the top, that reflects light off its curved edge
and creates a milky white spectre, shaped a bit like a comet,
centered near the bottom of the left image.  It can be extremely 
subtle or quite severe, depending on conditions.  Often it does not
occur at all.  I've seen it in images from Vivids other than my own
- the offending surface is part of the camera design and is in all
Vivids.  It's not a leak.

I've long intended to paint or otherwise dull the reflecting edge. 
Never got around to it.  Paul Talbot when visiting here even devised
a pattern for a little conical baffle to cut from flocked paper and
insert into the left chamber.  Never tried it.  Yet I continue to 
use the camera and continue to have shots ruined by this "feature," 
including several images from a stereo club field trip on a very sunny
day in Kansas City.  Why?  I'm an idiot.  No other explanation is
possible or necessary.

That's all I have to report.

Bruce