Are there any film recorders that do not require software?

[iandvaag]

Wow, it's super neat that you are shooting MF3D too! I'm thrilled to e-meet you, Jack!

I primarily shoot with the TL-120, a camera created by the now defunct Chinese company "3D-World". Here's a photo of it in action:

I also shoot with the Sputnik, a Soviet camera from the 1950s-60s. I've done a small amount of macro work "cha-cha" style with my Hasselblad.

There's a small, but reasonably dedicated group of MF3D shooters on this side of the pond. There are two active traveling folios that circulate in USA/Canada. It's an incredible joy to share my slides and view the amazing images of others.

Strangely, there seems to be little activity here on APUG/Photrio with regards to stereo photography, much less medium format stereo photography. It seems like the best place for discussion (at least that I've found) is the yahoo group/mailing list MF3D-group. I really recommend you take a look at the group if you are interested, there are many very talented and knowledgeable members. I know there are several active MF3D shooters in Europe.

In terms of my efforts to create slides from an image displayed on a computer monitor, I have some preliminary results, but I'm not satisfied yet. I imagine the project to write a script to linearize an image properly will take me many months yet, since I don't have much time to dedicate to this project. If I did have success with such a script, I would endeavor to make it open-source and usable by anyone.

What I am able to do is provide further details based upon my process and initial densitometry measurements, if you are interested. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating: if you are interested I would be happy to send you a test MF3D slide (mounted in cardboard 140 mm x 80 mm mount, assuming you have a viewer that is suitable.) If you are interested, please send me a private message with your postal address. Just know that my process is not yet optimized, and so far all my images have been on my non-4K monitor (1600 x 1200), and the pixels/subpixels are visible. I have a friend who has a 4K TV, so perhaps I could try that next time I visit him.

Ian Andvaag (iandvaag)

 

[3DJack]

Hello Ian,
Sorry to have been so long replying. Love that TL120 of yours. My medium format 3D work has ground to a halt for want of slide mounts. Neither the Holga nor the 3D World mounts are available anymore, and I've got a backlog of film to mount! Where do you get these cardboard mounts from? The only cardboard mounts I can find are too small; 132mm instead of 140mm. I guess I should login to that Yahoo group. What is your viewing method?
Best regards,
Jack

 

[iandvaag]

Hello Jack,

Great to hear from you! I misspoke in my above post - the mounts I use are actually 132mm by 80mm. I actually produce the mounts myself!

When I started out in MF3D, there were no mounts readily available, so I decided to get some made for myself. After a bit of research, I knew I would only be able to make cardboard mounts, so I would not be able to replicate the standard 140mm plastic mounts introduced by 3D-World. Rather than create my own new "140mm cardboard" format, I thought I should go back to the existing cardboard standard, which was 132mm. Plus, I thought the smaller sized format should always be able to fit in a viewer designed for larger mounts. The 132mm format dates back to the early 1990's (I believe) with the introduction of the King Inn viewer from Taiwan. The format took off here in North America and over the years, quite a number of people built their own viewers that supports this format. The two folios that circulate here in North America are about 95% 132mm cardboard format and 5% 140mm plastic format.

Personally, I use the Steal-The-Light viewer made by 3D-World in the 2000's, although I'm working on building my own viewer, and one day I'd like to buy one of Lawrence Heyda's excellent viewers. I find that the Steal-The-Light viewer works satisfactorily with the cardboard mounts. True, there is a little bit of wiggle room left and right, but if it is bothersome, it's easy to attach a thin strip of cardboard or wood as a shim to narrow the slot. I'd be happy to send you a few mounts to try out if you like. What viewer do you use? Also, when did you start to shoot medium format 3D? I've got a keen interest in the history of the format, and it's been surprisingly difficult to find much information about it that predates the internet.

I'm happy to continue this discussion here (and really I wish there was more stereo discussion here on APUG), but you should know that there are many people a lot more knowledgeable than I over on the Yahoo group, and I really find it to be a very friendly and valuable community. Also, if you have any more MF3D friends, send them over to the Yahoo group -- maybe we could drum up enough interest to re-start an international folio!

Best,
Ian

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

Film recorders are complex pieces of equipment. An Agfa recorder I used had a high resolution black and white monitor that did 3 independent exposures with RGB filters. If you use color film, you’ll need software to build a look up table for your film. It’s been 20 years since I used one. Being software dependent the recorder can be made obsolete with an OS upgrade and the manufacturer not wanting to up grade the driver software. There’s no motivation to do that because the the manufacturer already has your money. But you might be in luck if there’s a third party software for film recorders like Vuscsan for scanners. Another alternative is buying a old computer just to run the recorder.

 

[Valdecus]

The 20+ year old Agfa Alto film recorder can still be run using Windows 10 and fairly up-to-date software for calibrating the machine and for outputting images. The most difficult part is sourcing a compatible Windows 10 driver for the SCSI card.
I would recommend talking to MOPS Computer in Germany, they should be able to supply you with everything you need.

Cheers
Andreas