David White Stereo camera tips?

Yesterday I bought a David White Stereo Realist camera for $15. It seems to work for the most part. The online manual did not indicate how the film was supposed to go underneath a metal part at the sprocket, but I think I figured that out now.

I am planning on using it mostly for slide film. Does anyone still do stereo mounting out there?

Also, are the lenses any good on this thing? If for instance I want to enlarge a single image, will it look like a poorer quality camera?

Any tips on using this thing would be welcome

hi trondsi !

not sure if you found the handful of websites devoted to stereo / 3D
http://www.stereoscopy.com
http://www.3dstereo.com
(and the some )
http://www.stereoscopicsociety.org.uk/WordPress/resources-2/external-links/
google has a bunch of others
if you go to google.com in the searchbar type in stereo photography websites ( no quotes, no + signs &c )
and you should get more than the 3 i posted
if you got to you tube ( you probably have already but just in case )
if you type in david white stereo realist in the search bar you should get a bunch of videos
lucky penny was selling a viewer a handful of years ago here's their link
there are other videos of people using their realist loading it &c
but wait, there's more ...
on on the wikipedia page devoted to your camera
they list the names of the slide mounts and accessories
so you can mount your own slides .. you'll have to poke around
E-boink for them though
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereo_Realist
( sometimes in the back of the manual there is a list of accessories too )
have fun!
john

Wow! Thank you very much for all the links etc.

I also wonder if there are any viewing devices that assume that you have a light table? That could be a good solution for me, and I don't have to mount the slides at all.

good deal you got!

I got the f3.5 cheepie lens version realist and the lenses are GREAT--work great with slide film. I suggest slide film is best for viewing as well--it is the most compact. You will LOVE the images in color. I made my own viewer using two separate cheap 10x "peak" brand loupes--they work for making stereo slides with regular 35mm as well--double the image area.

trondsi said:

Wow! Thank you very much for all the links etc.

I also wonder if there are any viewing devices that assume that you have a light table? That could be a good solution for me, and I don't have to mount the slides at all.

Click to expand...

you can always do the poorman's stereo viewer .. flop left for right and stare at the images and cross your eyes, and the 3D one appears in the middle
have fun !
john

jnanian said:

you can always do the poorman's stereo viewer .. flop left for right and stare at the images and cross your eyes, and the 3D one appears in the middle
have fun !
john

Click to expand...

Yup. I am actually pretty quick at that, at least as far as printed images go. They sometimes use stereo photos like that in paleontological journals, which is what I did my PhD in. Never tried it with slides though.

An interesting thing is that I don't see any movement of the lenses when I focus. I was wondering if the camera doesn't work, but now I am thinking that parts may be moving on the inside, changing the distance to the film that way. Is this correct?

Yes, it is the film-plane that moves, not the lenses. I've a Realist 45, which was an imported and renamed Iloca camera; it focuses similarly.

Make sure to hold it level. Also, I have a ton of stereo mounts, so let me know and I can get some to you for cheap.

The camera works! Looks like these lenses are pretty good, as some of you noted (this is not the best photo, just an experiment). Some of the photos overlap slightly (maybe this needs adjustment), but otherwise this looks good.



I would be very interested in ideas on mounts to use, and a good magnifier/viewer. My wife is unable to do the "stare long enough until the images blend together" thing that comes so easily to me.

Some ideas:
https://www.pacificrimcamera.com/catalog/th_da31.htm
http://www.3dstereo.com/viewmaster/mts-cmt.html
http://www.3dstereo.com/viewmaster/mts-pmt.html
http://www.3dstereo.com/viewmaster/mts-2x2.html

I hope this helps.

I bought some cardboard slide mounts from 3dstereo.com (I think). They were supposed to be heat seal, but they don’t seal. That’s fine. Tape works just as well. They have little notches in the cardboard to make alignment easier. You don’t need many. If you’re like me, you’ll take a bunch of shots, get them processed, and realize only about a quarter of them are worth the time to mount. But man do they look cool! I bought an off brand (Bumberger) viewer (used on eBay). It works great and looks cooler than the David White brand one, plus it saved me a bunch of money. There are lots of viewers out there that will work with it. The lenses on these aren’t amazing, but they do a fine job for what you need. You’ll be stopping down a bunch because the best 3D images have a lot of depth of field, so lens performance isn’t paramount. I basically shoot everything at the hyperfocal settings (marked on my lens cap) with the fastest shutter speed I can get away with. I only shoot slide film with it. With such a small format, grain is a factor, and I don’t want to be starring at a 3D negative. I guess you could print them, but they look so vivid in a viewer, I don’t see why you’d want to. There are some tips about how to control light leaks worth considering. But overall, it’s a fun little camera. I usually take it along with another camera when I go shooting, and if I see something that might look cool in 3D, I pull it out for a shot. So I only process 2-3 rolls a year.

One tip, if you’re anything like me, make sure to check the double exposure alert before each shot. It’s easy to get a double exposure with one if you’re not paying attention.

Nice job.
I've used negative film, mostly to test. However, I have scanned the negatives and had them printed just for fun (4x6 prints for cross-eyed viewing). When I get around to enlarging I'll probably try my hand at making stereo cards. I agree that it's great viewing them as stereo slides, but cards can be fun with an old viewer.

Are the kodaslide stereo viewers any good? I would like a viewer with little to no color distortion, and decent magnification. Also, let me know if you know the difference between red button and green button Realist viewers.