Realist and/or Viewmaster Personal users? If no, then wha's wrong with you?

Robert Maxey · Jul 13, 2021

So how about those stereo photographers, right? Anyone here shoot shoot double double pictures pictures??

Its National Hug Your One Shot Camera Week.

Bob

Bronson Dugnutt · Jul 13, 2021

Best viewed at a distance.

I've got a roll of E100 in the stereo realist and a plan to dedicate a roll to L/R diptychs on half-frame 35mm.

Its just a jump to left... and a step to the right.

Just ask Dr. May

Robert Maxey · Jul 13, 2021

I never really got into anaglyphs. Certainly one of the easiest ways to handle printed stereo images.

Bronson Dugnutt · Jul 13, 2021

Yeah, right?

BAC1967 · Jul 13, 2021

I always have a roll of film loaded in my View-Master camera. My wife’s grandfather bought one in the 1950’s and shot a lot of reels on Kodachrome, we still have them all and they still look like they were just shot. He shot with that camera until he passed away but not before catching my wife’s entire childhood in stereo. After we married my wife asked me to get the same camera and shoot more View-Master reels so I’ve been capturing her adulthood in stereo. The unique sound of the shutter always reminds her of her grandfather. We have several viewers as well as the stereo projector and still enjoy viewing them. As I make the reels I give them to her to view, she loves how they look and wonders why more people don’t shoot them.

About a decade ago I took the camera to a friends wedding and made them a reel of some of the best shots. I gave it to them with a viewer not sure if they would really enjoy it like we do. I was visiting them a few months ago and they brought it out to show it to me, still in the same viewer. They still cherish it very much.

I don’t think people realize what they’re missing out on with stereo photography.

RLangham · Jul 23, 2021

I had a Delta Stereo when I was first starting out.
It was cleverly built but the limited aperture and shutter speed ranges made it very inconvenient to shoot ordinary print film in daylight. And I didn't develop at the time... my lab would moan and moan about scanning the frames by hand. The second time I brought them a roll from it they as much as told me they couldn't scan it... after having done it once.

I sold it on *bay, long before I owned a scanner of my own, and the buyer claimed it arrived damaged... in a way that I could not possibly conceive of happening, with it in bubble wrap inside a leather everready case. I refunded him but I believe he was unsatisfied with it and damaged it himself. He was rude and cagey.

I've nearly bought a stereo realist before, but I've never been in a position to get a good deal on one. I think it would make up a significant portion of my shooting if I had one.

removed account4 · Jul 23, 2021

does 3D and trichrome count ?

Alan Edward Klein · Jul 23, 2021

Has anyone tried those anaglyph programs hat convert one picture to stereo and how well does it work?

Rick A · Jul 23, 2021

I spotted a View master Stereo camera in an "antique" shop yesterday, it was filthy and didn't function, price-- $200. That's why I don't have one.

Bronson Dugnutt · Jul 23, 2021

Alan Edward Klein said:
Has anyone tried those anaglyph programs hat convert one picture to stereo and how well does it work?

I've used stereo photo maker to produce anaglyphs from realist stereo pairs (as above), but I rarely scan them and opt for binocular viewing mounts instead. A digitally produced anaglyph allows you share a 3D image and to use color negative film, but generally I stick to reversal stock. A pseudo-stereo image from a single image could be possible given scene geometry, lighting characteristics, and some computing power. Muttyan provides a variety of tools for stereo photography & video that are worth checking out: https://stereo.jpn.org/eng/

Rick A said:
I spotted a View master Stereo camera in an "antique" shop yesterday, it was filthy and didn't function, price-- $200. That's why I don't have one.

Viewmaster in particular is a very niche format given the scarcity of specialized equipment (cameras, film, mounts). Stereo capture is perfectly doable and extremely simple with any camera.

Capturing and subsequently viewing the stereo image are 2 different steps. Capture, without any specialized equipment, is best achieved by the 'baseline shift' method. I prefer digital anaglyphs or realist slides for viewing but each has their limitations.

RLangham · Aug 12, 2021

I will say when I was using my Delta Stereo (and I plan on doing the same with my Realist that I've recently acquired), I didn't have any slide mounts or easy access to reversal film, so I used a hybrid solution where I would place the pairs next to each other in GIMP or another editing program (I think I somehow figured out how to do this in irfranview!) arranged for walleyed viewing.

As I taught myself to see magic eye images when I was very young, walleyed viewing without a viewer is easy enough for me. I can for instance, view that image of Dr. May in the thumbnail for that video very easily. If I were presenting images to someone else I would consider using anaglyph.

Kino · Aug 12, 2021

I have a David White Stereo Realist with a personal viewer and have shot several rolls of slides with it.

A fun camera, but I don't have any scans to share at the moment...

Don_ih · Aug 12, 2021

I recently loaded up my Nishika N8000 and took some photos. I enlarged the ones at the opposite ends of the strip of 4 (it takes 4 photos, not two) and mounted them on cardboard and view them in an old stereo viewer. Works very well. Tedious, though.
I have a Realist camera but it's non-functioning. I got a big lot of Viewmaster viewers and 3d glasses and other stereo photography stuff a few years ago - the camera was part of it. It's been taken apart and I'm not even sure what's missing from it. I'd love to use it.
The Nishika takes decent pictures, actually. I've made animated GIFs from scans, before. I actually like enlarging the strip of 4 almost-identical images. I find it looks interesting, all four in a row.

pdccamerqs · Jan 16, 2025

Hi all,

I have a number of stereo cameras I have used on and off over the years - many David White models, a couple Kodak stereos, etc. and I recently acquired a ViewMaster Personal stereo outfit (camera, film cutter, projector, etc.). I shot a roll of Ektachrome and home developed it with great success, but I used up the only three VM empty reels I had. Does anyone know of a source for empty reels?

Best,

Paul

Kino · Jan 16, 2025

I've had an Olden Camera Prism Stereo outfit (aka Menardi Bros Prism Stereo attachment kit) for a while, but have never used it, due to the bizarre way it attaches to a camera. It makes you shoot at right-angles from a normal shooting position (think periscope orientation) with a crude optical viewfinder for framing and puts both images on one frame of 35mm film.

Very awkward and almost impossible to use on a SLR through the lens, despite the owner manual displays it being used on an SLR. Probably best to use a rangefinder or just employ zone focusing on a SLR.

An oddity for sure...

Europan · Jan 17, 2025

I’d very much like to make my own View-Master discs but don’t have the equipment. The wish is to send out advertisement discs for my business. Have met David White in person.

What I have is experience with the Bolex Stereo kit, a not so easy cinematographic process. If the rules are respected, the impression is lasting.

Donald Qualls · Jan 17, 2025

I ought to be possible to 3D print Viewmaster disks, just as should be the case with Stereo Realist mounts. The Viewmaster items would be trickier, because they need to be so thin, but should still allow a couple layers for each side, enough to include pins and sockets for alignment.

pdccamerqs · Jan 17, 2025

Hi Donald,

I came to the same conclusion and found SVG and PDF files on Etsy to cut out the view master mounts on a craft/vinyl cutter. Luckily, the maker space where I work has such a cutter, so I downloaded the files and I'm going to give it a try. I'll report back here on my experiment. Here's the Etsy link:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/589850076/view-master-reel-viewmaster-reels-disc?transaction_id=4451868285&ref=proteus_transaction_link&utm_content=proteus_transaction_link&campaign_label=buyer_order_confirmation_registered_control_v2&utm_source=transactional&utm_campaign=buyer_order_confirmation_registered_control_v2_010170_1322282095081_0_0&utm_medium=email&email_sent=1737146629&euid=0ngyF_ATU-P6j8QbPq55prNBHWhf&eaid=39405219677&x_eaid=4d2eaff5b8&verification_code=3d53d32b033248d6697a1621199afc6f

Cheers,

Paul

Donald Qualls · Jan 28, 2025

pdccamerqs said:
found SVG and PDF files on Etsy to cut out the view master mounts on a craft/vinyl cutter.

Ah, that's an even better way to get new Viewmaster wheels.

Realist and/or Viewmaster Personal users? If no, then wha's wrong with you?

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