Close-ups with a Stereo Realist - Theory

The Stereo Realist is designed to take pictures with the near object at 7 feet (2.1m). For “normal” stereo photography, the following advice applies: “Do not let the near objects come closer than 7ft to the camera”. So, before taking a picture, make sure that there is nothing closer than 7ft to the camera.

You can of course take pictures of objects closer than 7ft, and the camera will focus as close as 2.5ft. This is the area of close-up Realist photography. One advantage of the Stereo Realist for Close-ups is that the viewfinder is centrally located and parallax-free. So the framing is always accurate and you don’t need a focusing frame or other aids. You will appreciate this if you try close ups with other stereo cameras. One disadvantage is that distance of the lenses (Stereo Base, 70mm) is too wide for close-ups.

There are two precautions not only for Realist but all close-up & macro photography: As you get closer and closer to your subject, you have to block distant objects. If you don’t, then your stereo pair will have too much deviation and it will be impossible to project and possibly difficult to view in the viewer.

Also, you have to be prepared to make certain adjustments (cropping) in mounting to set the proper stereo window. For the slide film user, this means that you might have to use close-up or half-frame mounts, instead of standard (5p) realist-format mounts.

Without any aid, the Stereo Realist camera will focus as close as 2.5 ft (0.76m), which is surprisingly close (the near focus of most 35mm lenses is 0.9m, or 1m). This near focus can be extended in two ways: The first way is by using a close-up (supplementary) lens. This is a universal way, and can be used with any camera/lens. A +1 lens will bring the near focus to 0.43m (1.4 ft). The second way is Realist-specific. You can remove the little screw that stops the focus wheel at 2.5ft and focus even closer. We will discuss these practical issues in the next posting.

Here are the basic metrics of the Stereo Realist:

Focal Length, F = 35mm

Spacing of lenses (Stereo Base), B = 70mm

Near focusing distance, Inear = 2.5ft (0.76m)

Internal cropping = 1.2mm

This last item needs an explanation: The distance between the film gates is 71.2mm, which is 1.2 mm longer than the spacing of the lenses. This shift is done on purpose to block out a small part of the image (left edge of left image and right edge of right image, remember the images are reversed inside the camera) and set the stereo window at 7 ft.

The Table below gives basic measurements for the Stereo Realist close up photography. I have elected to list the following near object distances: 1) 7 ft, that’s where close up photography starts, 2) 4 ft 3) 2.5 ft (near unaided focus), 4) 1.4 ft (focusing with the Realist at 2.5 ft and +1 close up filter).

I have tabulated the following quantities of interest (all values are in mm):

• Inear = near object and where the camera is focused.
• Ifar = the recommended maximum distance of the far object, in order to keep the total stereoscopic deviation to 1.2mm.
• Back Plane Extension, BPE: The Realist focus by moving the back plane away from the lenses. This value shows you how much the plane is moved back. We have called this quantity x' in our formula derivations here. Mostly a curiosity item.
• Magnification M: This is expressed as a ratio, for example 1/21 at 2.5ft. This can show you the field of view. Considering that the height of the film gate is 25mm or about 1 inch, a magnification of 1/25 means that you can get 25 inches of your subject matter inside the picture. For comparison, a portrait usually requires 12 to 16 inches so the Realist is not really capable for a tight portrait even at the closest focusing distance.
• Convergence: This is the ratio of the stereo base over the near distance, B/Inear. This ratio is 1/30 at 7ft. Values from 1/10 to 1/30 are generally acceptable.
• Image Loss: This is the amount of film that needs to be cropped in order to fix the stereo window. It takes into account the internal cropping of 1.2mm so at 7ft there is no image loss. This quantity is of practical mounting value for slide film users.