Bell & Howell TDC Stereo Vivid (1954-1960)

The Stereo Vivid is a Realist, or 5P, format stereo slide camera that was sold by Three Dimension Company, a subsidiary of Bell & Howell Co., Chicago, Illinois. The Vivid was made for TDC by Stereocraft Engineering Co., Portland, Oregon. Stereocraft became part of Sawyer's, the maker of View-Master products, in 1956. Sawyer's in turn became part of GAF in 1965.

The Stereo Vivid has an aluminum body with black leatherette. The top of the camera has the rewind knob, the flash contact, the aperture setting wheel, the shutter speed setting wheel, the exposure calculator, the film advance knob, and the focusing knob. The front of the camera has the viewfinder and range finder windows, the lenses, the shutter button and the cable release connection. There is a spirit level at the bottom of the range finder window. The bottom of the camera has a tripod socket and the instructions for loading film. The back of the camera has the combined viewfinder and range finder eyepiece. The camera back is hinged on the left. The latch button for the camera back is on the right.

The lenses are matched f/3.5-f/16 35 mm, coated Tridar anastigmats with three elements in three groups. The shutters are guillotine type located behind the lenses. Shutter speeds run from 1/10 to 1/100 second plus bulb. The shutter speed dial is marked at 1/10, 1/15, 1/25, 1/50 and 1/100 but can be set at intermediate speeds. A red triangle on the shutter speed dial indicates 1/35 second for synchronization with flashbulbs. The aperture dial can be set to any aperture from f/3.5 to f/16. Setting the aperture changes the depth of field markers under the transparent focusing knob. The focusing knob has a distance scale from 2-3/4 ft. (for use with the depth of field scale - the closest focus setting is 4 ft.) to infinity. The camera focuses by shifting the film plane.

The exposure calculator, called the "Expo Sure" system by TDC, is ingenious. In daylight the exposure dial is set by putting the ASA film speed against either the Summer or Winter index. You turn the shutter speed and aperture dials until the type of available light is against the mark for the type of subject, setting the correct exposure. Indoors using flash bulbs you turn the shutter speed dial until the red triangle is against the shutter speed index and turn the aperture dial until the distance to the subject is against the index for the type of flashbulb you are using. Because the camera was designed to use the slow color slide films available in the 1950s, the film speed settings go from 5 to only 100. The camera will take modern 50 or 100 speed slide film. The View-Master Personal Stereo camera, also made by Stereocraft, used a similar exposure calculator.

The camera has a coupled range finder. A spirit level is visible at the bottom of the range finder patch. The spirit level aids leveling the camera to create the stereo effect. The viewfinder is above the left taking lens so you need to take parallax into account when your subject is closer than about 5 feet. The Stereo Realist and the Kodak Stereo Camera centered the viewfinder between the taking lenses to avoid parallax error when framing a picture of a close subject.

The Vivid makes stereo slides in the Stereo Realist format, which was the most popular stereo format. You get 28 23 mm x 21 mm stereo pairs on a roll of 35 mm film made for 36 24 x 36 mm slides. The film counter counts down to show the number of pictures left on the roll. The film path is convoluted, passing under the sprocket wheels and over the rollers, which makes loading the film a little more complex than average. Fortunately, the film loading instructions are printed on the bottom of the camera.

One thing that is different about this camera is that the rewind knob free-wheels when it is pushed all the way in.  This is a little confusing if you are used to watching the rewind knob spin around to verify that the film is advancing properly.  To rewind the film you need to pull the knob half way up.  To remove the film cassette you need to pull the knob all the way up.

The Vivid uses a proprietary flasholder that screws to the top of the camera and uses bayonet base flashbulbs. There is a currently available electronic flash adapter for using a hot shoe flash.

The original list price for the Stereo Vivid in 1954 was $150, reduced to $130 in 1956. This was not a cheap camera at the time. About 30,000 were made. The rounded body of the Vivid is easier on the hand than the sharp-edged Stereo Realist. I think this is one of the nicer stereo cameras.

Stereo Film Strip

The image with the bump on top is the right hand image of each pair.