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.

Bolsey B3 (about 1956)

The Bolsey B3 is a Bolsey Jubilee without the "Set-o-matic" exposure calculator.  It was made about the time Bolsey Corp. of America was in financial difficulties and camera distribution was taken over by Obex. 

The camera has a die cast aluminum body with gray leatherette and chrome trim. The lens is a coated, f/2.8-f/22, 45 mm Bolsey-Steinheil Anastigmat with three elements in three groups. The shutter is a self-setting Bolsey-Gauthier leaf shutter with speeds running from 1/10 to 1/200 second plus B. The shutter is interlocked with the film advance to prevent double exposures. The camera needs to be loaded with film in order to operate the shutter. The shutter release is on the body of the camera. The back of the camera comes off for loading film. The film counter needs to be manually set to the number of pictures on the film and counts down. The film path is short enough to permit a couple of extra exposures on a regular roll of 35 mm film. There is a connection for a proprietary Bolsey flasholder.

Kodak Duex (1940-1942)

The Kodak Duex is a simple snapshot camera for sixteen 1-5/8" wide x 2-1/4" tall negatives on a roll of 620 film. The list price in 1940 was $5.75, which had the buying power of about $100 in 2020's depreciated dollars. The Duex has rounded ends like the 35 mm Kodak 35 cameras and resembles the popular minicam style roll film cameras that used 127 film.

Front

Top - Lens Retracted

Top - Lens Extended

Back

Left

Right

Bottom

The body is plastic with metal trim. The lens is a retractable Kodak Doublet and screws out to a fixed position for picture taking. The aperture is about f/11 and the focal length is about 3 inches. The lens will take a No. 13 close-up lens or a 1" Series V filter adapter. Ordinary snapshots are in focus from about 5 ft. to infinity. Pictures with the close-up lens are in focus at about 3-1/2 ft. The shutter is a rotary shutter with an "instant" setting for about 1/25 to 1/50 of a second and a "bulb" setting for as long as the shutter release is held open. The shutter will not fire with the lens retracted. The bottom has the tripod socket and the latch for the camera back. The back comes off for loading film. 120 film re-spooled on either old metal 620 spools or new plastic FPP 620 spools will work in this camera. Use ISO 100 or slower film outdoors in daylight.

Kodak also made a Duo 620 camera at its factory in Stuttgart, Germany, before the Second World War. The Duo 620 was a completely different camera, although it took the same size picture.

Memorial to World War I Dead, Centennial Park, Nashville, Tennessee This picture was taken November, 2021, using Ektar 100 film.

Argus Model 19, Minca 28 (1947-1948)

The Minca 28 was a pared down version of the pre-WWII Argus Model M. The camera was designed by Leonard A. Wilkinson, an employee of Argus, Inc. The Minca 28 had three aperture stops, a single speed shutter, and a non-retracting, f/9.7-f/16, 47mm two element lens. It took eight 24mm by 36 mm pictures on size 828 roll film. The same camera was also made with the names Camro 28 and Delco 28. A no-name version was probably made as a give-away camera. It was one among the cheap miniature cameras like the Winpro 35 or the Spartus 35 that popped up right after WWII. Argus supposedly sold the design and tooling to a company in Philadelphia after Argus stopped production.

The body of the camera is molded plastic with some metal parts. It has a reverse galilean viewfinder at the top. The lens was non-retracting. The aperture selection dial is on the top of the lens barrel. It is marked "bright" (f/16), "cloudy" (f/11) and color (f/9.7). Color film would have been Kodachrome for slides taken only in bright sunshine. Black and white film would have been a medium speed black and white film like Plus-X or Verichrome. The aperture stops are circular openings in a metal plate; therefore, you can't select intermediate apertures. The "time" or "instant" shutter selector is on the right side of the lens barrel as seen from the front. The shutter release is on the left. The shutter speed is about 1/25 second. The lens is a fixed focus two element lens with a close focus distance of 5 ft. Argus called it a "Lumar" lens. The bottom of the camera has a tripod socket and the film advance knob. There is a sliding catch on the right to open the back of the camera for loading a roll of 828 film. The picture number is visible through a little green window on the back of the camera.

828 film is all but discontinued. Only Film for Classics re-spools modern film on 828 spools and their film goes for more than $20 a roll. It is possible to tape a length of 35 mm film to a couple of 828 spools to use in this camera with the green window covered. You need to load and unload the camera in a darkroom, and guess at the spacing. With a little more effort you could trim a length of backing paper from 120 film and roll your own "828" film from 35mm film. Because a picture taken by the Minca 28 is the same 24mm x 36mm size as a 35mm camera instead of the larger 28mm x 40mm Kodak Bantam format, the sprocket holes won’t intrude into the picture.

A Mysterious Argus AA Variant

This variation on the Argoflash AA is a little mysterious because it is not mentioned in Henry Gambino's 222-page book on Argus cameras, "Argomania," or in the Argus camera guide reproduced on the Argus Camera Information Reference Site.

This camera resembles closely an Argus AA Argoflash camera (https://fourelementsinthreegroups.blogspot.com/2020/01/argus-argoflash-model-aa-1940-1942.html) without the flash connection, and has a serial number of M3435. It has the late model Argus A style back. It could have been a short, trial production run or a repair job. This example came from Goodwill in Racine, Wisconsin. I know of one other example. The other Argus model with an "M" prefix on the serial number is an 828 roll film camera with a "streamline moderne" style body (https://fourelementsinthreegroups.blogspot.com/2021/11/argus-model-m-1938-1940.html). All three models have the same lens and shutter.

The lens is an uncoated triplet (f/6.3-f/12.7).  The shutter is a single speed shutter (about 1/25 second).

Battle of Nashville Monument March 24, 2022

f/12.7 with Ultrafine eXtreme 400 and an ND 0.6 filter.  The 4x filter factor kept the picture from being grossly overexposed.

Argus Model M (1938-1940)

Argus produced this "streamline moderne" style camera for a short while before WWII. The Model M was designed by Gustave Fassin, Argus, Inc. It uses 35 mm wide 828 roll film. It was the first Argus camera to take film other than 35 mm in daylight loading cassettes.

The camera has a plastic body with a few metal parts. The lens is a fixed focus, f/6.3-f/12.7, un-coated anastigmat triplet. The close focus distance was six feet. The instruction booklet says that a close-up lens attachment focused at 3-1/2 feet was available. The shutter is a single speed shutter that's about 1/50 second.


The Model M can be set for either "double frame" or "single frame" format. Double frame produces 36 mm wide by 24 mm high negatives. Single frame negatives are 19 mm by 24 mm. You set double frame format by opening a pair of flaps on the film gate and closing the cover over the left picture number window. You set single frame format by closing the flaps across the film gate and uncovering the left picture number window. Either frame size is smaller than the standard 40 mm by 28 mm 828 format negative. The under size negatives compared to the normal 828 format means that the Model M is happy with regular 35 mm film, provided that you can roll it with backing paper onto 828 spools. If you develop 120 film yourself you would have a plentiful supply of backing paper that you can trim to 35 mm wide.


The camera was loaded the same way as other roll film cameras. The empty spool went into the chamber under the winding knob and the fresh roll of film when into the chamber on the other side of the camera. The backing paper was pulled from the fresh roll to the take-up spool and threaded into the slot on the spool. A couple of turns on the winding knob got the film started and the back was replaced.

For full frame pictures the film was advanced until the number appeared in the right window and the picture would be taken. The film would be advanced until the next picture number appeared in the right window and the next picture would be taken.

For half frame pictures the film film was advanced until the number appeared in the left window and the first picture would be taken. Next the film would be advanced until the number appeared in the right window and the second picture would be taken. Each following number would appear first in the left window and second in the right window until the film was finished.

Argus had their own brand of 12/24 exposure Arguspan black and white film for this camera, and a fine grain developer (Argus AR-1). Argus loads of Dufaycolor were available for color slides.

Production of the Model M was interrupted by WWII. The post-WWII Model 19, a/k/a Minca 28, used the same style body with a simplified lens and without the half frame feature.

Life magazine ad July 24, 1939.

Kodak Vision3 Film

In the tradition of putting motion picture film in still cameras, photographers and suppliers are loading 35 mm Kodak Vision3 color negative motion picture film into regular 135 film daylight loading cartridges. The differences between ECN-2 process motion picture film and normal C-41 process still picture film include the presence of a carbon black anti-halation and anti-static layer ("remjet") and different developing chemicals. The remjet layer prevents light from diffusing through the film ("halation") and prevents static electricity from the rapid movement of film, 90 feet per minute or more, through movie cameras. The remjet layer also prevents processing by a normal still photo lab because the remjet will contaminate the processing chemicals and machinery. An ordinary C-41 process lab will be very unhappy if it inadvertently tries to develop a roll of ECN-2 film in a C-41 machine and ruins the other films in the batch and contaminates their machine. Motion picture labs can deal with remjet; however, they are set up to process high volumes (a feature can have more than a mile of film) and don't process short lengths of still picture films.



Film Photography Project loads Vision3 film in 35mm daylight cartridges. Their film needs to be developed at home or by a lab that can deal with the remjet. Cinestill removes the remjet before loading the film in 35mm cassettes, which avoids the contamination problem and permits the film to be developed by a normal C-41 film lab. Removal of the anti-halation layer does cause halos to appear around bright lights.

Available with the remjet intact:

Film Photography Project Vision3 500T. Tungsten balanced.
FIlm Photography Project Vision3 250D. Daylight balanced.
Film Photography Project Vision3 200T. Tungsten balanced.
Film Photography Project Vision3 50D. Daylight balanced.

Available without remjet:

Cinestill 800T (Vision3 500T). Tungsten balanced. Rated ISO 800 when processed in C-41 chemicals or ISO 500 when processed in ECN-2 chemicals.
Cinestill 50D (Vision3 50D). Daylight balanced.

"Tungsten balanced" means that the film will render natural looking colors when the scene is illuminated with artificial light. "Daylight balanced" means you get natural looking colors in sunlight. "Color temperature" is based on the fact that hotter objects, like blue gas flames, emit bluer light and cooler objects, like glowing coals, emit redder light. The temperature of the radiating body is measured in degrees kelvin (K).  Normal room temperature is 293K.  Tungsten light is light with a color temperature of 3,200K, like the light from a photoflood lamp. Ordinary household lighting is redder (2,900K). Daylight is bluer (5,600K). You can use tungsten balanced film outdoors and get natural colors with an orange Wratten 85 color balancing filter with a loss of speed (ISO 125 instead of 200 or 320 instead of 500). Daylight balanced film exposed indoors with tungsten lights needs a blue Wratten 80A color balancing filter with a loss of speed of about two stops (ISO 12 instead of 50 or 64 instead of 250). Daylight film exposed indoors with electronic flash does not need a filter, and can be exposed at box speed.

Commercial motion picture labs are set up for processing a lot of film at once and have large minimum orders (a 35 mm feature film would use more than a mile of film). They are not set up to process short lengths of film from still cameras.

There are a few labs that custom develop ECN-2 film exposed in still cameras, according to the Film Photography Project web site:

Blue Moon Camera & Machine
Portland, Oregon
https://www.bluemooncamera.com

Boutique Photo Lab
Mt Juliet, Tennessee
https://boutiquefilmlab.com/

The Camera Shop
St Cloud, Minnesota
http://www.thecamerashop.com/

Old School Photo Lab
Dover, New Hampshire
https://oldschoolphotolab.com/

You can develop film at home using either an ECN-2 kit or a C-41 kit. A 1 liter ECN-2 kit is made by QWD (https://quietweredreaming.com/ecn2-kit). A 1 liter C-41 kit is sold by the Film Photography Project Store (https://filmphotographystore.com/collections/darkroom-supplies/products/darkroom-supplies-fpp-c-41-development-kit-1-liter), and other vendors.  [Update] The FPP store now has a 1 one liter ECN-2 kit (https://filmphotographystore.com/products/darkroom-supplies-fpps-new-color-negative-development-kit-1-liter-powder).

At home you can use a pre-bath to remove the remjet before developing the film in C-41 chemicals or you can simply wipe off the remjet after developing the film. I've used the wipe it off at the end method. This video shows how to remove the remjet layer at the end: Develop Color Negatives at Home. You need to be careful to get off all of the remjet or else you get cloudy areas in your pictures. If you remove the remjet at the end of the process it is a good idea to filter the C-41 chemicals when you pour them back into the storage bottles, to remove stray particles of remjet floating in the solutions.

This video shows how you can remove the remjet at the beginning: Removing Film Remjet. I haven't tried this method.

You don't get a before/after option for remjet removal with the QWD ECN-2 developing kit because a pre-bath using the chemicals supplied with the kit is a required step in the ECN-2 process.  [Update] The FPP Store ECN-2 kit doesn't include chemicals for a pre-bath.  How you remove remjet with the FPP Store ECN-2 kit is up to you.

Kodak Vision3 500T film developed C-41

Processing motion picture film in C-41 chemicals causes color shifts and changes in contrast compared to film processed in ECN-2 chemicals; however, the results can look pretty nice.