[kibblesnbits]

I have a vivitar 110 around here somewhere from way back when, and it showed how many exposures were taken. I think most all the cartridge cameras did that way, at least all of mine did. So if it’s a 12 exposure cartridge, you’d have 5 left.

[kibblesnbits]

Orionid, that swf is great, what a wonderful idea! waving the back more than the front really does make it look 3d from one eye. Extra points for the beagle since my girl is half beagle. Free viewing the ones you took, they’re pretty good to me. The barbed wire on the grazing one though, it’s not matching up for me, but the steer looks quite happy and properly 3D. I’m sure you’ll have a blast with it as you learn more about it.

I have a very good friend who collects stereographs with a special interest in world’s fairs, from the really old ones like mine up to viewmaster. There’s a lot of real good stuff still out there. Most are not real expensive and might be worth checking out, maybe you can even find some of the ones you remember as a kid.

The really best part about mine is I actually have names for most everyone in those old stereos, how I’m related, some background, etc. For instance, those nuns with my young grandpa. One nun was my grandfather’s aunt. The other nun was her friend, and chaperone since he was a male. Yeah, they were pretty uptight about that kind of thing in those old convents.

But many years later he met the chaperone’s niece and she became my grandma. Whether they met through the nuns, I don’t know, but it’s still a great story to go with the photo.

So keep taking those pics and keep track of who and what they are about. Down the line someone will really appreciate it.

[kibblesnbits]

Their sample pictures are very hard to focus on.
kibblesnbits old ones focus very easily. I wonder what the difference is.

I’d guess it’s lens quality. That camera had zeiss lenses that were surprisingly small. My mother still has at least one of the them and she showed it to me years ago. It’s probably about 1″ across.

It also could be due just to the nature of cameras as well as the film/plates of the era. For instance, I doubt depth of field could be controlled much, if at all, but I could be wrong.

These were taken in Belgium, in the 1880’s I think. So if this gadget isn’t doing as good a job as a technology THAT old, I’d look into alternatives.

[kibblesnbits]

ignore this one

[kibblesnbits]

other than novelty keepsakes, are there any practical applications?

Does if count if your family is still looking at them, and talking about you, over 100 years later? That novelty factor can go a long way.

My great grandfather had a stereo camera in the late 1800’s and he made the family vacation photos a lot more interesting:

Things like seeing my long gone grandpa as a boy, in stereo, has a pretty high cool factor. These are unretouched scans except for sizing, so he’s kinda hard to see here, sitting between a couple of the family nuns:

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