StereoVision Specifications?

[UFAlien]

Out of curiosity, do any of our experts on here happen to know any of the specs on Chris Condon's StereoVision camera lens system? I'm talking about like, interaxial, F-stops, focal lengths and such.

I've been getting into 3D modeling and rendering programs and I'm trying to set up simulated versions of some of the vintage 3D camera systems. I've already got specs for Space-Vision, ArriVision and Stereo70.

If anyone has details on Optimax III, 3-Depix (spelling?), I'd take that too :P

[revgen]

Try PM'ing Phil Smoot. He actually used the Condon lenses when he and Worth Keeter worked on the Earl Owensby films.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/member.php?u=14649

[BleedOrange11]

Do you mind posting some of the specs you find?

[SMOOT]

Originally Posted by revgen

Try PM'ing Phil Smoot. He actually used the Condon lenses when he and Worth Keeter worked on the Earl Owensby films.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/member.php?u=14649

I'm not sure that I ever really knew the specs for the Condon lenses --
I just used them and knew how far to go with them from experience
(and from DP Irl Dixon's experience as well as Chris Condon).

I think Matt Moore in Greensboro NC has a set of the Stereovision lenses as he used them on a very low budget regional 3D feature just a few years ago.
I think that Matt had a young producer (who died young and the true definition of unexpected) that made the purchase.
Matt may know a lot more about the specs than me.

I'll ask Worth Keeter if he remembers anything about the specs, and I'll see if he will join the conversation here.
He and I were talking this past weekend on the trip to Philadelphia for Harry Guerro's 3D screenings and we could not even remember the focal length of the longest lens nor whether we had 1 or 2 of the 32mm lenses
(I thought we had two, and Worth thought we only had one).
We do remember that the widest was one that was called a 20mm lens.

It's hard to say that any of the lenses were exactly the focal length that they were called.

[UFAlien]

Originally Posted by BleedOrange11

Do you mind posting some of the specs you find?

As discussed in the thread on A*P*E, there's apparently some debate as to whether the interaxial for Space-Vision was 65mm or 67mm. Sources are evidently inconsistent. It had a 35mm focal length; if there were other lenses with different focal lengths I haven't found anything about them. Judging from what I can tell it didn't have continuous F-stops but could be set to 11, 6.3, or 4.5.

I found specs for ArriVision on a Jaws 3-D fansite, though I can't seem to dig up the link again. According to those documents the interaxial of the final produced system was 75mm. It had continuous F-stops down to a minumum of 2.5, and multiple focal lengths including 18mm, 28mm, 40mm and 55mm.

As to Stereo70 their official site (which looks like it hasn't been redesigned since 1998) has specs on interaxial and focal length but unfortunately nothing I could find about F-stops. The link is here:

http://stereokino.ru/stereo70en.htm

[UFAlien]

Originally Posted by AdamR

You can adjust stereo in real time in programs like Blender. F-Stop doesn't affect depth or roundness just adds depths of field (fuzzy background). What is important when it comes to settings is Focal length (16mm to even 85mm), separation, convergence and sensor size. The biggest elements are lighting and Z space compositions.

Yes I'm aware. I was mostly just curious to compare how the systems' specs would look applied to rendering, I've done 3D renders before without custom settings.

[UFAlien]

A mix of Blender, SketchUp, and DAZ Studio depending on what I need done when. I find certain programs better for specific tasks.

It's strictly a hobby at the moment and I'm only doing still images. That said I did attend film school and I've shot live-action 3D before.


As to StereoVision, the only source I've found said that while it was a fixed IA system it comprised multiple lens adapters with varying interaxial distances. No specific examples were supplied, sadly.

[Richard--W]

Originally Posted by UFAlien

Out of curiosity, do any of our experts on here happen to know any of the specs on Chris Condon's StereoVision camera lens system? I'm talking about like, interaxial, F-stops, focal lengths and such.

I've been getting into 3D modeling and rendering programs and I'm trying to set up simulated versions of some of the vintage 3D camera systems. I've already got specs for Space-Vision, ArriVision and Stereo70.

If anyone has details on Optimax III, 3-Depix (spelling?), I'd take that too :P

Can't help with Optimax III or 3-Depix but when it comes to Stereovision, John A. Rupkalvis knows the answers. He was the engineer who worked on the taking and projection lenses, and Condon's best friend in the business. He also co-wrote the Stereovision manual. Put your email in a PM and I'll pass it on to him tonight. Caution: JR is all science and production business.

[Zivouhr]

Originally Posted by UFAlien

A mix of Blender, SketchUp, and DAZ Studio depending on what I need done when. I find certain programs better for specific tasks.

It's strictly a hobby at the moment and I'm only doing still images. That said I did attend film school and I've shot live-action 3D before.


As to StereoVision, the only source I've found said that while it was a fixed IA system it comprised multiple lens adapters with varying interaxial distances. No specific examples were supplied, sadly.

Cool to hear your experience with CGI computer animation, UF. And 3D stereography too. Thanks again for those samples of 3D shots from 3D movies in that other section you posted.

[worthkeeter]

It's been a long time, but my best memory of Stereovision lenses was that we had a 20mm lens, a 32mm and either a 55 or 65mm. The longer lens was almost never used. We mainly used the 20mm. We might have had more than one lens each. I don't believe I ever knew the interaxial. The lenses were very slow, minimum F stop was 6.5. The exposure was controlled by a series of metal slides that were inserted in the lens.

[br3ttD]

Got this from Fantastic 3-D by Starlog press 1982...
The Marks 3-Depix camera converter - available lenses
include 85mm, 50mm, 30mm and 18mm. Light loss through
the system is 2 stops (3 stops with the 85B filter).
Convergence is continuously variable. With the 50mm lens,
convergence can be set as close as 0.4 meters and 1 meter
on the 30mm and 18mm lenses. Interaxial is fixed at 67mm.
In special cases a prism can be added to reduce the interaxial
to 50mm.
Hope this helps.

[Robert Furmanek]

There is some Space-Vision literature on this page of our website: http://www.3dfilmarchive.com/home/The-Bubble

[Richard--W]

Originally Posted by worthkeeter

It's been a long time, but my best memory of Stereovision lenses was that we had a 20mm lens, a 32mm and either a 55 or 65mm. The longer lens was almost never used. We mainly used the 20mm. We might have had more than one lens each. I don't believe I ever knew the interaxial. The lenses were very slow, minimum F stop was 6.5. The exposure was controlled by a series of metal slides that were inserted in the lens.

F stop and exposure design changed as the lenses evolved. The manual was written for a later design, evidently.

There were three systems -- an over-under, a side by side, and a 70mm. All are listed in the company's inventory of hardware. Capture and projection systems seemed to have evolved for the over-under 35mm.

[UFAlien]

I thought the people in this thread might be interested in this; I stumbled upon some specs for the original 15-perf 65mm film IMAX 3D cameras.

Interaxial distance was fixed at 72.4mm, with lens focal lengths of 30, 40, 50, 60, 80, and 105mm available. The exposed frame width of IMAX film (not specifically 3D but 15/65 in general) is 69.6mm. The original IMAX 3D camera was a two-strip system with two movements built into a single camera housing. A later variation designed for use on the space station was single-strip, running at double speed and alternating full-size left and right eye frames.

[Richard--W]

In response to UFAlien's initial question, Condon wrote this description of StereoVision in old edition of the Cinematographer's Manual: