Today I introduce a camera model that is rarely introduced, a stereo camera. This Revere Stereo 33 stereo camera is a stereo camera made by the American company Revere in the 50s of the last century using 35 mm (135 film), and its relatively obvious feature is that it can be exposed multiple times.
Revere was founded in 1920 by Samuel Briskin, but on its inception, the company's business was not at all related to cameras and even photography, because the company's main product was the radiator (which should be commonly known as the water tank? ) and related products. So when it started, the company's name was Excel Radiator.
From 1939 onwards, a subsidiary of Excel began to manufacture 8 mm movie projectors, which were subsequently incorporated into the main company, and the name of the company was changed to Revere. In the US market, Revere's movie cameras are still quite well-known, and the competition with Bell & Howell, another company that also produces 8mm movie machines, is in full swing!
In order to expand its product line and gain a greater competitive advantage, Revere acquired the company Wollensak, which mainly produced lenses and shutters, in the 1950s, and subsequently began to produce and sell stereo cameras under the Brands of Revere and Wollensak. Among them, the Revere brand is mainly civilian products, while the Products of the Wollensak brand are much more "tall".
It is not known whether the acquisition of Wollensak caused the company's slump, or whether it was defeated in the competition with Bell & Howell, and by 1960, Revere itself was acquired by 3M. It is said that after 3M acquired Revere, some cameras using 126 also used the Revere brand, and some of them were oem by The Japanese Minolta company.
So there is always some more or less connection between camera brands around the world through OEM and/or OEM, and this is one of the pleasures of collecting all kinds of OEM cameras!
The Revere Stereo 33 stereo camera is equipped with two of the company's own Wollensak Amaton 35/3.5 lenses, and the shutter speed and aperture adjustment are set on the left and right lens holders (when facing the lens).
The machine is equipped with a non-linkage macular ranging function, and the ranging focus knob is on the right side of the top of the machine (inside the blue circle in Figure 1 below). The window on the upper left side of the back of the machine (inside the yellow circle in Figure 2 below) is the focus window, and the other is the viewfinder window. But, but, strangely enough, the camera's lens doesn't focus!!! Although both lenses can be rotated, the rotation adjusts the aperture and shutter speed respectively. So how is the purpose of macular focus measurement reflected on the machine, or what is the purpose of macular ranging focus?
My first reaction was, could it be that the lens of the machine is built-in focus? But if it is a built-in focus, why set up two distance selection adjustment wrenches on the viewfinder window (in the picture is an imperial unit, which is equivalent to about 1-3 meters, and the other is 3 meters to infinity)? After reading the original instructions that followed, I understood that this choice wrench was used for parallax correction.
After careful observation and manipulation, I finally figured out how the Revere Stereo 33 stereo camera works: when you turn the focus knob, the place where the film is attached inside the camera (the part inside the red box in the picture below) will move back and forth, thus achieving focusing! The lens can't move, but the body can move, and this focusing method seems to be the first time I've seen it! Is there a feeling that the focus is basically leaning on the walk?
The over-film and shutter winding of the machine are linked, and the shutter will be automatically wound after the over-film. Below the film knob is the camera's counter, which has a maximum value of only 29, and it seems that a regular 135 film roll can take 29 sets of stereoscopic pictures on the machine (two in each group).
There is a wrench at the top of the lens holder (inside the red circle in the image below) that winds the shutter directly without over-filming, so that the multiple exposure function can be used through this wrench.
The machine comes with two original hoods (the stereoscopic camera is two lenses, one is certainly not enough), but the historical traces are slightly thicker, and it is estimated that it is a problem with the materials used.
When I got the Revere Stereo 33 stereo camera, I had a stereo viewer, but it wasn't a product from our factory, but another American company, Brumberger. Judging from the manual of the machine, Revere itself also produces this three-dimensional viewer.
The rest, there is nothing special to introduce. In addition to the photos taken with the stereoscopic viewer to look stereoscopic, the operation of this stereoscopic camera is not much different from the ordinary side axis camera, and it is easy to get started. When I got my Revere Stereo 33 in hand, in addition to a manual, I had a 121-page how-to guide.
The Revere Stereo 33 stereo camera I had recently bought on eBay was $68.50 excluding international shipping.
Author:Zhang Yi