page_title: Stereo Realist
section_title: Design and engineering
hierarchical_section_title: Stereo Realist / Design and engineering
caption_attribution_description: English: Image strip from a Realist 45 camera, taken with old Fuji Provia 100F film, processed as uncut E6 through Walmart, and scanned on flatbed scanner using transparency adaptor. Note that image 7 is the right eye image of a pair with image 5 being the left. Note the notch on the left eye image. Also, image 5a/6 is the right eye image of another pair and the image just to right of 4a (not visible) is the left eye image of the same pair.
context_page_description: The Stereo Realist is a stereo camera that was manufactured by the David White Company from 1947 to 1971. It was the most popular 35 mm stereo camera ever manufactured and started the era of popular stereo photography of the mid 20th century.
context_section_description: The Realist uses standard 135 film. The unusual proportions of the slides (the image was 5 sprockets wide) became the standard for 3-D slides, and is known as "5P" or "Realist Format".  It marked a significant milestone in stereoscopy. The arrangement of images on the film (on cameras where film advances left to right 1R-blank-2R-1L-3R-2L-4R...) seemed arbitrary but allowed for a simple film advance mechanism with little film wastage. A special accessory was available that used the otherwise blank frame near the start of the roll to identify the roll, though the procedure for using it was rather elaborate.
  Because camera lenses invert the image and flip it left to right, orienting the film strip so that the image's "up" is up, and its "left" is to the left, the left-eye image of the stereo pair is to the viewer's right (see the included photograph). Note that in the Realist 45 the film cartridge is loaded on the right side of the camera, causing the images to be upside-down relative to the numbers. The standard Realist and Kodak Stereo Camera have the cartridge on the left side, so the images have the same orientation as the numbers.
  The routine for taking a photograph with a Stereo Realist is elaborate, compared to a modern camera. One must lift the lens cover, focus, manually set the aperture and shutter speed, cock the shutter and then take the picture. The wind release button must be depressed briefly while beginning to wind the film to the next frame.  The film winding is then completed so that the camera is ready to shoot another pair of images.
  Later-model cameras featured a double exposure button, which could be pulled out to make a double exposure but could otherwise be left alone, as well as a depth-of-field scale on the focusing knob. Many also had red marks on f/6.3, 1/50 and on 20 feet. This was called "The Three R's in Outdoor Stereo Photography"  and is based on the then-standard ASA 10 color slide film. Earlier cameras lacked these features but they could be added. The double exposure button would have to be installed by the factory, but the depth-of-field scale and red marks could be added by a dealer or even the camera's owner. Thus, older model Realists are sometimes found with red marks or depth-of-field scales, but without double exposure buttons.
  A characteristic of "Stereo Realist" type cameras is that the lenses are at a fixed separation, known as "fixed stereo base", which was slightly more than the average distance between the human eyes. The stereo base was ideal for subjects that were 7 to 20 feet from the camera, which worked well for most pictures but was somewhat lacking for more distant scenic shots. Accessories were available to effectively lengthen the stereo base for scenic shots and reduce it for macro shots, but these were seldom used.
caption: Image strip from a Realist 45 camera. Note the notch above image "5", which is the left eye image of a pair with image 7 being the right eye image of the same pair.
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