Failure to “bond” with camera....

[star camera company]

I cannot for the life of me “bond” with my Wollensak 10 Stereo Camera. I’ve loaded (and Unloaded) several rolls of film and after a year have never carried it for use. Partly the lousy feel “in hand”, the nearly silent shutter and overall oval shape making holding it difficult. It’s a Great Camera by all accounts, but my Contura and Realist Custom Are also great Cameras.....and get used. So it sits. Yes, it’s got substantial value but I’m not much on selling....poor Wally, I feel sorry for him :-(

 

[Jeff15]

It is an unusual looking device.........

 

[Original katomi]

Pre ergonomic design ? Looks like it would be hard to get completely comfortable with.

 

[vintagesnaps]

I like it, shape reminds me of my Purma. Don't use it much but still...
I'd 'adopt' Wally if it wasn't worth much.

 

[TWX]

With poor bonding there's a sueprglue joke in here somewhere...

I hadn't heard of the company until your post, I looked them up and was surprised to learn that your camera was the only still-camera model they ever made. It's not exactly a surprise if the ergonomics are poor, they didn't go through numerous iterations until they got something great.

 

[Derrel]

Wollensak made good shutters...kind of like a car design from a sparkplug company...maybe some of the meta criteria in designing a decent camera was missed... it looks like the right side hand grip area is too small.

 

[TWX]

Wollensak made good shutters...kind of like a car design from a sparkplug company...maybe some of the meta criteria in designing a decent camera was missed... it looks like the right side hand grip area is too small.

Well Horace and John Dodge produced engines for Oldsmobile before expanding into basically being Henry Ford's primary, almost sole source for his own early cars before they ventured out on their own altogether. So it's not unheard of for a component supplier to become a whole-manufacturer.

Perhaps they felt the general purpose still camera market was too crowded but thought that the stereo/3d camera market had more room, but on entering it learned otherwise.

 

[snowbear]

I can see why - it's quite funny looking. You should just put in a box and send it off. As it happens, I can properly handle the hard work, being certified in environmental disposal. Just place some padding on it, place it in a box and send it to me - I'll handle the rest.

 

[Derrel]

An engine is about 25 to 50 percent of an automobile's success, and the typical engine has well over 100 components... Wollensak was known as a shutter maker...not quite the same thing as Champion or Bosch deciding to make a whole car. The stereo camera market lived for perhaps 15 years before it was basically dead( many would say 10 years). In such a market being first or being best is really of paramount importance. The Stereo Realist camera is the only model that I know of from actual experience. I think you are correct that the market was fairly crowded and that multiple competitors could not survive, especially if their product was substandard.

When I was a young man I used to work at a camera store at Washington Square Mall about three miles from the View-Master Factory. We had a customer who had worked at View-Master for several decades. He owned multiple Stereo Realist cameras and he would periodically drop by the store and show us scenes that he had photographed using his stereo gear. It was quite nice to see sites of modern-day Oregon in high quality 3D.

 

[star camera company]

The design and frame is shared with the Revere 33 Stereo Camera, Revere owned Wollensak and after a bit had Wollensak retool part of their operations to build “their” version, with superior lenses. One thing that bugs me is after using the Realist and Contura with bottom viewfinders, the tall central viewfinder seems nosebending and uncomfortable. And I don’t like silent shutters...

 

[Derrel]

Silent shutter. A solution in search of a problem.

 

[TWX]

Silent shutter. A solution in search of a problem.

Eh. If they made shutters for conventional motion picture cameras, silence in the shutter would be a virtue when shooting where there's a chance the sound recording equipment could pick up the camera noise.

 

[Derrel]

Sound "blimp" manufacturers would hate silent shutters.

 

[Grandpa Ron]

Nuances are greatly underrated, be it a guitar, rifle, fly rod, camera or a host of other things. If it doesn't feel right, it simply does not feel right.

That is why they make different models of the same device.

Personally if I tried it and did not like it, I would sell or trade it. I definitely would try it, it looks unique.

Good luck

 

[Derrel]

Nuances are greatly underrated, be it a guitar, rifle, fly rod, camera or a host of other things. If it doesn't feel right, it simply does not feel right. >>SNIP

SOOOOOOO TRUE! Well-stated!