The TDC Stereo Vivid was designed by Gordon Smith of Stereocraft for the Three Dimension Company. It shares many of the same design features as the View-Master Personal Stereo Camera, but shoots film in the "Realist" format.
Features that make it unique:
The only realist format camera to have a 65mm/normal stereo base.
Front mounted shutter button to reduce camera movement (reducing blur).
Built in exposure calculator (the same as the View-Master camera).
Unique Depth Of Field Indicator.
Loading and rewind instruction on bottom of camera.
Specs:
Tridar Anastigmat (glass, matched), 1:3.5/35 mm, filter thread 26 mm
OR Early cameras with Steinheil Trinar 35mmf 3.5 lenses
Aperture: f/3.5 to f/16
Shutter: from 1/100 to 1/10 sec.
Neat Tricks:
Using 37mm filters- You can buy 34mm to 37mm stepping rings and they will
fit perfectly and snugly over the lens barrels (with a thin layer of masking
tape on the inside of the ring).
You can then use more common 37mm filters on the camera. You can't really use
the even more common 49mm filters because they block the viewfinder and the
shutter release button.
NOTE: I used to use 32.5 adapters, but sometimes they fit too tight and got
stuck unless you filed them out.
Fixing the image overlap - Vivids have a minor design
flaw that causes images to overlap at the edges because the image apertures are
too large. See the double exposed parts of the example.
(Note: some of the
later production cameras did not have this flaw. it was fixed somewhere between
SN#10107 & 10705 )
This overlap is completely hidden in a realist (21mm wide) mount, but
does limit window adjustment a bit. This can be fixed for a small fee ($40).
Just email repair@stereocraft.com
See Other Repair Prices
The flash connector is not standard. However, you can have a PC connector added to the front or you can buy an adapter from 3dstereo.com
An issue some people experience with the camera is known as the "Comet Flair" on the left image when shooting in to the sun or a very bright area. This isn't a good practice in general, but sometimes can not be avoided. The most likely cause is this structure inside the lens compartment.
More Vivid information on John Thurston's site
PDF version of the manual (courtesy of j. Butkus)
More Vivid information to come in the future...
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