C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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The David White Stereo Realist is a 35mm stereo camera produced by the David White Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, introduced in 1947. It shoots pairs of 24x23mm frames on standard 35mm film with a 5-perforation spacing between frames - a format so dominant that it became known simply as the "Realist format" or "standard American stereo format." Twin lenses are mounted at a ~70mm stereo baseline approximating adult human interpupillary distance. The camera is fully mechanical, requires no battery, and was aimed at serious amateur photographers who wanted a technically capable stereo tool rather than a toy. The Realist was the camera around which an entire American stereo photography movement coalesced in the late 1940s and 1950s.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the 35mm format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
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Kodak UltraMax 400 is a versatile consumer-grade ISO 400 daylight-balanced color negative film with T-grain emulsion, delivering warm Kodak colors, fine-for-speed grain (PGI 46), and wide exposure latitude. Currently in production and available globally as a single-roll and multi-pack.
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About this camera
The American camera that defined the 35mm stereo standard - and sparked a postwar 3D photography craze.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm (5-perforation Realist format) |
| Frame size | 24 x 23 mm stereo pairs |
| Stereo baseline | ~70 mm |
| Years | 1947 - ~1971 |
| Lenses | Twin Anastigmat f/3.5, 35mm each |
| Shutter | Central leaf, 1s - 1/150s + B |
| Flash sync | X-sync |
| Meter | None |
| Focus | Scale / zone focus |
| Battery | None required |
The David White Company, a Milwaukee precision instrument maker, released the Stereo Realist in 1947, immediately following the end of World War II, when pent-up consumer demand for photographic goods was high. The camera debuted at a retail price of approximately $79 with the f/3.5 lens, a considerable sum at the time. It shipped with a matched pair of 35mm David White Anastigmat lenses and a central Prontor-S or similar leaf shutter. The 5-perforation frame spacing yielded 28 stereo pairs from a 36-exposure roll of 35mm film.
David White produced several variants over the production run. The most common is the f/3.5 version; a faster f/2.8 version (the Stereo Realist 2.8) with coated optics was offered later. Production continued through the 1950s and into the 1960s, eventually tapering off as the stereo photography fad of the postwar era faded. The company exited camera production around 1971.
The Stereo Realist launched and largely sustained an American stereo photography movement that peaked roughly 1950-1955. The Stereo Realism Club of America, the National Stereoscopic Association, and numerous local camera clubs formed around ownership and practice with the Realist format. Because the camera set the de facto standard for 35mm stereo frame spacing, a wide ecosystem of accessories emerged: slide mounts, viewers (most famously the Realist Stereo Viewer), projectors, and editing tools all built to the Realist 5-perforation format.
The camera attracted serious amateur adoption due to its relatively high optical quality compared to competitors. The twin Anastigmat lenses were matched at the factory to minimize inter-lens color or exposure variation - a non-trivial engineering challenge. Its influence extended internationally: German and other European stereo cameras of the 1950s often noted "Realist-compatible" format as a selling point.
C41
Kodak ColorPlus 200 is an affordable, consumer-oriented daylight-balanced color negative film at ISO 200. Known for warm, slightly muted color rendition, fine grain, and wide exposure latitude, it is currently in production and widely available in Asia and select global markets.
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Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
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