A KIT FOR MAKING YOUR OWN CUSTOM VIEW-MASTER REELS WITH YOUR DIGITAL CAMERA

Not offered any longer!

This kit will allow you to use your digital camera to make your own custom View-Master reels that will fit in a standard View-Master viewer. The Kit  is $40 plus $10 shipping within the USA (total $50) or plus $20 shipping worldwide (total $60.) Shipping is via Priority Mail. Details below.

The kits contain:

* A Photoshop Template on disc
* A jig for gluing the reels together
* 2 sets of custom blank reels
* Detailed instructions in PDF on disc
* Price list for processing digital files to slide film
* Price for additional blank reels

This kit does not contain the following which you should have:
* A digital camera
* A tripod
* A slide bar (for using a single camera while shooting stationary objects)
* Adobe Photoshop or other image editing program that can work with layers

Additional items which may help you:
* A small light table
* Pair of tweezers
* Head mounted magnifier
* Patience and dedication

Prices for additional services:

Processing of digital files to film: $4 per slide (two pairs of images) Total needed to make one reel - 4 slides, for a total of $16, postage paid in the USA.
Minimum order is $48 (copies of the same 7 pairs or different images.) Send your digital files to: https://dropbox.yousendit.com/Shab-Dropbox Your files must be in one single zipped folder. Must be ZIP not RAR!

Additional blank reel set: $10.00 (one set is comprised of one reel with and one without peel-off adhesive. The kit comes with two blank reel sets.) This price applies only if you bought the kit from me before. I don't sell only the blanks.

You may send your digital files via email or a free service if the files are too large. Or you may send a CD to me at:

Shab Levy
2244 NW Quimby Street
Portland, OR 97210

I accept personal checks, cash or a transfer of funds via PayPal. Transfer the correct amount to: shablevy@comcast.net
If you have any questions, please email me at the above address.

 

HOW DOES IT WORK?

When using a View-Master camera, the images end up on slide film which are cut with a special View-Master cutter and inserted in View-Master reel blanks. When shooting with digital camera, the image files are converted to slide film with the use of a special instrument called film recorder. The advantages of using digital photography are several: Almost any digital camera can be used; images can be edited and combined together and it is less expensive as we don’t need to have a View-Master camera and special cutter, which can add up to hundreds of dollars.

The editing of the digital images is done like most other digital editing and is made in the proportion we need for the View-Master film chips, which is 13:12 and at very high resolution of 3000 ppi. These files are inserted into the special Photoshop template which is part of the kit, and saved as a digital files which are sent to a lab that can convert them to slide film.

Any good lab has an access to a film recorder and therefore this is considered a luxury to own, especially in these days of almost exclusively using digital cameras. Furthermore, many consumer type film recorders are not made any longer, as their use is very minimal. In the days prior to the wide use of digital cameras, if one wanted to convert an edited image to film, these recorders were very popular. One of the most popular units was made by the Polaroid Corporation, now defunct. You can think of a film recorder as the opposite tool of a scanner. While a scanner scans film or prints and converts these to digital files, the film recorder does just the opposite - it takes a digital file and "prints" it on film, usually slide film. In principle, a film recorder is very simple: it has a small but high resolution screen which displays the digital image and a special film camera which is loaded with slide film. The camera simply takes pictures of the screen. There is a small difference however, if one takes a picture of a computer display screen the picture will be very fuzzy because the monitor screen displays simultaneously all three color components (RGB) while in a film recorder each color is displayed separately on a high resolution black and white screen and the camera takes 3 pictures of each image sequentially through a set of 3 filters that rotate automatically in front of the camera lens. When the system is calibrated, the results can be of very high quality.

Owning a film recorder is not necessary because as mentioned above, any good photo lab can convert your digital files to excellent slides for about $2.50 - $5.00 per slide. You may also send your digital files to me and I can convert them to slides for $3 per slide. You will get back uncut slide film. One reel takes 7 pairs, and since it is possible to place 2 pairs on one slide frame, you will get back an uncut length of film containing the 4 slides - all for $12 post paid anywhere.

To make custom View-Master reels, first you need stereoscopic digital images. If you have read my book, by now you should know how to use a single digital camera on a slide bar to obtain excellent stereo images. Follow carefully the rest of the instructions that come with the kit to make your own reels. Here is a sample of a finished reel, made using this kit: