David White Stereo Realist

Unlike most other Utilitarian cameras, there is plenty of online information about the Realist, so rather than recycling existing data, I will add the relevant links and top it off with my own views.

To recap, the Realist was the most popular stereo camera of the post-war stereo craze. This fashion did not last long; it waned in the late 1960s and disappeared altogether in the mid-1970s. Popularity meant prominence, so the Realist format became the de facto standard in the US and among most foreign manufacturers.

The camera and its mode were the brainchild of one Seton Rochwite, who, in turn, approached David White, an optical survey equipment manufacturer, to pursue this concept. This information sliver appears in all articles, so here I am too. David White was an immigrant from Hungary. I would guess he was born under Fehér or, more likely, Weiss; no information about it. It took four years from idea to market, and upon launch in 1947, it became an instant hit, with the only other model that posed any threat being the Kodak Stereo of 1954, which was sold at about half the price. To defend the Realist, it should be noted that it is a much nicer and better-built camera than the Kodak. Further, the designer and manufacturer had no prior background in this industry, so the camera is free from most conventions and uses a different approach to its operation.

There are no sales figures for the Realist. It is mentioned that the company was renamed, perhaps changed ownership, and that there were some production runs for other parties just before it shut down. One run was for Olden Camera Distributors, totalling 80,000, and another for an unnamed distributor that created the Realist 1050. The 80,000 figure seems high, but I quote Glass, Brass, and Chrome.

The Realist line presented the following:

• 1041, the standard model, aluminum finish, with an Ilex 5 lens.
• 1042, same, with an Ektar 8 lens, the most popular model.
• 1050, custom, with a satin finish, 2.8′ rare earth’ glass, oversized wind/rewind dials, and kangaroo skin. More about it.
• 1060, Macro. Made in a small run, a few hundred units. An oddball of which little is known.
• 1045, stereo camera, a rebranded Iloca Stereo Rapid.
• 35a, a vanilla viewfinder, rebranded Iloca Rapid A.
• 35b, same, rebranded Iloca Rapid B.

The lens size is marked on the aperture setting dial as the maximum opening. I’ve seen cameras with ‘2.8’ marked on the lens cover, and most are unmarked.

Realist 1041 / 1042

• The Realist on my desk seems to be the 1041. It is not so marked, but the aperture settings go up to 3.5. From the dating info on dr3t.com it is a 1952 crop.
• It is definitely a ‘read the manual first’ camera. A link to the manual at the Butkus site is here. Alternatively, I summarized it below.
• I pulled it out after doing the Kodak Stereo, and it looks and feels much better. It is heavier, and as with other stereo cameras, it is too bulky to handle with one hand.
• At first look, it exudes quality, with its clean lines, balanced composition and aluminum panels at the front and top. The integral, hinged front cover is a blessing, unlike other models, where it is a nuisance that needs to be removed, stored in the pocket, and lost at the first opportunity.
• It takes 16 twin sets on a 20-exposure roll and 29 sets on 36 36-exposure roll. See lading and frame counter settings below. Note the 1050 needs different settings; consult the manual.
• The top is made of what looks like a solid aluminum panel, flanked by two dials for wind and rewind at both sides.
  • From left, a recessed thumb dial releases the rewind clutch. R is for rewind, A is for operating, and I’m not sure what the A stands for.
  • Next to it is the frame counter, manually reset and up-counting.
  • Neither dial is for the finely manicured fingernails.
  • A recessed cold shoe.
  • A small chamfered hole turns red after trigger press. See A on the sketch below.
  • A large trigger is at the extreme left for use with the left hand. As mentioned, against convention.
  • By the trigger is a hole for a remote trigger. See B. A standard cone threaded will not do here. Assume it is a specialized part.
  • At the back of the top panel are two knobs. The right is push-in, a winder release override, see C. See film loading note below. The left is a pull-out for double-exposure prevention override, see D. Pull out and flip sideways to lock in place.
• The back is fully removable, unlocked via a lever on the bottom right. A double-size pressure plate is mounted on the back cover.
• The right side has the focusing ring, marked from 2.5′ to infinity. It moves the film assembly back and forth rather than the lens, similar to the Prominent and the Mamiya Six. For a 60-year-old camera, it is pleasantly smooth, a testament to the build quality.
• At the bottom, back there are two viewer windows. The location is non-traditional, but so is the rest of the camera. The right window is the rangefinder, with two images, one on top of the other. To focus, turn the side focusing dial till the top image is in line with the bottom. It is not intuitive: holding the camera with both hands, supporting it with the left index finger and the right middle finger, blocks the front viewer windows. The right index finger will be on the focusing dial at the top left. For someone with small hands, this acrobatics feels very unnatural, to say the least. The left window is the viewfinder. Large and easy to compose the image
• At the front are the:
• A large hinged cover that stays nicely up in place, so it cannot be lost.
  • Two lenses and a large viewer lens in between.
  • A ring around the middle lens is for the shutter speeds, marked T, B and 1-150. The top speed is slow, as the camera was designed for very slow film speeds, down to 10 ASA.
  • The two taking lenses turn in unison when changing he aperture settings. The left lens is marked with f/3.5 to f/22. As per above, the focusing is done via the side dial.
  • The cocking lever is at the bottom front, protruding under the bakelite breastplate. Again, a non-traditional location.
• The images are 23x24mm and are taken in pairs, skipping two frames for each pair. See sketch below. The slides are mounted at the same distance from the camera as they were when the photos were taken.
• Film format can be #135 or the long extinct #335. The 335 is the same as the 135, but with a longer leader and a note for the lab to cut it accordingly.
• The company had offered a slew of accessories, from handheld viewers to projectors, flash guns and slide mounting and storing kits. Some are still available on eBay.

Using the camera

• Loading the film by the book is complex and is listed below. If you have an underdeveloped attention span, just drop a roll in, ensure that the perforation is over the cog, close the back and waste a couple of shots. Else, see the following.
  1. Turn the rewind release dial to R.
  2. Turn the cog at the film path (inside the film chamber) till a white dot appears in the middle.
  3. Turn the rewind release dial back to A.
  4. Pull up the rewind knob, insert the cartridge.
  5. Pull the film leader and place it in the take-off spool slot. Make sure the cog in the film path is engaged in the film perforation.
  6. Remount the back.
  7. Turn the winder till it stops.
  8. Set frame counter to 35.
  9. Press and hold the rewind override button (C) and turn the winder approximately ¼ turn; the frame counter will move one space. Release the override button.
  10. Turn the winder till it locks.
  11. Repeat 9 & 10.
  12. The frame counter is now at 1.
  13. Set frame counter to 35 for a 36-exposure roll or 18 for a 20-exposure roll.
• Set the shutter speed before cocking.

If sending a roll for developing, advise the shop that the image size is different from the standard, so they should cut the strips accordingly.

For the collector, it is a must-have, a piece of photography heritage. They are readily available at a reasonable price. For the tinkerer, they are relatively simple to fix, and parts donors are widely available. For the shooter, well, I don’t think many will dip their toes into stereo photography, but the slide-mounting paraphernalia is still available on eBay.

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