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About Subject: 3D World Illuminated viewerDate: 2008-09-13 16:37:10From: John Thurston
First, thank you George for shipping one of your new 3D World
illuminated viewers. It's really spiffy.
Second, Dave Kesner and Mike Davis have already offered their
assessment of it so I will not try to repeat those things
which have already been said.
Third, I _like it_. I'm ordering another one :)
Aesthetics on the viewer are a little stark but I'm willing
to accept that after seeing what my slides look like in it.
The short version is that this is everything the 3D World
STL viewer (aka MFPV) is and more. If you liked the 75mm
achromats in the MFPV, they're in here. If you didn't like
the MFPV because it offered poor eye-relief for glasses
wearers, your problems are solved. If you really wished the
MFPV had a light in it so you didn't have to hold your face
up to a desk lamp, you'll be happy. If you were sad that the
MFPV was fixed at infinity focus . . . . oh, you found the
weakness of the new viewer. While it has adjustable focus,
the range of focus stops at infinity.
It has been mentioned here that it is possible to remove the
lens retaining ring and insert a paper or plastic shim to
move the lens a bit farther out. The thickness of the
possible shim is restricted by how few threads you are
willing to leave for your retaining ring to grab. It has
also been mentioned that fixing this problem will be
difficult for 3D World because it will likely require new
molds to be made.
Today, I've had my viewer apart into all of its constituent
parts and I think I've found another way to adjust the range
of focus. I've got a camera full of pictures and will post
them to the web as soon as I get enough time to write them
up, but here is the textual explanation.
Each lens is held in an aluminum barrel by the previously
mentioned threaded retaining ring. These aluminum barrels
are _threaded_ into the viewer's focusing cones. There is
plenty of depth available to adjust the lenses past infinity
by unscrewing these barrels from their cones, inserting a
shim and tightening the barrels again. That is what I have
just done and here's how you can.
1) Remove the lens retaining ring
2) Tip the viewer over and let the lens drop out
(remember which way the lens came out)
3) Grasp the grey focusing cone and use a rubber jar opener
to loosen the threaded end of the lens barrel. Don't try to
unscrew by twisting against the viewer body. Work against
the focusing cone.
4) Insert your preferred shimming material
5) Thread the lens barrel back into the focusing cone
and tighten it
6) Reinstall the lens
I used a piece of 12 gauge copper wire which moved my lenses
out 2mm. The wire could be painted but I actually think the
copper stripe looks pretty cool :)
________________________________________
John Thurston
Juneau, Alaska
http://stereo.thurstons.us
illuminated viewers. It's really spiffy.
Second, Dave Kesner and Mike Davis have already offered their
assessment of it so I will not try to repeat those things
which have already been said.
Third, I _like it_. I'm ordering another one :)
Aesthetics on the viewer are a little stark but I'm willing
to accept that after seeing what my slides look like in it.
The short version is that this is everything the 3D World
STL viewer (aka MFPV) is and more. If you liked the 75mm
achromats in the MFPV, they're in here. If you didn't like
the MFPV because it offered poor eye-relief for glasses
wearers, your problems are solved. If you really wished the
MFPV had a light in it so you didn't have to hold your face
up to a desk lamp, you'll be happy. If you were sad that the
MFPV was fixed at infinity focus . . . . oh, you found the
weakness of the new viewer. While it has adjustable focus,
the range of focus stops at infinity.
It has been mentioned here that it is possible to remove the
lens retaining ring and insert a paper or plastic shim to
move the lens a bit farther out. The thickness of the
possible shim is restricted by how few threads you are
willing to leave for your retaining ring to grab. It has
also been mentioned that fixing this problem will be
difficult for 3D World because it will likely require new
molds to be made.
Today, I've had my viewer apart into all of its constituent
parts and I think I've found another way to adjust the range
of focus. I've got a camera full of pictures and will post
them to the web as soon as I get enough time to write them
up, but here is the textual explanation.
Each lens is held in an aluminum barrel by the previously
mentioned threaded retaining ring. These aluminum barrels
are _threaded_ into the viewer's focusing cones. There is
plenty of depth available to adjust the lenses past infinity
by unscrewing these barrels from their cones, inserting a
shim and tightening the barrels again. That is what I have
just done and here's how you can.
1) Remove the lens retaining ring
2) Tip the viewer over and let the lens drop out
(remember which way the lens came out)
3) Grasp the grey focusing cone and use a rubber jar opener
to loosen the threaded end of the lens barrel. Don't try to
unscrew by twisting against the viewer body. Work against
the focusing cone.
4) Insert your preferred shimming material
5) Thread the lens barrel back into the focusing cone
and tighten it
6) Reinstall the lens
I used a piece of 12 gauge copper wire which moved my lenses
out 2mm. The wire could be painted but I actually think the
copper stripe looks pretty cool :)
________________________________________
John Thurston
Juneau, Alaska
http://stereo.thurstons.us