Greetings MF enthusiasts. I have for sale in ebay:

1. Saturn Medium Format viewer:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370100782100

2. Light kit for Saturn Viewer:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220298627447

Thank you!

- George Themelis

George wrote:

> Greetings MF enthusiasts. I have for sale in ebay:
>
> 1. Saturn Medium Format viewer:
>

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370100782100

>
> 2. Light kit for Saturn Viewer:
>

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220298627447

>

What lenses are in the viewer? Possibly the 75mm surplus
lenses or maybe the 78mm Edmond lenses?

Do you have the back section of the viewer that is there on
the STL arrangement and removed when the light kit is
installed? You don't show one in the views. It appears
that a light kit was installed on the viewer and removed
without putting the STL back on.

Does the light kit you are selling fit the viewer you are
selling?

Chuck Holzner

>> 1. Saturn Medium Format viewer:
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370100782100
> What lenses are in the viewer? Possibly the 75mm surplus
> lenses or maybe the 78mm Edmond lenses?

I don't know, is there a way to tell? I bought this myself (from rmm3d I
think) long time ago.

> Do you have the back section of the viewer that is there on
> the STL arrangement and removed when the light kit is
> installed? You don't show one in the views. It appears
> that a light kit was installed on the viewer and removed
> without putting the STL back on.

No, I do not think I have anything else. It's been a while and I don't
remember how the viewer came originally. Is there a picture somewhere?

>> 2. Light kit for Saturn Viewer:
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220298627447
> Does the light kit you are selling fit the viewer you are
> selling?

The kit was given to me to sell on commission so it it not part or
associated with the viewer, I just happened to have these on sale at the
same time. I have not assembled the kit so I don't know if it will fit in
the viewer. Perhaps someone who has more experience with these viewers
can answer these questions.

George

OK, I'll take a stab at answering the questions...

At 08:26 PM 10/22/2008, you wrote:

>> 1. Saturn Medium Format viewer:
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370100782100
> What lenses are in the viewer? Possibly the 75mm surplus
> lenses or maybe the 78mm Edmond lenses?

I don't know, is there a way to tell? I bought this myself (from rmm3d I
think) long time ago.

I can't be certain, of course, but going by the pictures George has provided, those look like the 46x78mm ACH lenses - the best that were ever offered with the SaturnSlide.

Alan Lewis was constantly improving the SaturnSlide throughout its production and there were several "editions" that sported those lenses.  Compare George's pictures to this one of kit I assembled that's a slightly more recent version, cosmetically, but I suspect is functionally identical:

http://home.globalcrossing.net/~zilch0/images/viewer2.jpg

> Do you have the back section of the viewer that is there on
> the STL arrangement and removed when the light kit is
> installed? You don't show one in the views. It appears
> that a light kit was installed on the viewer and removed
> without putting the STL back on.

No, I do not think I have anything else. It's been a while and I don't
remember how the viewer came originally. Is there a picture somewhere?

I don't believe there's anything missing from the STL viewer that George is auctioning.  With the exception of the four fasteners that are protruding from the back of George's viewer, all of my SaturnSlide's were/are essentially the same - the wooden tabs in the rear that extend beyond the plane of the diffuser serve two purposes - they protect the diffuser when the viewer is not equipped with a light kit -AND- they act as sleeves to grip the light kit when it is mounted.   Here are a couple of other pictures:

http://home.globalcrossing.net/~zilch0/images/viewer3.jpg

http://home.globalcrossing.net/~zilch0/images/Light-Reflector.jpg

>> 2. Light kit for Saturn Viewer:
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220298627447
> Does the light kit you are selling fit the viewer you are
> selling?

The kit was given to me to sell on commission so it it not part or
associated with the viewer, I just happened to have these on sale at the
same time. I have not assembled the kit so I don't know if it will fit in
the viewer. Perhaps someone who has more experience with these viewers
can answer these questions.

Looking at both of George's auctions, I'm reasonably confident that the light kit is compatible with the STL viewer - no problem.  You'd just have to remove the four fasteners that are currently attached to the STL viewer (I don't believe those are original to the viewer, by the way), then slip the assembled and finished light kit onto the rear of the viewer, and follow the directions included with the light kit to apply the brass fasteners that are included with the light kit (and visible in the picture in George's auction.)

Disclaimer:  This is all just conjecture based on what I can see in the photos, but I'd say there's a very high probability the light kit will work perfectly with that viewer.  The tough part is going to be replicating the exterior finish to achieve a good match (if that matters...)

Thanks,

Mike Davis

Michael Davis wrote:

> Disclaimer: This is all just conjecture based on what I can see in
> the photos, but I'd say there's a very high probability the light kit
> will work perfectly with that viewer. The tough part is going to be
> replicating the exterior finish to achieve a good match (if that
> matters...)

One of the differences over time was that he changed the type of wood
used, so matching could get even trickier if that's the case (or
one could "feature" it as a duo-tone special extra-rare edition).

Mike K.

Hi Michael,

On Wed, 22 Oct 2008, Michael Kersenbrock wrote:

> One of the differences over time was that he changed the type of wood
> used, so matching could get even trickier if that's the case (or
> one could "feature" it as a duo-tone special extra-rare edition).

Yes, Alan Lewis always used a 3/32-inch thick veneer (correct me if I'm
wrong Alan!) but switched from using a relatively sedate Mohagany to using
a flat cut (not quartersawn), varigated (red and blonde) Cherry veneer.
I built a few kits from each type of wood before the lack of lenses
summoned the demise of the SaturnSlide. The color and figure in the
Cherry veneer was so variable that I would find myself struggling to
decide which Cherry light kit to mate with which Cherry viewer. That was
never an issue with the Mohagany kits because they had a lot less
"personality."

The good news for anyone who bids on George's two auctions is that both
the STL viewer and the light kit are from the Mohagany era (the wood will
match) and, just going by the pictures, it doesn't look as if George used
any stain on his STL viewer prior to applying a polyeurethane gloss coat.

I'm thinking now that it might not be all that hard to make the light kit
look original to the viewer, and the best part is that the light kits
came almost fully assembled - a lot less work than assembling the viewer
kit.

Mike Davis

"Michael Davis" wrote:

>
> OK, I'll take a stab at answering the questions...
>
> I can't be certain, of course, but going by the pictures

George has

> provided, those look like the 46x78mm ACH lenses - the

best that were

> ever offered with the SaturnSlide.

I bought my Saturn from Paul Talbot at the Buffalo NSA
convention. At the time Paul still had some 75mm FL lenses
but he did not bring any of them with him. I bought the
only Saturn viewer kit he had with him and it had the 78 mm
lenses. I also bought the light kit.

The 78mm FL is a good compromise between the 75 and 80 mm
lenses used on most MF stereo cameras. I never got to see
the 75 mm lenses but would have liked to have lenses to
match my Sputnik slides even though 78 mm is not far off.
(Assuming that they are good lenses otherwise.)

The viewer I bought looks just like the one you show but not
like the one George is selling. Yours and mine have the
wood at the lenses as one piece while the one George is
selling has it in two pieces. I don't know if George's is
older or newer than ours. If older it would likely have the
75mm lenses.

As I recall, the kit I bought had a translucent back that
curved over the arched wood at the back of the STL viewer
( to disperse the stolen light evenly over the screen?) and
it was discarded when you put a light kit on it. ( I must
have discarded it) The viewer that George is selling has the
curves but nothing over them so it exposes the screen's
back. The curved back edges would not be needed if no
covering was used.

I am sure Alan Lewis would know and likely Paul as well. I
doubt there are any pictures still on their sites as the
Viewer is now discontinued.


Chuck Holzner

Hey Chuck,

That's interesting. I don't doubt what you're saying, but I've never seen
a SaturnSlide STL viewer with any kind of diffuser like the one you've
described. It makes sense though that I wouldn't have received such a
component because I always ordered light box kits every time I ordered STL
kits. Then again, maybe they discontinued inclusion of that part before I
started buying the viewer kits. I think the flat diffuser works pretty
well by itself when the viewer is used in STL mode, without a light box.

Thanks,

Mike Davis