Many of us have used Sputniks with some success. Generally you want to shoot with a small aperture only, otherwise you get a soft image. Depending on the camera you get, it may be a soft image anyhow, its a matter of luck whether you get a good one. You will also have to deal with light leaks, usually by installing a flat plate on the top and bottom of the camera to add an additional light seal. You also would be strongly urged to line the camera with telescope flocking to reduce internal reflection, which these cameras a notorious for.You can also take out the lenses to ink the edges, also for increased contrast. You may also have to check the shutter speeds for accuracy and Right Left match. It would be good if you have an old repair guy for this work. 

On 1/26/2016 5:51 AM, coronet3d@yahoo.com [MF3D-group] wrote:

> Has anyone ever seen one of these?

The "viewer" in that bundle looks totally home-brew, so I
doubt anyone has ever tried or seen one.

It looks like a lightbox with rheostat-controlled
incandescent bulbs. Mounted slides go in/on the lightbox and
the standard Sputnik card viewer is used to view the image.
In the end, the view will be as good as the Sputnik card
viewer ever is.

That said, this looks likes a better than average chance at
a usable Sputnik. Someone built a slide viewer for their
Spud, which means they actually used the camera. There is
also a card with the camera. I don't know if it is an
exposure or focus cheat-sheet, but it indicates the camera
was used to make images.

--
John Thurston
Juneau Alaska
http://stereo.thurstons.us

I don't think the lightbox is a homebrew, other than the rheostat. It has the same wrinkle paint as the viewer. I have the viewer itself with a standard frame card holder, and it is adequate for having a simple plano-convex lens. The lightbox was surely an option, maybe running on batteries.

On 1/27/2016 10:48 AM, rsage@earthlink.net [MF3D-group] wrote:

> . . . The lightbox was surely an option,

Yes, I think you are right. After looking at the pictures
harder, I see mounting holes on the lightbox. It looks like
they would mate with the rods on the lens board.

http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/VI4AAOSwZG9WlnDS/s-l1600.jpg

> maybe running on batteries.

Hope that's the case. After looking at those pictures again,
it looks pretty scary. The insulating sleeves are falling
off of the bare bulb bases. The wires look like sold-core as
might be used inside a radio chassis. What I originally took
for a rheostat, I now suspect is a four-position variac.

As a curiosity, ok. As a lightbox, I think you can do a lot
better with a much lower risk of electrocution.

Zooming in on those pictures, the accompanying card looks
like a DOF table. Focus distance down the left side. f/
across the top.

--
John Thurston
Juneau Alaska
http://stereo.thurstons.us