Nearly sixty years ago, I was born in
Romania.
At the
age of eighteen I moved to Germany. At that time I was already
infected
with the virus of photography, but it was going to last nearly ten
more years before I first saw stereo pictures taken by my old school
friend
Nelu - and I was immediately hooked on this wonderful medium! - My
friend Nelu
also was the one who custom-built my first stereo camera based on two
simple Russian
“Smena 8” plastic cameras.
From that day back in 1988 I was getting more and more involved into
stereo
photography. Wherever I was, I enjoyed the adventure of seeing, of
spatial
vision. I could capture what I saw on slides and wanted to share this
joy of
seeing with everybody.
Over the years I extended the range of cameras I worked with. There was
the
excellent stereo dual Yashica FX-D built by the late Fritz O., then
came a
"Stereo Realist." A "Super Duplex", a "Belplasca"
and a "Sputnik", which made my outfit complete. Still, one thing was
missing: a device for photographing in the vicinity: a portrait of a
person, a
flower or a butterfly were virtually impossible to photograph with the
cameras
readily available at that time. When Fritz O. finally resolved to build
such a
device to attach to his Yashica, I was no longer among his clients - he
built
only a handful of them before he died in August 2006.
The lack of a camera for close-ups did not prevent me however to take
thousands
of stereo shots over the years, be it during my travels or while at
home. I was
always captivated by the beauty of landscapes, wildlife, and nature,
but also by
the beauty of woman.
When digital cameras appeared and became affordable, a new age began.
Shortly
afterwards, I was the owner of a twin Sony DSC-V1 rig and could
manipulate the
camera separation in a wide range. Taking the first shots of flowers
and other
small items was like a revelation! The first Sony close-up rig,
however, was a
bulky “monster”.
Late in 2009, as the first "real" stereo digital compact cameras by
Fuji and others became available, I built the prototype of a compact,
travel-compatible external device to be attached to the Fuji W1. The
concept
worked more than well, I found the limits of the camera widely extended
- and
the plywood prototype became a priceless and reliable helper during
different
travels, including backpacking in South America and the
Galápagos Islands. Some
of those pictures are shown in the Sample Pictures of this website.
This initial success led me to start developing a product apt for small
series
production in early 2010. Still, no one should underestimate the amount
of work
involved! The principle is simple, but then again there are huge
amounts of
detail work, there are considerations to be made as to function,
appearance,
reliability, robustness, assemlability, adjustment, availability of
materials,
vendors, administration, scheduling, strategy, advertising, packaging
and
shipping etc. - and as we know, everything is linked to everything :-)
At the same time, new ideas of how to improve the existing MArCEL
Close-up
Adaptor keep on coming up.
All this would certainly
not have been possible without the patience and
encouragement of my sweetheart.
Thank
you, my darling!
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