3-D Cameras

I “borrowed” the above image of the Nishika camera from 3D Stereo.com where I ordered some Viewmaster reels and some viewers to help with my exploration of the world of 3-D. They not only sell this camera but they have others as well.

As with any kind of camera these days the basic choice is between film and digital. This is even truer with 3-D photography since the last 3-D craze dates back to the 1950’s with a minor revival in the early 1980’s. As such, most 3-D photographic technology today is film based and from those eras. 

There are still many used cameras and other equipment readily available from the 50’s & the 80’s. These include the Loreo, Kalimar, & Nishika/Nimslo cameras from the 80’s and the Realist, Kodak  & Viewmaster cameras from the 50’s & 60’s. The  Kalimar, & Nishika/Nimslo cameras are actually designed for lenticular images but can also be used for stereoscopic images by simply blocking or ignoring the additional images.

The truth is, the only new 3-D equipment for shooting film currently being produced are a couple of 3-D or multi-lens versions of “Toy Cameras” like the Holga, and the 3-D “splitter” lenses available from Loreo for some SLR’s & DSLR’s.

There are a couple of noteworthy entries in the digital 3-D camera market. As mentioned above the Loreo “splitter” lenses for modern DSLR’s essentially replace the camera’s lens and allow them to record two half-frame images onto the camera’s digital sensor which can then be combined to produce one stereoscopic image. In addition Fujufilm’s Fine Pix 3D W3 marks the first serious attempt by a major player to enter the 3-D stereographic market. Vivitar does offer the ViviCam T135 3D but it only produces anaglyph images and is therefore not of interest for our purposes here.

Finally, there is the ongoing possibility of using any regular 2-D film or digital camera for stereoscopic images using one of the two following methods. First, two identical cameras can be mounted together in a manner that permits the lenses to approximate the distance between the human eyes (greater separation is used for large or distant scenes or objects – this is sometimes called hyper-stereoscopic) and the shutters releases simultaneously to create two images.  In fact, I have been led to believe that two 35mm SLR’s were used in this manner to produce many of the old Viewmaster reels. 

Second, a single camera, film or digital, can be used to take first one image, shifted the required distance and then used to take a second image. There are a couple different methods of accomplishing this with greater or lesser precision & success but obviously this type of photography can only be used with scenes or objects that are stationary.

As I begin to explore these various methods of taking 3-D stereo photos I will as usual, share my experiences and results here with you to the extent that it is possible to do so.