Project thread - Stereoscopic Brownie

[David Mitchell]

Hi all,

I just wanted to start another thread with regards to another project I will also be having a go at, due to the advent of 3D tvs at the moment I thought I would try and create a stereoscopic brownie - ie an object is viewed at 2 different vantage points, the left eye and right eye see the same image but at a slightly different angle.

I can see that this technique has been around since the the late 1800s and the 'side by side' version is simple to create. My friend has a 3D camera on his phone which does the same thing with 2 lenses creating a 3d image.

There are 2 ways I am thinking of trying to do this:

Option 1:

1 x Brownie camera (like my Six-20 I have)
1 x lens attachment
1 x film

The idea is the lens attachment will use mirrors or prisms to bring 2 images into the single lens meaning that the exposure is split down the middle with regards to the 2 images.

Pros
Single camera
Single development cost
Single shutter switch

Cons
Images will be smaller
Difficulties building the lens attachement
2 Images might not be in sync

Option 2:

2 x Brownies
2 x film
1 x attachment stand

This option requires 2 cameras acting as the 'eyes' and can't be more than 65mms apart, they would be mounted firmly on a stand and the shutter buttons will be linked with a slider/lever to depress both at the same time.

Pros
Easy to get hold of
Images will be larger
No need for modded lenses

Cons
Twice the film and development cost
Addition of a stand/rig
Shutters need to be synced
Images might be slightly different when exposed due to a different lense for each

It would be like this russian camera (execpt with 2 camera bodies)

I havn't really ever seen this sort of thing done before with Brownies, but they are cheap and easy to use so I thought I might give it a try once I get a few rolls through my first Six-20

Quick mockup of how it might look:

 

[Pete Askew]

Interesting idea and essentially the way 3D cinema is shot (but a lot cheaper than 2 Reds!!). There are a fair few 3D cameras around also. I saw one at a fair a couple of weeks ago made of Bakelite for about £50. Also shooting onto 120 via two lenses like the Russian model you showed. I wouldn't mind betting that Brian has something similar.

 

[David Mitchell]

Cool, I will keep an eye out (no pun intended) I guess the benefit of the 120 film is that its much larger than a 35mm film so you can just have 2 lenses next to each other aimed at the same film, its something I will look into, its an idea I like and it gives something a bit different than the usual photo, a bit like those who like the Holga cameras, its still film but used in a different way.

 

[Pete Askew]

Yes, I guess it's effectively two cameras in one box producing images intended to be viewed by a stereoscopic viewer. In one of Brian's posts he sows his daughter looking through one in a photographic museum in California.

 

[David Mitchell]

Ive found a few of them on ebay, looks like most are 35mm though although there are a few Sputniks, it takes 6 double photos, so even fewer exposures than the Six-20!

Sputnik GOMZ Lomo 6x6 stereo camera medium | eBay

SPUTNIK STEREO 3D MEDIUM FORMAT CAMERA & ERC. EXC++ CONDITION. IMPROVED & TESTED | eBay

There is also a DIY pinhole 3D camera using 35mm film which is interesting:

Recesky DIY 35mm film 3 modes 3D three D Art Pinhole Stereo Wide LOMO Camera NEW | eBay

Looks like even Holga do a 3D camera!

Holga 120-3D Pinhole Stereo Camera for 3D Lomography | eBay

 

[Pete Askew]

Well you view them quite close up in frame so image size is not such and issue so 35mm should be OK I would assume. I'm sure Brian will know.

 

[Larry Bolch]

All about Stereo Photography

As a kid ViewMaster reels and a Holmes Stereoscope my grandmother owned, got me hooked on stereo. My first camera was a Stereo Realist, mostly shot slides both for projection, and viewing with a hand viewer. Now I shoot with the first digital stereo camera, the Fujifilm Real 3D W1. It shoots stereo pairs and they are stored in an .mpo file. Included software lets you extract a left and right JPEG, or the extremely versatile and free Stereo Photo Maker provides great power in adapting the images for any sort of stereo viewing. I have also used it with scans of my stereo slides and it works great.

StereoPhoto Maker (English)

For on-line viewing, I do anaglyphs which I also do as prints. These require either the common red/cyan glasses or the sharper cutting green/magenta, which are much less common. I also tried an HDTV DVD slideshow with anaglyphs which was quite spectacular on a big-screen HDTV. The above software makes superb anaglyphs, but they can also be done in Photoshop quite easily. Tutorial

An easy method of producing stereo anaglyphs

Small gallery in red/cyan.

FujiFilm REAL 3D Stereo Anaglyphs - Use Red/Cyan glasses for viewing - F11 for full screen

I found an actual 19th century Holmes Stereoscope in an antique store, and it works beautifully. I print the cards with a photo ink-jet printer at high quality. Fuji also has an interesting digital photo-frame that allows bare eye viewing. It accepts the .mpo files on a SD card and uses a lenticular method to create the three dimensional view. nVidea graphics cards and monitors/TVs from various companies also support 3D viewing, but I have not invested yet.

So stereo is alive and well. One of the best places for hardware that I have found is

Berezin Stereo Home Page

an interesting site to browse.

 

[David Mitchell]

Thanks for all the information, I had a go with that camera when it first came out (I work for Dixons retail I so get to look at all the cool stuff before its out lol, saw the new iPad about a week before launch lol)

I have decided to treat myself and ive just bought a Sputnik its nice to find a film camera that is actually ment to take 120 film rather than being adapted to take 120 film lol

It should arrive soon, I will take photos of it when it arrives I do have a 3D ready graphics card in my gaming PC plus the glasses, I just need to process the images first though, im still awaiting my first rolls of film to test with!