New Medium Format Stereoscopic Film Camera: Mercury Stereo 12

rhizomeblur · Jun 24, 2023

I'm very excited to announce a new camera system that I've been developing with my team for the past five years: the Mercury Stereo 12, a medium format (6x6) stereoscopic camera that is completely modular and accepts a variety of lenses and features interchangeable backs. It can shoot 120 film, 70mm film, 135 pano, 4x5 sheet film, and specialty 4x5 formats. It accepts standard 6x12 roll film backs and other Graflok/International 45 backs, as well as Mercury Works custom backs. It is electronically actuated and features compatibility with many different view lenses, including all Mamiya TLR lenses (which conveniently already come in matched pairs perfect for stereo use), as well as many other lenses from inexpensive to insanely expensive. It also accepts a range of ground glass backs and accessories.

Full announcement here.

Mercury Works has also produced a line of high-end stereoscopic viewers to compliment the camera.

The system will launch on Kickstarter in a matter of days. Visit the KS page and indicate that you want to be notified upon launch. All cameras will be built and shipped according to Backer Number.

This camera system is the outgrowth of the Mercury Universal Camera system and benefits from Mercury Works' past eight years of experience serving photographers around the world, and the extensive feedback we've received. That said, it's a passion project: I'm very excited to offer tools that stereo photographers have never had before, and hopefully entice more mono (flat) photographers to explore the world of 3D photography now that a camera will be available that gives you complete control. Personally, when I started shooting medium format 3D it completely changed my perspective on image-making and space, and helped me to rediscover the magic of photography. I hope this will help make that experience accessible to many more photographers!

I'm happy to answer any questions you have here!

Best regards,
Zach

mshchem · Jun 24, 2023

BrianShaw · Jun 24, 2023

Excellent… looking forward to the details!

runswithsizzers · Jun 25, 2023

That looks fantastic. Too good, really, because I am guessing I will not want to pay the price. ;-)

I've always wanted a stereo camera because I enjoy looking at 3-D photos. For me, it is critical that the viewing device provides a good user experience. Most viewers seem a little bit fussy, expecially if wanting to pass around photos to share with other people. Will there be viewers for both transparencies and prints?

rhizomeblur · Jun 25, 2023

Thanks for your comments and questions so far!

Most stereo cameras of the past don't give photographers any choice over lens or recording medium. Most shoot half frame 135 (a pretty small negative!). Also, the Viewmasters that many are familiar with use only 16mm film. Eugen, I think a lot of the non-immersive qualities of these formats comes down to these limitations. Medium format stereoscopy is something else, and most people find it extremely immersive. The reason is that a medium format stereo photo shot on transparency, for example, perfectly matches the spacing of the human eyes, providing you with an enormous transparency that fills your field of vision. With the proper viewer, it is like being inside a scene, not looking at it through a window.

runswithsizzers is right: the viewing device is key! The Mercury viewers accept medium format stereo slides in a comfortable (VR like) form factor, with perfect backlighting and very high quality glass optics. They also accept 4K screens (Sony 4K phones) for viewing scans of your negatives.

They don't do prints, because there's already a great print viewer out there for about $20. There are also a couple of great screen viewers out there that work well with high resolution (ideally 4K) computer monitors and TVs. So there are a lot of viewing options nowadays!

It's very difficult to understand how amazing 3D photography can be until you view medium format images in a good viewer!

The price of this camera will be about $500, not including lenses and film back. But we'll provide a kit for a DIY back, and it is compatible with some very inexpensive lenses, so you could get going for a low cost (in film gear terms), or spend thousands on the best lenses out there.

I hope the flexibility of this system will entice folks to take a chance with stereo photography and see what the magic is all about!

Alan Edward Klein · Jun 25, 2023

Good luck with your project. My 4K 75" TV plays 3D movies. It comes with those special 3D glasses. How would I use your camera to show 3D photos?

rhizomeblur · Jun 25, 2023

Thanks, Alan!

To view 3D photos on a 3D TV or projector, you usually just need to load them into a USB drive and plug them in (in the case of most TVs). Most 3D TVs have a built-in app to play 3D content from a drive (including photos). Some projectors lack this and need you to connect a laptop via HDMI. Most will automatically recognize the 3D format of images created with a Mercury Stereo 12 or similar camera, which is SBS. In some cases you may need to manually select "SBS" as the 3D format on the viewing device.

Also worth noting that the best software for assembling scanned negatives for viewing in various devices is the free Stereo Photo Maker Pro. It outputs standard SBS images like this:

polka · Jun 26, 2023

Hello,

I do MF stereophotography with a "spoutnik", and I view the stereo pairs after scanning them, either full size on my computer screen or on paper prints of any size. I find that viewing them cross-eyed is most convenient because the stero pairs come in the right order directly as it is on the film. Conversively, if you want to make stereo transparent slides, you have to flip the right and the left views. I explain how to aid cross-eyed viewing with a very simple tool in this paper (in french, but google translate is OK) that I wrote describing my "spoutnik" camera and how I use it :

https://www.galerie-photo.com/spoutnik-stereoscope-6x9-russe.html

Bye ! POLKa

rhizomeblur · Jun 26, 2023

Thanks POLKa! With a bit of self-training, it's true that many people can successfully view stereo pairs in the "cross-eye" format without the need of a viewer.

Alan Edward Klein · Jun 26, 2023

rhizomeblur said:
Thanks, Alan!

To view 3D photos on a 3D TV or projector, you usually just need to load them into a USB drive and plug them in (in the case of most TVs). Most 3D TVs have a built-in app to play 3D content from a drive (including photos). Some projectors lack this and need you to connect a laptop via HDMI. Most will automatically recognize the 3D format of images created with a Mercury Stereo 12 or similar camera, which is SBS. In some cases you may need to manually select "SBS" as the 3D format on the viewing device.

Also worth noting that the best software for assembling scanned negatives for viewing in various devices is the free Stereo Photo Maker Pro. It outputs standard SBS images like this:

View attachment 342288

Does the free Stereo Photo Maker Pro program convert normal single shot or scanned images to stereo or is it used when shooting two 3D pictures with a 3D camera? What are standard SBS images?

rhizomeblur · Jun 26, 2023

Alan Edward Klein said:
Does the free Stereo Photo Maker Pro program convert normal single shot or scanned images to stereo or is it used when shooting two 3D pictures with a 3D camera? What are standard SBS images?

It converts the two views from a 3D camera into an aligned "stereo pair," as in the example I posted above. This is also called SBS format, for "side-by-side." It's the standard format for stereo photography.

rhizomeblur · Jun 26, 2023

The Kickstarter is now live!

blee1996 · Jun 26, 2023

Congratulations on Kickstarter launch. It is indeed a labor of love to launch a medium format stereoscopic film camera in 2023!

rhizomeblur · Jun 27, 2023

blee1996 said:
Congratulations on Kickstarter launch. It is indeed a labor of love to launch a medium format stereoscopic film camera in 2023!

True! Not a big revenue generator, but something I'm deeply passionate about. Medium format 3D is something of the holy grail of image capture formats in my book. I'm already thrilled to be connecting with so many photographers who feel the same. Now we just need give photogs who haven't yet experienced it a taste!

Donald Qualls · Jun 27, 2023

rhizomeblur said:
Now we just need give photogs who haven't yet experienced it a taste!

For my budget, I'm a lot more likely to get in the door with a slide bar unit to attach to one of my existing 6x6 cameras, than to spend $500 plus buy two matched lenses (or a lens set from a Mamiya TLR -- do those have irises in the viewing lens?). And let's not even think about what a 6x12 back costs. I expect either half-frame or 5-perf Stereo Realist on 35 mm is as big as I'll be able to afford to go...

MattKing · Jun 27, 2023

Donald Qualls said:
or a lens set from a Mamiya TLR -- do those have irises in the viewing lens?

One of the versions of the 105mm lenses does.
All the rest don't.

rhizomeblur · Jun 28, 2023

MattKing said:
One of the versions of the 105mm lenses does.
All the rest don't.

Mamiya TLR lens elements are the same for taking and viewing lenses, making them perfect for 3D shooting. But to get them to work on the Mercury, you need two shutters, so you'll need to purchase two lens sets. (The good news is that once you've done that, you'll have two different sets of stereo lenses, presumably different focal lengths! Also, many of these lenses are quite inexpensive.)

It's the shutter that contains the iris, so once you've set this up, both lenses (well, all four lenses!) have irises. As Matt noted, the 105mm DS viewing lens has depth of field preview built in, but still no shutter, so even for that lens, this (needing two shutters) holds true.

iandvaag · Jul 7, 2023

Only 3 more days to go on the Kickstarter campaign, so I just wanted to give this thread a "bump". MF3D has been my hobby horse since 2015 and people on Photrio are probably tired of hearing me go on and on about how incredibly immersive and mind-blowing this format is, but I just wanted to say that I am very impressed with this campaign and I very much look forward to seeing the camera and the wonderful images that people will create with it.

rhizomeblur · Jul 10, 2023

Indeed, we're now in the final 24 hours! Last call get in on the Kickstarter and join the 3D party!

cayenne · Jul 10, 2023

OH goodness...I just NOW found this thread...

I've been to the kickstarter site and it looks facinating, BUT....being this late to the game, I just don't have the money budgeted this month for this (plus lenses, back, etc).....

after you complete the kickstarter, will you be offering this for sale on a website somewhere?

Will the after kickstarter price be in the ballpark of the KS offerings?

I'm still puzzled how I'd go about getting 70mm film developed. My local guys only do regular 35mm and 120 film (c41 and B&W)....and I feel lucky to get that. Not sure where I'd get 70mm or slide film done.
I'm not set up yet to develop my own.

I'll have to do some research...I'm curious how the software and hardware you mentioned on here for viewing on a computer screen would work....etc.

Anyway...good luck to you, wish I'd seen this earlier.....and if you can give any info on availability post-KS campaign and fulfillment, please let me know.

cayenne

rhizomeblur · Jul 11, 2023

Cayenne, better late than never! Yes, we will be offering most of the core equipment post-Kickstarter (some items and services were KS exclusive). The core camera cost will hold (for now), other items like viewers will go up in price.

For a short period of time (maybe early next month?) we can keep most of the prices the same, for anyone who just missed the Kickstarter. Just PM me and we can add a late pledge. One good thing about a universal system like this is that you can spread out the purchases of the lenses and film backs over time!

We are working on ways to make developing 70mm and 65mm film easy and accessible, as I think it's the ideal film format for medium format stereo. Much more to come soon! Thanks for your interest!

Cheers,
Zach

rhizomeblur · Sep 24, 2023

Mercury Works has now launched our 65mm film campaign: the world's best film stocks, now available in long roll format, compatible with many cameras, from large format to medium format. Less than 1/2 the price of 120, and you can load rolls of any size (variable roll system, using 70mm backs) up to 5.5X the number of exposures in a 120 roll! We are also offering a limited number of custom backs that shoot 6x6, 6x9, and 6x12 panoramic. Orders are open until September 30th (one more week).

Our lab can process this film, even in long rolls (up to 15ft), as well as print slides from it using the actual IMAX print film system. Yes, just like Oppenheimer!

This is the ideal film to shoot in the Mercury Stereo 12, which is now available for pre-order in the same webstore. Both the Stereo 12 camera and 65mm film will ship at the same time (end of October or beginning of November), so you can mix and match these components in a single order for reduced shipping cost.

New Medium Format Stereoscopic Film Camera: Mercury Stereo 12

rhizomeblur

mshchem

BrianShaw

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