Stereo Cameras

I was looking for a sub forum for Stereo Camera shooters but didn't find any.
do any of you play around with stereo cameras? 35mm or 120?? Slide or print??

I'm toying with the idea of getting a Realist or posibly making my own out of two TLR's (I have 3 Yashica 44's that could go for the cause but 127 film is expensive...still, 3D SuperSlides sounds awesome.

Hi I have not found any specific forum for Stereo Cameras either. I play around with a 35mm Loreo (very plastic) Stereo Camera and it is a lot of fun. I print on B&W paper, or scan and print the colour negative pictures I take. Colour I usually use Motion Picture film as the film in camera.

I too have ggiven some thought on building my own from two cameras but could never bring my self to harming the cameras I'd use to make the stereo camera. I also have a stereo attachment for my Bolex 16mm camera, and it too is a laugh, but produces great 3D footage.

The B&W pictures can be fiddled with either in the darkroom or on screen to make the red/blue picures in one to be viewed with the two colour glasses instead of viewing through a stereo viewer.

I bought a Sputnik, a Russian made stereo camera in 120 format, in Moscow more than 15 years ago. It was in new condition and I don't think I spent more that $40 on it. There are several currently on eBay for $100-$200 dollars. I haven't used mine much, but have long had plans for some stereo photography projects. What I've not run across is a viewer that was reasonably priced (thought I've not been actively looking). May have to get off my ass and find or build one.

eng1er said:

What I've not run across is a viewer that was reasonably priced (thought I've not been actively looking).

Click to expand...

I spoke too soon, seems there are several on eBay for $20-$40. Maybe its time to start playing with the Sputnik again.

I shoot stereo with a Sputnik and with a Verascope, both using 120 film, and make b/w prints from same. Lots of fun. The prints are easy to mount and use with a holmes-type viewer.

I have a Realist but haven't shot with it yet.

Also have a nifty but odd DIY stereo pair of Olympus XAs, paired focus levers...

Polyglot posted a while back about shooting stereo pairs using a regular camera (RB67 I think in his case) and a macro rail, to position the lens the puppilary distance away horizontally for the second shot. He sent me some of his shots in digital files which I was able to display on my home theater 3D projector. They were quite impressive and I've been meaning to pick up a $35 macro rail to play around with this.

Shooting stereo pairs directly with a stereo camera would, of course, be even easier. With the abundance of HD TVs (or in my case, projectors) many of us have ideal viewers in our homes already, though admittedly it requires scanning and some file conversion.

At one time I found a site that had templates to use for when you do stereo prints but unfortunately I haven't been able to find it since.
I may need to hone my search techniques

I'm currently half way through a roll of tech pan in my Verascope. Going to give reversal processing a shot when I'm done.

I've had for many years the Pentax Stereo Adaptor kit, which consists of a clever arrangement of mirrors in a housing that screws on to the front of a standard 50mm lens with a 49 or 52mm filter thread. The resulting stereo images appear as a pair on one 24 x 36 mm frame and once mounted in a standard 35mm slide mount are viewed in the viewer that comes as part of the kit. This is intended for shooting slides, but I have a very old 1920s/1930s stereo viewer - a very simple thing that was sold with views of exotic places around the world. I experimented with shooting on b/w negative film using the stereo attachment and then printing to the correct size for the viewer. This works very well, though as with all things stereo, you have to think about what will work well and bear in mind that there will be little stereo effect with objects at infinity and that objects too close to the camera will test the system (not to mention the eyes!) The adaptor can only really be used with a standard lens of around 50/55mm, which is a bit restrictive, but for convenience it takes some beating. Having the pair within one frame allows odd stereo exposures to be made within a conventional roll. No doubt a quick search of ePay will throw up several such adaptors for sale.

Best wishes,

Steve

I didn't know such a thing existed - sounds like a cool easy way into stereo if they ever come up used.