Stereoscopic photography

Rob Archer · Dec 10, 2005

Some years ago I experimented with stereo photography, using 2 cameras (Olympus OM10s) mounted on a bar (part of an old flash bracket). I used colour slide film I used a pair of 'single-eye' type viewers, again mounted on a bar so the distance between them could be varied for different heads!. The results were amazing! I find some of the slide-pairs the other day while looking for something else and it's inspired me to have another go.

Has anybody else out there trie 3D photography and if so what gear/film did you use?

Rob

reellis67 · Dec 10, 2005

I have been shooting stereo with stereo cameras for about 4 years now. If you are interested in it, I would suggest a good first camera is the Stereo Realist. There is a fantastic repair guy for the realist out there as well as many stereo specific groups. Just beware, many stereo people are heavily into digital these days. If you would like specifics, just let me know.

I shoot both E-6 and print, mount my own slides, and create my own stereographs. It is easy to do and a lot of fun.

-Randy

reellis67 · Dec 10, 2005

Oh! I forgot to mention that there is a plethora of viewing gear out there as well, for both slide and print.

- Randy

127 · Dec 10, 2005

I've run a few films through my coronet stereo camera. They're cheap and fun, though the quality is pretty poor. There are some scans on my website (under cameras/coront/stereo) The 127 neg is a nice size to contact print for stereo viewing...

Ian

reellis67 · Dec 10, 2005

127 said:
I've run a few films through my coronet stereo camera. They're cheap and fun, though the quality is pretty poor. There are some scans on my website (under cameras/coront/stereo) The 127 neg is a nice size to contact print for stereo viewing...

Ian

For MF stereo, the Sputnik is supposed to be not bad. It comes with the opportunity <cough> to do some customization or you can keep the holga-esque light leaks, and it makes 6x6 negs! Or you could do the aformentioned slide bar, or cha-cha technique, with a standard MF camera. My M645 does nice work with non-moving subjects when used with a slide bar.

- Randy

Photo Engineer · Dec 10, 2005

I have one of the original Kodak Stereo cameras with viewer. The camera is a beautiful piece of work from the 50s. A lot of work was done on stereo at EK, and they published a few books on the topic in the 50s and 60s.

One of the leading gurus, if you can find his work, was Pete Chiesa. He made many presentations at EK on his stereo work and co-authored a how-to book published by EK.

PE

Lee L · Dec 10, 2005

I ran across this site a while back when considering stereo photography with a single camera/lens. http://www.stereoscopy.com/jasper/index.html
There are obviously limits to what you can do this way, but the hardware here looks well made and reasonably priced. I haven't used it, just thought it looked like good gear for the price.

Lee

Photo Engineer · Dec 10, 2005

There is a prism mount that you can buy for most lenses that produces a split stereo pair onto the film. It occupies one frame.

A friend of mine has one and digitizes his stereo negs using a special scanner program for them, then projects them on his large flat screen TV for viewing. I have not seen it, but he says that it makes the wall look like a window.

His Nikon looks rather spectacular with this huge double prism device mounted on the front of the lens.

PE

Ole · Dec 10, 2005

Oh yes...

Many years ago, I did some "scientific" work. I would take one picture, move my weight to the other leg, and do another one. Oddly enough it turned out to be useful!

I also have a "Stereo Realist". I still haven't finished the first film, so I have no idea how to print it. But I will find out!

nick mulder · Dec 10, 2005

I friend and I set up two video cameras on top of two monitors a few feet away - sure is interesting seeing yourself in 3D the right way round (as opposed to inverted as you are in a mirror) - not to mention all pixelated and cross eyed

DimDim · Dec 15, 2005

It still amazes me why jaw-dropping stereo photography remains some kind of byproduct.

I stumbled in it with a wooden board and my 35mm Pentax, got me a Russian set including a camera and a projector but they both seemed Junk.

Then I discovered my holy grail : Viewmaster.
I bought the European camera model, still one of the most amazing camera's I know. It uses a "sun or clouds" dial that can be applied in 3 possible ways according to the color saturation of your subject (!). As a hint there are 3 differently saturated color charts on the camera front. On the other hand you can set EV and ISO values as well. The dials also serve as an aid for fill-in flash or plain flashlight in low light conditions.
The film is transported diagonally in order to use its complete surface. You can shoot about 80 pairs on a 36 exposure film.
And it has Rodenstock lenses.

It requires some patience to cut out the results with the perforator and a book for collecting stamps to keep all those mini slides separated.

I don't use it too frequently because of that but I have about 30 reels framed with scenes shot over the last 10 years. When I load them in the viewer or my stereomatic projector it feels like travelling in time.

Cheers
Stefan

Helen B · Jan 20, 2006

I've been collecting stereocards in a small way for many years, and got myself a Wirgin stereo camera a while ago. That became less and less reliable so I now have a Realist. I've just started to use an SL 66 on a slide bar for landscapes. I make stereocards to fit in a Holmes viewer.

Best,
Helen

Allen Friday · Jan 21, 2006

Pentax makes an adapter that fits on most 50mm lenses. The adapter creates two side by side images on a single 35mm neg. I have the prints enlarged at my local drug store to 5x7 and view them on an old wooden steroviewer.

The pentax adapter comes with a viewing device to view 35mm slides made with the adapter. Personally, I like the prints better.

The adapter is pretty expensive new, but used ones show up on that auction site fairly often.

reellis67 · Jan 24, 2006

Photo Engineer said:
There is a prism mount that you can buy for most lenses that produces a split stereo pair onto the film. It occupies one frame.

A friend of mine has one and digitizes his stereo negs using a special scanner program for them, then projects them on his large flat screen TV for viewing. I have not seen it, but he says that it makes the wall look like a window.

His Nikon looks rather spectacular with this huge double prism device mounted on the front of the lens.

PE

There are a couple out there, but only one that you can buy new; the Loreo stereo lens-in-a-cap. The older Pentax splitter is pretty cool, but goes for a fair chunk of change these days.

- Randy

Lowenburg · Feb 21, 2006

Iloca Stereo Camera

Recently I had the opportunity to see slides made with an Iloca stereo cam, and the images were stunning...family and party shots from the 50's shot on Kodachrome. I showed them to the students in my photo workshop and the kids were really impressed too. One of them actually said, "This is better than video..."

The camera belongs to a friend of mine she would like to get it repaired and start using it again. The shutter release is stuck from sitting on a shelf for the last 20 years, but otherwise it appears to be in great shape.

Anyone know where to get repairs on these cameras?

Thanks!

Allen Friday · Feb 21, 2006

I had not shot stereo for many years. This thread got my interest rekindled. Two weeks ago I went to Paris for a museum tour with my son (an art major in college.) I left the medium format gear at home and struck out with my Canon AE1, purchased when I was in high school 30 years ago, with the Pentax adapter on the front. What fun. I have hundreds (maybe thousands) of medium format negs of Paris taken over the years. It was refreshing to go back to a place and photograph it with new eyes.

The prints are stunning. I showed the prints in a wooden stero adapter to those in my dinner club, they were amazed. A few didn't know it was still possible to create stereo images. I had great fun because I wasn't looking for the "great shot" to round out my older negs. I was just shooting. Even the tired cliche shots of the monuments look fresh in stereo.

Thanks for the inspiration!

Allen

reellis67 · Feb 21, 2006

If you like stereographs, there are exchange groups and study groups where a folio is mailed from member to member and each person changes their cards each time it visits them and makes comments of the views of others. If you are interested, let me know and I can give you contact info.

- Randy

mfobrien · Feb 21, 2006

I have one of those Pentax Stereo outfits with the viewer... it's unused as far as I know, and was thinking of throwing it on ebay. PM me if you are interested before I do that.

Kevin Roach · Feb 21, 2006

I've been using a stereo realist for 20 years. I've got boxes of slides. I like the realist because it is so simple and tough. Not much can break on these cameras and if it does you can fix it easily.

Cutting and mounting the slides can be fun. I make the kids help and we turn it into a family night, cutting and viewing slides.

There are a lot of gizmoes you can buy. Mostly a good slide cutter and a decent viewer are needed. I have a couple of viewers, the best is a realist. But kodak and TDC work well too.

I tried a couple other formats but I really think the Stereo Realist is the best system for the buck.

Now the funny thing is...I'm blind in one eye. I can't see in stereo! But everyone tells me it is very cool.

here's a good website and Dr. T's ebay store
Dead Link Removed
http://stores.ebay.com/DrT-3d

Kevin Roach · Feb 21, 2006

Lowenburg

The Dr. T website might have a repair manual for that camera or he does repairs also. Dr. T is the certo6 of stereo cameras.

zenrhino · Feb 21, 2006

Im in class at MCAD with a cat who does stereo with a pair of AE1's on a rail. Portraiture, landscapes, infrared -- all of it just stunning. But he was saying he's had the best luck using two SLRs on a rail and a double plunger rather than a stereo camera, fwiw.

reellis67 · Feb 28, 2006

zenrhino said:
Im in class at MCAD with a cat who does stereo with a pair of AE1's on a rail. Portraiture, landscapes, infrared -- all of it just stunning. But he was saying he's had the best luck using two SLRs on a rail and a double plunger rather than a stereo camera, fwiw.

As long as you can keep the shutters in close enough sych for the subject, you will be fine using two cameras. Fast movin subjects can be a pain though... The benefit of a stereo camera is that the shutters are very well synched, sometimes even being one physical device for both lenses.

For two camera work, there are split cable releases out there that allow you to trip two SLRs at once, but I have not used one. You can even use one standard camera and move it to the side a bit (this is called the cha-cha method) but you often get rotational problems or variable separation, which can cause some viewing discomfort. Manfroto makes a couple of slide bars, which are really designed for macro work, but work well as a slide bar for stereo work.

- Randy

Allen Friday · Feb 28, 2006

A few years ago while on a day long, bus trip, I traveled with a Japanese man with a Nikon stereo camera. I had never seen anything like it and have not seen one since. It was the basic shape of a Nikon F3, but the body was double wide. It had two zoom lenses which were calibrated together. Single view finder.

This is probably the ultimate in 35mm stereo. Is anyone familiar with this camera? It is possible it was custom built. It could only be available in Japan. I would have asked him, but he didn't speak English and I don't speak Japanese.

Helen B · Feb 28, 2006

There are quite a few custom built stereo cameras around. RBT do conversions, and I have seen a comprehensive set of instructions for joining two Nikon FEs together, but I can't find the link to that right now.

Is there enough interest to have an APUG stereocard swap, I wonder?

Best,
Helen

reellis67 · Mar 7, 2006

Helen B said:
... Is there enough interest to have an APUG stereocard swap, I wonder?

Best,
Helen

I'm in two exchanges outside APUG so I would be interested doing one here...

- Randy

Stereoscopic photography

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Stereoscopic photography

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