Shooting in Stereo: 3D photography
Brian May and I have something in common; not being a rock god, nor being an astrophysicist. We share a love of stereo photography. I learned this fact while chatting with my friend Ruslan. He was working with Brian May (and the rest of the rock superstars of Queen) to bring “We Will Rock You” to the stage in Moscow. Ruslan mentioned that May (best known as a guitarist, songwriter and singer) was also a huge fan of stereo photography — the fancy word for 3D pictures. In fact, May’s lifelong love of stereo photography had led him to collaborate with Elena Vidal on a luxurious book of Victorian stereo photos, painstakingly researched, written and published in 2009. Of course I love Brian May’s music. I was impressed by his work as an astrophysicist. But publishing a book of stereographs? Inventing a folding stereoscope that could be included in the book for easy viewing? Now that is cool.
A classic stereo card viewer — the “Holmes” viewer, invented by Oliver Wendell Holmes. Viewing stereo cards was a parlour entertainment for decades.
“A Village Lost and Found” by Brian May and Elena Vidal. An annotated collection of Victorian stereo views.
Viewing a stereo photograph is a magical experience, even today in the 21st century. The recent boom in 3D IMAX and widescreen 3D TVs in the home have done nothing to diminish the magic. A simple stereo card offers an amazingly crisp viewing experience. Both of your eyes get to view a full resolution image, with no flicker, no colour filters and no polarized glasses. Taking in a 3D photograph can be a luxurious experience of voyeurism. Even in black and white, one has the sensation of “being there,” actually inside the scene of the card. Unlike 3D movies, the scene has been frozen. Your eyes can wander, taking in new details in every corner of the image, and travelling through the depth of the scene.
My magical experiences viewing 3D stereo cards sparked the question — how can I do that? Historical accounts of the stereocard industry depict photographers taking huge two-lensed sheet film cameras around the world to capture views in three dimensions. But that is not the only option for taking stereo photographs. In fact, there are many cameras — antiques, classics, and new off-the-shelf, which can be used to take stereo photos today.
What do you and all of these cameras have in common? Stereo vision! Two lenses are set apart approximately the same distance as human eyes. Lenses further apart exaggerate three-dimensionality, while lenses closer together minimize the effect.
Commonly available cameras will let you shoot in 3D on medium format film (120, and the rare 127 format,) 35mm film, and even digital. Let’s take a quick survey of the cameras above.
Formats for shooting 3D stereo photos (clockwise:) 120, 35mm, digital, 127.
Holga made not one, but two stereo cameras. The camera here is the twin-lens model, essentially a regular medium format Holga stretched to include two lenses and two shutters. The shutters are linked to a single shutter release. Focusing and exposure control is just as rudimentary as on a regular Holga, and image quality is to the same low standard. If you would rather eschew the poor plastic lenses, Holga sell a version of this camera with two pinholes instead. Both stereo Holgas can be adapted to take 35mm film with an auxilliary kit, but why bother? Big 120 negatives are the saving grace of the Holga solution, and are more easily scanned to make 3D prints or displays.
The stereo Holga, purchased from Lomography. Lomography offer a complete solution, with slide mounts and 3D slide viewer also available (if you don’t want to scan.)
The Second Golden Age of 3D — the 1950s
Following the Victorian stereo card, a second wave of 3D enthusiasm landed in the 1950′s. 3D movies were in the cinema, and Viewmaster took stereo photographs from the realm of parlour entertainment and moved them into the realm of children’s toy. Stereo photographs in the 1950′s were rarely in card form; slide film made it possible to project 3D slides onto a screen, or view the backlit 3D slides in a handheld viewer. Many stereo cameras were introduced for home use in the 1950′s. One of the more common models, the Coronet 3D, was also one of the simplest. It was loaded with 127 format roll-film. The shutter was a single-speed instantaneous shutter, and the lenses did not offer aperture controls or focusing. This modest feature set suggests that a stereo photographer might be displeased with the results of the camera, but the results speak for themselves. The single element meniscus lenses are reasonably sharp across the big frames on the 127 film. Shooting negative film instead of slide film gives plenty of exposure latitude. I shot ISO 160 colour negative (Portra, re-spooled into 127 format) on a sunny day in the spring, and was rewarded with well exposed images with saturated colour. Processing the film proved tricky; only Toronto Image Works wanted to take the odd 127 format roll, but they happily processed the C-41 film for me. Scanning was left to me; there is no automated processor that can scan 127.
Coronet 3D, made in England, circa 1954.
A stereo card made from a Coronet 3D shot, on ISO 160 Portra.
By far the most popular 3D camera of the mid-twentieth century was the Stereo Realist by the David White Company. “Realist format” was the defacto consumer standard for stereo photography from its introduction at the end of the 1940′s until the rise of digital imaging. The Realist format uses 35mm film, exposing two squarish frames at a time. Originally the film would be slide film; the frames were cut and mounted in slide mounts for viewing with a backlit viewer. Digitally scanning the realist frames let you make stereo cards easily, but you will have to scan your own film. Most labs don’t know what to do with the tightly-spaced half frames.
The David White Company made Stereo Realist cameras until the 1970′s but at the height of the craze other camera makers jumped onto the Realist format bandwagon. Kodak offered the Kodak Stereo. This is a sturdy little camera, with scale focusing, and manually controlled shutter and aperture. There are enough shutter speeds and aperture choices for typical daylight shooting. The viewfinder includes a spirit level, which helps keep the horizon straight and optimize the 3D effect.
The Kodak Stereo. Realist format camera. Circa 1957.
The Revere 33 is one of the top stereo cameras made during the 3D boom of the 1950′s. The lenses are high quality (Revere owned Wollensak, famed maker of lenses for the all-American Graflex Speed Graphic.) Of course manual shutter and aperture controls are at hand. But this camera adds a proper rangefinder for focusing, ensuring sharp results. Construction is very robust, with an inspiring level of fit and finish for an American camera.
Revere 33. Realist format camera. Circa 1953.
Digital Stereo Photography — Instant 3D
We now arrive in the second decade of the 21st century. The third wave of 3D mania has arrived. Cinemas are adding 3D screens, 3D TVs are headed for the home, and 3D photography is essentially unchanged from fifty years earlier. Until Fujifilm step in and release the FinePix Real 3D W1. This groundbreaking stereo camera follows firmly in the footsteps of the Stereo Realist; it is a consumer camera meant to bring 3D photography to the serious home photographer. The W1 is essentially two 10-megapixel point-and-shoot cameras in one body that is barely larger than a single-lens camera. The W1 offers features that are far beyond the capability of classic stereo cameras. It includes an autofocus zoom lens. It includes both automatic and parallel convergence controls (like setting how cross-eyed the lenses are depending on the distance of the subject.) It has an LCD display that is autostereoscopic, that is, 3D without needing glasses! It shoots still images in 2D (.jpg) and 3D (.mpo format) and can also shoot 3D movies. The camera construction is machined aluminum and feels good in the hand.
The W1 was replaced by Fujifilm with the W3. The new camera offers a much higher resolution LCD display, and improved interface, but at the cost of reduced lens spacing and reduced stereo effect. Fuji also offers a couple of nice accessories, including a large 3D LCD viewer/picture frame and an interface box for 3D televisions. Apparently they also offer 3D print making services, but I have never tried to use those.
The Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D W1. 10 megapixel (x2) digital camera. 2009.
The original retail price of the FinePix Real 3D W1 was 700 dollars. The refreshed W3 has a lower price point of 500 dollars. But considering the W3 uses the same 10-megapixel sensors, and has a narrower stereo base, finding a good price on a close-out W1 is a real bargain. In fact, that’s how my Dad and I ended up with matching W1′s for 500 less than they originally sold for. (Thanks Dad!) Both of us are tickled with the ease of use and picture quality. Fujifilm has delivered the modern version of the Stereo Realist.
Some of the stereo cards made by my Dad and I. The top three are my cards, output onto 5×7 photo paper at the local lab; Dad’s cards (below) are colour laser prints onto card stock made at the local print shop. Both of us used Stereo Photo Maker software to design the cards.
