Stereo or 3D Cameras

For stereo photography – the ability to capture a 3D image on a 2D surface, you’ll need a stereo camera. This specialty camera has two lenses and imitates the technology of a pair of binoculars, which are similar to human vision in viewing not only the flat image but also depth. If you can remember back to the early and mid 1980’s, when children were thrilled with “Viewfinder” image stories, the 3D appearance of the pictures on the reels were accomplished with a 3D stereo camera.

A 3D camera creates an interesting effect on film, using what almost appears to be a simple shadow effect to make the images produced by 3D cameras seem to pop out from the page. In recent history, the use of these has become a little more common again with the introduction of the digital 3D camera and the 3D video camera. The 3D digital camera has allowed for these exciting images to be captured on digital media, where it can be downloaded to a computer and edited for further 3D imaging. The Nishika 3D camera is a popular instrument to create such optical illusions on your prints, and the Delta stereo camera is another typical tool used by photographers and artists looking to create 3D images on 2D media.

Stereo cameras can be imitated with regular cameras and exposures as well, if you can process the images in conjunction with each other. 3D appearance is achieved by imitating the eyes. Each eye has a slightly different angle and depth perception, and when working together, you get two images superimposed on the same exposure, as it were, within the brain. This creates a 3D image. If you take a regular camera and shoot the same image twice, simply moving the camera slightly to the left or right of the original position before snapping the second shot, these two images could be superimposed to create a 3D view of the subject, just like the snap of the two lenses on a stereo camera.

3D video cameras work on the same concept, simply rolling footage rather than snapping a single shot of something. Each lens is seeing a slightly different perspective and recording onto the same film to create a 3D effect. While these are not commonly used in everyday viewing, this is how 3D films, where “3D glasses” are worn, are created. For decades, this has been the only real purpose for such a machine.