Toronto Photography Meetup Group

With 3D dedicated cameras coming onto the market I thought I'd start a thread on it (rather than just talking about it in the FourThirds social thread).

Why I posted this in "Gear and Equipment" rather than "Photography in General" is I want to focus on the current equipment or equipment that's coming out, rather than general techniques and past equipment.

I've done 3D photography for years, initially using two "JamCams" (since they were cheap), mounted on a metal bar. Recently at one of the camera shows I picked up two Fuji 2mp P&S cameras for $10 each which replaced the JamCams.

Trying to take a 3D shot with multiple cameras is difficult as there's always some motion between the two, and even with P&S cameras there are some differences in white balance, even if you could set them exactly alike.

When Panasonic recently announced they were coming out with a 3D lens for their Micro FourThirds camera line I had my interest reignited. The thing is the optics in the Panasonic 3D lens are quite close together so I can't believe the 3D effect would be that good; for proper 3D depth you need the optics the same distance apart as the human eyes.

The other thing which hasn't been released yet is what you can do with the images...are you limited to viewing them on a Panasonic 3D TV, or can you separate the two images so you can create lenticular or anaglyph 3D images?

Digging deeper, I found out that Fuji is releasing an updated version of their W1 3D P&S camera called the W3 (I didn't know Fuji had a 3D P&S). Yes you are using P&S sized sensors, and there's some limitations on the controls (no "S" mode), but the optics are the proper distance apart, and third party software already exists that can separate the two images from Fuji's proprietary MPO image format. Also the Fuji w3 has a neat feature in that it can take a wide and tele photo of your subject at the same time.

Which system I will get will depend on the information and reviews that will be released over the coming weeks specifically about the Panasonic 3D lens. Henry's is already listing the lens at $300, and another $1000 for the GH2 body which is probably required to handle the 3D lens (you can't pop this lens on any Micro FourThirds body as you need the firmware and processing power to handle the 3D).

The Fuji W3 is currently on sale for $479 ($20 off).

I'm not endorsing Henry's, just using them as a reference since they list both products.

Seems like 3D is all the rave nowadays, TVs, movies, etc.

When I was a kid (back in the 70's) I remember going to the Ontario Science Centre to watch 3D movies...back then it was classical themes like birds and butterflies coming out of the screen, and the audience looked something like this:


Somewhere I have a pair of 3D LCD shutter glasses from the 90's, but they could only be used with an NVidia card that had the 3DLCD minidin socket (you plugged the glasses into the video card).

The Photo Historical Society of Canada is having a 3D night on Wednesday October 20th with pictures taken with a pair of Hasselblad XPan cameras...unfortunately I can't go because I have commitments with TCC. http://www.phsc.ca

That 3D night looks interesting. I'm not a member, I hope they won't kick me out