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3D (or Stereo) photography

In the old days they called it Stereo, in today's computer age 3D is perhaps a more common term. Stereo photographs were already made in the late 1840's, or about ten years after Daguerre created his first daguerreotypes. The fascination with stereo images lasted for about 120 years. Sadly, it is out of fashion today. But back then every decent well-to-do household had some stereo photographs, and it served as an entertainment of guests to view them with often beautifully presented stereo viewers. These are treasured collectors' items today. And, of course, the same goes for stereo cameras.

Talking of stereo cameras; one manufacturer, whose name later became immensely popular, was Franke & Heidecke - the creators of the Rolleiflex. In fact, the idea of the TLR came, when they modified a stereo camera. It puzzles me why stereo cameras are entirely missing from the product range of today's camera manufacturers. (I don't even dare to ask about stereo projectors.) Vintage equipment is rare, has been gobbled up by collectors, and expensive.

Digital cameras come to the rescue

Well, that's a bit of an over statement. But, one can have some fun with a digital camera, Photoshop (or a similar image editing program), and a pair of special glasses. Since the idea of how to do it is not mine, I will not describe it here. Instead, I include this link to Ross Alford's pages, where a tutorial can be found. I created the following image based on his instructions. (For those interested in vintage cameras, it depicts the Russian version of a Super Ikonta.) When you make yours, they will look more impressive full screen size. The limitation of this technique is that the images will appear black-and-white.

You need special glasses like these to view this image.

Useful links

• Stereo Photography Products
  

  It is worth checking out the site of this on-line retailer of stereo (or 3D) products. There is a colorful range 
  of cameras and accessories, many of which are rather innovative. However, don't be surprised if the very things
  you always craved for just happen to be 'out of stock'.

• Wiew Master
  

  These pages are an excellent resource for the famous View Master stereo camera and accessories.

[December, 2009] Finally, a stereo digital camera, made by Fuji, is available.

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