DANIEL MAKES A 3D CAMERA

I used to take a standard 35mm camera on my mountain backpacking trips, but was always disappointed in the lack of depth in the resulting slides. The spectacular sense of space, the exhilaration from standing near a ledge with a 3000' drop, all this was impossible to convey in a normal photograph. I knew I wanted to take stereoscopic (3D) photographs but I was dissatisfied with the quality one could obtain with commercial 35mm stereo cameras, such as the famous Stereo Realist from the 1950s. I realized that to get the image quality I desired, I would have to use 120 roll film. I also wanted a horizontal rectangular format, so I couldn't merely link two Rolleis or Hasselblads (with their square formats) together. I finally decided to build my own camera for taking pairs of "ideal format" (60 X 70 mm) transparencies. I have used this camera successfully for more than twenty-five years. I look at the pairs of transparencies in a custom-built viewer, and I have also built a full projection system.

CLICK ON ANY PHOTO BELOW TO ENLARGE IT
This is my camera, built into a 10x5x3" electronic chassis box. I used a matched pair of 65mm f8 Schneider Super Angulon lenses with focusing mounts. To advance the film, I cannibalized a view camera roll film holder for the winding mechanism. For previewing in 3D, I mounted a pair of optical viewfinders designed for 28mm wide-angle lenses on a 35mm rangefinder camera (approximately the same angle of coverage as my 65mm lenses). Simultaneous exposures of the left and right images were achieved with a dual cable release.
An inside view of the camera shows the film plane.
My viewer is a modified Wheatstone design, incorporating mirrors at 45 degrees to accommodate the large transparencies, which are mounted in "ideal format" Perrot-Color glass/metal mounts. The large diameter viewing lenses allow any person to view comfortably, without the need for an interpupillary adjustment. Focus is fixed and set for distance corrected vision. Eyeglass wearers can view the entire field comfortably.
Inside the viewer can be seen the front surface mirrors and small incandescent lamps.
The dual projector employs polarizing filters with crossed axes for image selection (independent presentation of the left and right images). An aluminized Kodak Ektalite screen is used to achieve high brightness while preserving polarization.

Daniel takes 3D photographs - for viewing on your computer monitor using the crossed-eye method.

3D Web - providing links to many 3D sites

3D Stuff - another excellent 3D site

return to DANIEL GREENHOUSE

return to THE GREAT GREENHOUSE WEB SITE 
send email to: