3D Stereo Lens Adapter

I'd like to experiment with 3D stereo images (cross-eye) and I know that
there are devices available that will split a 35mm frame into two parts
using a prism and two auxillary (left & right) lenses; I'm assuming that
this device screws into the filter threads of a "normal" (50mm) lens? Can
someone enlighten me about this, or give me some information links? I did a
search on eBay and I found a couple of these, but they were designed for
Contex mounts, meaning that they replaced the normal lens, I have a Nikon!

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks,
Ray

On Sun, 26 Nov 2006 00:39:00 -0800, "Lunaray"
wrote:

I'd like to experiment with 3D stereo images (cross-eye) and I know that
there are devices available that will split a 35mm frame into two parts
using a prism and two auxillary (left & right) lenses; I'm assuming that
this device screws into the filter threads of a "normal" (50mm) lens? Can
someone enlighten me about this, or give me some information links? I did a
search on eBay and I found a couple of these, but they were designed for
Contex mounts, meaning that they replaced the normal lens, I have a Nikon!

There's a Chinese-made beam splitter available under the label "Stereo
World" (see http://www.pauck.de/marco/photo/stereo/stereo.html) but
a quick search didn't turn up any current source for buying them. (I
bought mine about fifteen years ago.) It screws into a 52mm filter
thread and works reasonably well providing you keep the lens stopped
down and take care to prevent the splitter from rotating away from the
horizontal.

It doesn't work with any lens wider than 50mm, and at 50mm it benefits
from having its shiny internal surfaces covered with black felt or
some similar material, otherwise the edges of the splitter show up at
the top and bottom of the frame. At 50mm it works best at f/8; any
wider and the images overlap, while smaller apertures cause a thick
black bar to waste space in the middle of the frame. With a 105mm lens
f/13 is best.

Another solution is the Loreo 3D Lens in a Cap, which replaces the
normal lens and is available in a Nikon fit. It has a focal length of
38mm, offers apertures of f/11 and f/22, and focuses to 1.5m, 3m or
infinity. See http://www.loreo.com/pages/products/loreo_3dcap.html
for details.

Note that these solutions do not give cross-eye images so you'll have
to swap the sides with an image editor. Note also that the Lens in a
Cap comes in full-frame and digital versions.

--
Matthew Winn
[If replying by mail remove the "r" from "urk"]

Note that these solutions do not give cross-eye images so you'll have
to swap the sides with an image editor. Note also that the Lens in a
Cap comes in full-frame and digital versions.

--
Matthew Winn

Thanks Matthew, this is great information, it gives me a place to start!

"Lunaray" wrote:

I'd like to experiment with 3D stereo images (cross-eye) and I
know that there are devices available that will split a 35mm
frame into two parts using a prism and two auxillary (left &
right) lenses; I'm assuming that this device screws into the
filter threads of a "normal" (50mm) lens? Can someone enlighten
me about this, or give me some information links? I did a
search on eBay and I found a couple of these, but they were
designed for Contex mounts, meaning that they replaced the
normal lens, I have a Nikon!

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks,
Ray

If you don't mind using film, you might consider one of the original
3D cameras, like the Kodak Realist 45 that I use (see
http://www.JustUs.ca/3D/). They appear from time to time on eBay.
There's one expiring today (http://cgi.ebay.com/Unused-David-White-
Stereo-Realist-f3-5-w-
case_W0QQitemZ300051086184QQihZ020QQcategoryZ15234 QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewIte
m). The photos on my website (JustUs mentioned above) were all taken
with this camera. I scanned the film in a Nikon Coolscan IV.

In article , Lunaray
wrote:

I did a
search on eBay and I found a couple of these, but they were designed for
Contex mounts, meaning that they replaced the normal lens, I have a Nikon!

I think you mean Contax or Contarex mounts. Back in the 40's and 50's,
Zeiss made reasonably effective stereo adapters for several of their
cameras. There are or were somewhat similar third-party devices for
other cameras; but in general the results were very poor and I haven't
seen them in many years.

If you're talking about film photography, your best choice would be a
purpose built stereo camera. Realist was the best known, but during the
craze in the 50's many companies offered them, including Kodak, Revere,
and Graflex. I've tried several of these with fine results over the
years. From a camera dealer that has an idea of their value, you'll pay
a good bit; but I occasionally see a working example for a few dollars
at yard sales and thrift stores.

http://www.stereoscopy.com/cameras/index.html

Another choice, film OR digital, is to simply clamp two identical
cameras side-by-side to take stereo pairs. I've done this with cameras
as unsuitable as Rolleiflexes. I can easily see a couple of inexpensive
digitals used this way; the biggest trick would be an arrangement to
trip the shutters simultaneously (which is quite important).

in fact, with the two camera trick manual settings and prime (non-zoom)
lenses are almost necessary to be sure both are set exactly the same.

I suppose it shows that I was once quite the stereo devotee. If you
become really interested, make sure to, at least once, view a 35mm
stereo pair through a good optical viewer - preferably on Kodachrome.
Amazing!

hi pentax used to make one for a 49mm thread and a 52mm thread. I bought
mine in the early 80's then for about 40 to 60 uk pounds. Its basically 2
sets of mirrors arranged like periscopes but set horizontally and forms 2
images on the same slide. comes complete with a stereo viewer..
--


"Lunaray" wrote in message
. ..
I'd like to experiment with 3D stereo images (cross-eye) and I know that
there are devices available that will split a 35mm frame into two parts
using a prism and two auxillary (left & right) lenses; I'm assuming that
this device screws into the filter threads of a "normal" (50mm) lens? Can
someone enlighten me about this, or give me some information links? I did
a
search on eBay and I found a couple of these, but they were designed for
Contex mounts, meaning that they replaced the normal lens, I have a Nikon!

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks,
Ray

On Sun, 26 Nov 2006 00:39:00 -0800, "Lunaray"
wrote:

I'd like to experiment with 3D stereo images (cross-eye) and I know that
there are devices available that will split a 35mm frame into two parts
using a prism and two auxillary (left & right) lenses; I'm assuming that
this device screws into the filter threads of a "normal" (50mm) lens? Can
someone enlighten me about this, or give me some information links? I did a
search on eBay and I found a couple of these, but they were designed for
Contex mounts, meaning that they replaced the normal lens, I have a Nikon!

Any thoughts on this?


Sorry, this is not a direct reply to your question. I just mention it
for recors.

There is a company in Germany which builds stereo camera, You give two
identical manual cameras, they put the two cameras together and make a
new camera wuth two lenses, Sorry, I just saw a person who had such
camera but could not get detailes about the maker.

M

Thanks,
Ray

mogh baba wrote:
On Sun, 26 Nov 2006 00:39:00 -0800, "Lunaray"
wrote:

I'd like to experiment with 3D stereo images (cross-eye) and I know that
there are devices available that will split a 35mm frame into two parts
using a prism and two auxillary (left & right) lenses; I'm assuming that
this device screws into the filter threads of a "normal" (50mm) lens? Can
someone enlighten me about this, or give me some information links? I did a
search on eBay and I found a couple of these, but they were designed for
Contex mounts, meaning that they replaced the normal lens, I have a Nikon!

I use a Nikon with a variety of these 'beam splitters'. I use
Kodachrome and view them slides with a viewer designed for the purpose.
When I eventually go digital I expect to use the same beam splitter on
a 35mm lens.

The following beamsplitters use mirrors:
Pentax (good),
Zenit (poor)
stereo-tach (moderate but glue degrades)
Stitz (very fancy, adjustable mirror toe-in but suffers from multiple
reflections)

The following beamsplitters use prisms:
Zeiss Jena (the best beam splitter there is in my view)
Zeiss Jena 'small' splitter: uses a small interocular separation for
photgraphing small thingsZeiss Ikon Steritar 812 (has a plug-in blank
board)
Zeiss Ikon Steritar other types
Kodak retina (bayonet fitting only)

I have all of the above!!

The big advatage of the Zeiss Jena beam splitters is that there is no
bleeding between the images at any aperture. They solved the problem
that none of the others managed - smart lot thise East Germans. Prism
splitters generally suffer less from this butt he mirror ones really
need to be used at one special aperture, usually f/5.6. When buying,
watch out for marks on mirrors and for fungus inside prisms.

The Steritar 812 is designed for a 45mm lens. When you use it on a
50mm lens the 'stereo window' is rather close (40cm away) so it's good
really for portrait work, not scenery. There are lots of Steritars and
some have bayonettes and some have threads.

Check on eBay, they all come up regularly, there's Zeiss jena one
there at the moment. Expect to pay £100+ Also expect to pay £35 to
have a thread converter made to match it to the Nikon 52mm threads.

Then, if you use slides, you will need a viewer. In my view, Kodak
Retina viewer is best, Zeiss Jena also very good. With the rest, if
you have a nose of a reasonable size, you'll find it does not fit in
the space provided!

Someone else has mentioned the David White Stereo Realist camera. I
also have one of these but I prefer the Nikon.

hope this helps,

Robert (a bit of a stereo fanatic)

Robert wrote:


.... oh yes, one other comment. All of the beam splitters limit the
aperture a bit. I use a 50mm f/1.8 lens and set the camera to
overexpose by 1 stop (and I make sure I stop down to at least f/2.8).


Someone else mentioned the Loreo stereo lens. I have one of these
also. It works OK but the lens quality is poor and it has a fixed
aperture. It does not suffer from the mionr trapezium distortion that
the beam splitters do, however.

Robert

Check on eBay, they all come up regularly, there's Zeiss jena one
there at the moment. Expect to pay £100+ Also expect to pay £35 to
have a thread converter made to match it to the Nikon 52mm threads.

Then, if you use slides, you will need a viewer. In my view, Kodak
Retina viewer is best, Zeiss Jena also very good. With the rest, if
you have a nose of a reasonable size, you'll find it does not fit in
the space provided!

Someone else has mentioned the David White Stereo Realist camera. I
also have one of these but I prefer the Nikon.

hope this helps,

Robert (a bit of a stereo fanatic)
------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks Robert, this is good information, I'll take a look on ebay and see
what I can find!