Are there optical attachments for making stereo photos with one camera using two sequential exposures?
Asked 10/26/2016
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I want to experiment with stereophotography using a single camera. My idea is to capture a stereo pair by taking two shots in sequence, first through one side of a lens or mirror arrangement and then through the other side. Are there standard lens or mirror accessories designed for this, or is stereophotography normally done another way? I’m asking about two separate exposures, not split images recorded in one exposure.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
9y ago
2 Answers
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Are there standard lens or rather mirror systems for doing this?
There are stereoscopic lenses that let you take a single exposure with right and left images at once. One example is the Loreo stereoscopic lens:
There are many other similar devices that are or were made for a variety of cameras.
I'm not aware of an optical attachment that lets you take the two images separately, probably because capturing the images at two different times, even if they're close together, will always be a problem if there's any movement in the scene at all. It's very hard to get even a tree to stay completely still for the second or two that you might have between shots if you were working quickly -- the wind might blow the leaves, or a cloud might move and change the lighting. Animals, including people, would be impossible.
If you're aware of the possible problems and still want to experiment, my advice would be to move the entire camera from one position to the other. You could easily build a fixture for a tripod that lets you slide the camera between two positions. Find a short piece of appropriate straight metal stock (80/20 t-slotted extrusion would be perfect) and something that slides along it to which you can attach the camera (80/20 makes a variety of linear slides that fit their extrusions). Put stops at each end to establish the two positions, and then you'll be able to quickly and easily take photos in the same direction from two positions a fixed distance apart.
Originally by user4262. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user4262
9y ago
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There have been stereoscopic lens attachments that let one camera record left and right views in a single exposure, such as Loreo-style stereo lenses and similar mirror/prism devices. Those are the more standard one-camera solutions.
For your specific idea—one camera taking the two views as separate exposures—responders were not aware of a standard optical attachment made for that purpose. The main reason is that sequential stereo shots are easily ruined by any movement between exposures: people, animals, leaves, clouds, or even small lighting changes can make the pair difficult to view comfortably in 3D.
Because of that, stereo capture is usually done either with a single-exposure stereo attachment or with two cameras mounted side by side in a stereo rig. If your subject is completely static, two sequential shots with one camera can still be experimented with, but it is not the typical or most reliable approach.
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