Photograph of the “fishing pond” at the 2012 Spokane Valley Fest. Photographed using two Lumix GH-2 cameras, 14-42mm lens on the 14mm end. I really like how all the “clutter” creates very nice depth in this photo, plus the camera alignment was decent at the time of the shoot 🙂
Use red/cyan glasses for viewing this stereoscopic anaglyph image. Click on the image for a full size photo.
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This is a red/cyan stereoscopic anaglyph still frame from an HD 3D video. Equipment used was two Canon Vixia HF M301 consumer camcorders on a homemade mount.
I also photographed this as a 3D still image using two Lumix GH-2 cameras. However – notice the problem? The reflection in the pool really messes with the eyes in this 3D image. I think this means we need to be very careful about reflections, whether in water, or bouncing off of cars and windows.
The following photos were taken while hiking, using a single Lumix GH-2 camera. Â The 3D effect is created by taking the left image photo, then moving the camera slightly to the right, and taking the right image photo. The two images are then combined in Stereo Photo Maker to create these red/cyan anaglyph images.
(Click on any image for full size – all are in red/cyan stereo anaglyph format)
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While hiking I took several 3D photos using a single Canon SX1 IS camera. This works by taking a photo and then sliding the camera a couple of inches to the right and taking the same photo again. The left and right images are then combined with Stereo Photo Maker to create a 3D image.
Obviously, when handheld, camera pointing is not perfectly aligned in the left and right images. Much of the alignment can be cleaned up in Stereo Photo Maker but there will be little artifacts, like lens barrel distortion, still present. But still, this is an interesting way of easily photographing 3D photos of stationary subjects.
(Click on any image for full size – all are in red/cyan stereo anaglyph format)
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The photos below do not show all the mounts I have built but you get the general idea. For example, several mounts are just pieces of drilled out steel or aluminum mounted to a tripod adapter.
One problem with putting cameras side by side on a length of aluminum is that you need to put a hole and fastening nut for the tripod mount, in between the cameras, which means 3/4 to 1 inch extra gap between the cameras, spacing the lens wider than necessary.
That led to this bracket which puts the cameras on the top level and the tripod mount on the bottom level. These metal brackets are steel straps sold at a local hardware store, then drilled out for the desired spacing.
1/4-20 screws attached to knobs (available at a hardware store) are used to connect cameras on top of the top rail. I also have a version of this that has 3 levels – the middle level, like above, holds the cameras. A third level above the cameras holds mounts for shot gun mics. I’ll have to post a photo of that some day!
A seldom used mount is this very wide angle setup, which is made from two oversized calipers, used in drafting. The two camera mounts are adjustable to provide lens spacing of up to about 2 feet. But keep in mind there are very few situations (big landscape shots mostly) where you will ever need something this big.
I recently purchased this milled piece of aluminum bar which provides an adjustable camera mount. The center contains both a 1/4-20 and a 3/8 tripod threaded mounting hole.
After this photo was taken, I modified the bar slightly so I could mount it in the earlier 3D mount, above. With the adjustable rail, I can get the two Canon HF M301 video cameras down to a 2 3/4″ lens separation (center to center), plus where needed, I can also spread the cameras apart.
The rough rule of thumb is that the main object in 3D space should be at least 30x the lens spacing away from the cameras. At 6″ camera spacing, the minimum subject distance should be 15 feet (6″ x 30 = 15 feet). At 2 3/4″ we can cut that distance in half. And that is really a minimum – I find better results when the subject distance is kept beyond the minimum.
But there are other considerations when setting the camera spacing. For some situations moving the lenses further apart helps to emphasize the depth effect. For example, when I was shooting Hoopfest at 3″ spacing, the depth effect disappeared around 150 feet (or so) from the camera. But when I set the lens spacing to about 6″, the depth effect was nicely visible down the whole city block.
