Re: Computer Stuff? I Know!

[P3D Larry Berlin <lberlin@xxxxxxxxx>]

> Dr. George A. Themelis comments to a question:
>>More than likely in another ten years all the new cameras will be digital.  
>
>Maybe, but are there going to be any digital stereo cameras?  More than
>likely, there will not be.  So, I will continue to use my Realist.  As 
>long as I can get film for it.

**********  I'm of the opinion that we are on the brink of a time when 3D
will come back into popular use and will pass a threshold of societal
usefulness and will never again be missing from common usage. As 3D enters
the mainstream again people will want new cameras that shoot 3D. The current
trend towards digital can so easily be modified to include stereo cameras
that I think the future holds digital stereo cameras by the dozen.

Just today I visited a camera store and marveled at the array of digital
cameras set up on the shelf. Already at least a dozen, and most so small
they could get lost in your pocket. Anyone with a budget able to afford two
of these will not have to get out the hacksaw to make a stereo rig. Simply
attach the cameras to your slide bar arrangement and start shooting.
Two-camera 3D will no longer pose a problem to getting an *Ortho* shot.

It's possible that tomorrow's stereo camera will in fact be just a kit that
allows flexible use of two or more spearate digital cameras, along with
processing software for the specific needs of the stereographer. When the
tools change dramatically, one's needs start to look different too. : -)

What is the best slide bar system currently available? Assuming cameras
about half the size of normal 35mm cameras (or less), one could use a very
light-weight system. There could be a great deal of flexibility with the
separate camera approach. Hmmm.... Any slidebar makers in the group?

>Sam Smith writes:
>Perhaps what is needed is simply a 3D Survival Kit rather than waiting for
>some miraculous company to suddenly appear and dazzle us all with a $25
>digital stereo camera. The kit would give ideas for conversions, formulas
>for film alternatives, and sourse of supplies. Any authors out there? 

How about an excellent light-weight adjustable slide bar, connection cables,
extra lenses, software for processing, a booklet on how to take and what to
do with your stereo photos, a comprehensive set of glasses and viewers for
most presentation types, and examples of good stereo shots? This *kit* would
make any pair of small digital cameras into a nifty  adaptable stereo rig. 

If a comprehensive kit will create the best stereo camera, why should the
manufacturers try and house the gear in a single camera? Maybe we already
have tomorrow's stereo camera today, just not at tomorrow's price?

Larry Berlin

Email: lberlin@xxxxxxxxx
http://www.sonic.net/~lberlin/
http://3dzine.simplenet.com/


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