P3D Re: 3D for beginners (was "Is Tom Wrong")

[Michael Watters <mwatters@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Regarding options for the beginner:

There were many years when I was still taking 3D photos with nothing 

but a regular point and shoot 35mm camera I got as a birthday present 

from my parents.  The basic shuffle method.  I Did MOST of my viewing
 by just laying out the prints and cross-viewing them, although I did build 

a simple mirror-based viewer for looking at twin 4x6 prints. (Yes, I was
hacking my own stereo gear from day ONE).

Did I do anything resembling proper mounting of the prints?  Nope.
At most I'd stick them into photo albums next to each other so I could
flip through the book and cross-view them as I went through.  I wasn't
trimming them to set the window (Didn't even know the term existed).
I wasn't doing SQUAT to the prints.

I had LOTS of fun with it and enjoyed it a lot.  Even made my own 

viewmaster reel by loading slide film into a 110 camera and hacking 

out the film chips by hand.

Were there problems with things moving between the shots?  

Were there problems with the vertical/rotation/whatever?
Were they, in hind-sight, actually pretty bad?

YOU BET!  :)

But that wasn't the point.  The point was I enjoyed the effect and did a lot
 of playing around with it.  I wasn't worried about the technical problems
 that those early photos were full of.  I knew there were some problems 

here or there, but I just accepted them as being a result of my methods.  

For someone just starting in the hobby today, I'd personally recommend
 the exact same approach.  Assuming you've already got SOME sort of 

camera, it doesn't cost you one thin dime to play around with it and get 

started.   If they decide they like it and want to do more, then they're
 likely to start hunting for solutions to their problems.  THAT'S the only 

time they're likely to have to start buying things.  For beginners, they're
 gonna have a lot of fun before the problems start to bug them.  At that
 point they'll end up making the decision if they aren't that interested
 in 3D or if they want to take the plunge and buy/create themselves
 a dedicated stereo camera.

Now, if you've got handy access to a proper stereo camera, sure.  That's
the thing to do.  Start off with the right stuff, but short of that, I think
beginners are gonna be seriously put off by the prospect of shelling out
a minimum of $100 (more realistically - $150 or more) before seeing their
first stereo pair.  That's even assuming they have any idea about
where to go to buy the darn things.  When I first started, I was a
16yr old kid in HighSchool.  I wasn't aware that any stereo cameras
had ever been built.  If I did, I wouldn't have known where to go
to buy them or what I should be paying if I did.  I rather suspect that
the average person on the street is in pretty much the same situation.
   

These people will CERTAINLY benefit from knowing they don't
have to buy any special equipment.  


That's something I like about the ViewMagic viewer actually.  It's a
simple, cheap (low price that is) little thing, but the book that comes
with it makes a BIG point out of telling people how to take pictures
with their own cameras to view with the thing.  I like that.

mike
watters


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