Re: [photo-3d] full format with image splitter?

[Peter Davis <pd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 11:28 PM 02/16/2001, you wrote:
>Hi gang,
>
>Are there any 35mm cameras built with a wider format than 36x24....say,
>about 50x24 or even a72x24?  If such a camera (perhaps built with panorama
>shooting in mind) had a splitter attached to the front of the lens, one
>could obtain pairs of realist format 24x24 or perhaps even full format 36x24
>shots, through a single lens.

I think most panaramic cameras actually sweep the scene with a vertical 
slot aperture, so I don't think the splitter approach would work.


>Another possibility: What would happen if one attached a splitter to a
>medium format camera, then trimmed the top and bottom of each frame to
>create the above format stereo pairs?

You could do that, but it would probably be pretty expensive.  I don't know 
if any splitters have been commercially manufactured for medium format.  I 
would guess you'd get the same effect at a larger scale ... you'd wish you 
could have the whole medium format image size.

>I've just been curious about these possibilities.  Seems like a more
>efficient, (mechanically) more trouble free, and possibly less expensive way
>to go than an RBT camera.  What do you think?

If you're interested in splitters, I think the Tri-Delta Prism is the way 
to go.  It puts two horizontal (landscape-oriented) images top-to-top on a 
frame of film, and the viewer un-rotates these images.  There's also a 
projector adapter that fits over the taking unit itself to allow polarized 
projection.  It overcomes some of the drawbacks of more conventional 
splitters in that:

1) The images are wide, instead of tall and skinny.

2) The keystone distortion, if any, is symmetric in both images, so there's 
no "retinal rivalry".

I have one of these units and I've been very pleased with the results.  You 
still only get half a frame of film, but that's actually not much less than 
a Realist frame, and the wide format is pretty flexible.  I'm thinking of 
trying to find a digital camera on which I could attach one of these.

-pd
--------
                                 Peter Davis
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