Although anaglyphs are convenient for web posting and viewable by almost anyone, you do require the red/blue glasses to see them. One of the most useful formats for web distribution is the side by side format either in cross eyed or parallel format.

The only difference between the cross eyed and parallel view images is that the cross eye images are supplied with the Right image on the left and the Left image on the Right. I personally find Parallel viewing easier on my eyes so sorry but the following images are all supplied as Parallel view.

To view these images, relax your eyes and try to focus behind your computer monitor. I’ve added dots to the tops of the images which when viewed correctly, you will see a “centre” image with the two dots overlaid on top of each other. This centre image should be in 3D. If you have trouble, make sure your head is level relative to the images.

Give it a go, no special equipment is required (except for two eyes), the only downside is that the images should be on the small side to assist with correct viewing at a normal sitting distance.

Here are all 10 images from my previous post in a side by side format.

They are from my first test of my dual camera rig. I got off the tube at Piccadilly Circus and walked to the London Eye.

Here are some of the highlights which I felt came out well.

As always, they are all ©2008 John Burns

Check out this picture..

Here is a crop from the full resolution version (click to see in 1:1 glory)..

It’s just awe inspiring. It’s put a smile on my face and I’m now tempted to take the rig on holiday to France next weekend.

I’ve processed a few other photos. I’ll try and upload them soon – I’ve been really busy lately studying for one of my Microsoft Exams.

The most amazing things are the sharpness and the synchronisation of the two cameras.

Take a look at this photo.

The real devil is in the detail. Here is a crop from it. (click to see in 1:1 glory).

Here are a couple of photos I took that did come out OK.

They are all Anaglyphs so require Red/Cyan Glasses.

The photos were all generated using StereoPhoto Maker – Sorry, it’s PC Only.

All photos are (c) John Burns

Loreo 3D Lens in a cap. Look OK, but looks can be deceiving.

It’s main problems are the quality of the lenses and the aperture.  The lenses are plastic AND the lens only has two aperture stops.

I had to use a side point in my cameras auto exposure as the very center of the frame is black.

The lens has one big bonus: Since the two lenses flip the images (as lenses do), the result you get on your camera is already in cross eyed format.

Exhibit A: Untouched result from Lens in a cap (Links to full 10MP photo)

As you can see from the above photo, about 8-10% of the center is lost due to some ghosting effect. Click on the image and get the full size (6MB) and take a look at the quality of the lens. There is little sharpness in the photo. Note that this was taken in the french alps in more than adequate sunlight.

Here is a photo taken within minutes using a standard consumer grade Canon 18-55mm lens.

Exhibit B. (Links to 4.5 Megabytes of 10 Megapixel goodness)

This is one of the many reasons why I decided to build a twin camera rig… It also looks kinda cool and lets me take high resolution 3D Landscape photos.

As usual, all images are (c) John Burns

Behold the monstrosity that is my USB camera remote:

It does look like a detonator but I’m hoping when plugged into two cameras it will look less suspicious. At least it doesn’t have a big red button on it!

It’s been tested and appears to be working properly but I’m still yet to get my final setup of the camera software working.

I’ve done a little bit of handywork around one of the usb plugs so I can bend it earlier to get the cameras closer together. I can get the lenses about 100mm apart which should be OK.

I hope to get the software setup on the cameras then I’ll be able to take my first dual camera 3D Stereo Photograph.

I’ve been playing around and found that with my cameras, they seem happy receiving 9 volts to trigger them. This makes the circuit very simple.

Disclaimer: USB is supposed to only work on 5 volts, YOU should use 5 volts. The camera ‘should’ have built in regulation to reglate the power supply….I’m not sure but I used 9 volts and it works for me and I took the risk of breaking a camera to try it. In other words, “Do as I say, not as I do.”.

The circuit I was working from is this:

Which was stolen from http://stereo.jpn.org/eng/sdm/quick.htm which has detailed instructions for making the remote and installing the software onto the memory cards.

Basically, the camera can be triggered when 5 volts is supplied across the normal power supply lines.
I’m going to destroy the two cables that came with my cameras and the wires inside that were black and red (as per the USB specification).

Here is the Flash Bracket I ordered:

It’s just a straight rail with TWO screws for mounting the cameras.

It’s already starting to look like I know what I’m doing:

(Yes, the cameras are running CHDK, but I’m still getting my head around it before I start posting about it)

I’ll try and get out and pick up the parts from Maplin to make my remote within the next week or so.

I had a different project in mind for them at the time (which I still may do) but the main reason for this particular model was it was the most compact camera with a decent resolution (7.1 MegaPixels) which supports CHDK, the Canon Hacker Development Kit.

In a nutshell, CHDK is a modified firmware for the camera with the exception that it’s not actually firmware, it’s software and as such is booted from the memory card. In fact, take the memory card out or format it and the camera will use it’s standard built in firmware.

I wanted to play around with CHDK as it had a very basic scripting functionality which allows you to script (In a BASIC type language) the taking of photos, etc.

Anyway, one of the many branches of the CHDK code, StereoData Maker has been optimized for dual camera 3D photography. It supports a very basic USB interface for a remote switch and can (supposedly) synchronize two cameras pretty closely (something like 1/100 of a second).

I’ve decided to play around with it and will be documenting my results.

Here’s a picture of the two cameras just begging to be played with.

CHDK will allow you to write scripts for super high resolution time-lapse photography, or if you install the motion detection code, you can take photos of Lightning. I suggest checking if your camera is supported and if so, have a play with it. Unfortunately as the name suggests, it’s for Canon cameras Only.