3D Film Cameras?

3D Film cameras, also known as stereoscopic cameras, were original designed to produce “3D” photos. They had 2 or more lenses which helped to create more realistic depth perception, however; this required a specialist type of processing known as lenticular development which is no longer offered. Instead these cameras are now used to produce moving images or GIFs!

An example of one of these unique cameras is this Nimslo 3D 

Close up image of the 4 lenses found on a Nishika N8000

When the shutter is fired on a 3D camera each lens will take a half frame image on a roll of 35mm film. After finishing your roll of film it can be developed as normal and you will receive multiple images of the same scene. Each image may look the same but they are all taken from a slightly different perspective.

4 images taken from a Nimslo 3D on Ilford HP5

These images can then be processed to moving a moving image. There are multiple guides outlining how to process your images into a single 3D photos using Photoshop. But to keep things simple I decided to use an app (available on both Apple and Android devices) that was developed by Reto, who have actually started producing these 3D cameras again.

You will be required to choose a point of focus for your image, typically it is best to choose the subject that is closest to the camera. This allows the image to move around your point of focus, here are some examples: