This is a lovely video clip demonstrating the latest and greatest in 3D video technology from the mind of James Cameron. The system uses two high def cameras and a nice little parallax adjustment to create two images that are fused in the user’s head via polarizing glasses.
This should make this a wonderful camera if it ever become a standard production camera. The mass adoption of LCD screens in the home may make this rather tricky however. It’s common to use an alternating left right frame display coupled with LCD shutter glasses worn by the viewer. This is fine with old CRT tube TVs and monitors because of the way the images are ‘painted’ on the screen but it won’t work on LCD displays. I have no idea if it would work on a plasma or a DLP screen. Anyone know the answer to this?
I look forward to seeing the movie when it comes out, in an IMAX theater near you I should think. One extra note, it’s nice to see that I was on the right track with my own 3D video camera. I would ‘toe in’ the cameras when the subject would get near to mimic the way the human eyes deals with moving targets. Nice to see I’m on the right track.
[via uberreview]
Category: Photography
Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day
It’s coming up, that special day where everyone in the world takes pictures without a lens! If you are a fan of lens less photography like I am, then you should make an effort to ‘pinhole’ your surroundings and post them to the group galleries or if you have a Flickr account you can post them here.
What? Did you say that you don’t have a pinhole camera? Well if you care to break out the tools you can find instructions here to build your own or you can always buy the Pinhole Camera Kit Photography Kit from Amazon. Whatever you choose you had best do it quick, you are going to want to test out your camera to get the right exposure times. I hope to see your photos soon!
DIY Your Own Pinhole Blender
This is a great tutorial on how you can build your own multi shutter pinhole camera using old film canisters and a metal can. Very inventive I must say. The images taken with this sort of camera blends together different scenes in a very organic (see examples) way that many people can only achieve these days using a graphics program like Photoshop. Does anyone still remember the bad old days when trial and error was the only way to do such photographic manipulation?
Bricolage: weblog errante… Arquivo: Março de 2007
If you want to buy one, check out the ‘original’ pinhole blender at pinholeblender.com
3DWorld Medium Format Stereo Camera
Oh. Wow. A medium format stereo camera, now that is just f-ing cool!
The specs:
Camera Type: Medium Format Tri-lens Stereo Camera (Reflex Viewing Lens)
Lenses: Anti-reflection coated glass optics, seven elements in six groups. f/2.8, 80mm focal length
Lens Separation: 63.5mm
Focusing: manual adjustment, 0.8 m – infinity
Shutter Type: metal focal plane shutter
Aperture: F2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22 and six half stops
Shutter Speeds: B – 1/500Sec.
Light Metering: consists of two of SPD’s (silicon photo diodes) for light measurement; aperture and shutter speeds are matched according to the LED display.
Viewfinder: consists of a viewfinder hood and lens, Eye-level pentaprism type with .0.7 X magnification
Focusing Screen: Split-image microprism type surrounded by a Fresnel screen. 3 LEDs in 5 exposure graduations display overexposure (+), correct exposure (O) & underexposure (-)
Flash Synchronization: X-contact only, sync speed 1/30 sec. or slower
Film Advance: Lever provided; 16° standoff angle and 128° winding angle, aligning film numbers through window on camera back
Film: One roll of 120 reversal film for a pair of 58mm x 56mm stereo images. 6 pairs per roll.
Dimensions: Approx. 207mm x 205mm x 134mm (8.15″ x 8.07″ x 5.28”), camera body only
Weight: 1960g or 69oz (camera body only)
If the price wasn’t so high I’d buy one in a hearbeat.
3DWorld Medium Format Stereo Camera: ViewMaster, 3D Glasses, 3D Stereo Photography
(Thank you Brother Steve of the Church of the Holy Exposure for this one)
Cassini Spacecraft Images Seas on Saturn’s Moon Titan
Very nice, I hope the powers that be sign off on a Titan lander soon.
Instruments on NASA’s Cassini spacecraft have found evidence for seas, likely filled with liquid methane or ethane, in the high northern latitudes of Saturn’s moon Titan. One such feature is larger than any of the Great Lakes of North America and is about the same size as several seas on Earth.
Microelectromechanical Systems Image Gallery
MicroElectoMechanical Systems (wiki). Yep, these little suckers are going to be big one day, so to speak. I found a page full of examples of gears, racks, mirrors, shutters and drive trains all in beautiful electron microscope vision.
What is it? Well, Wikipedia has this to say about them and quite frankly it does a good job:
MEMS generally range in size from a micrometer (a millionth of a meter) to a millimeter (thousandth of a meter). At these size scales, the standard constructs of classical physics do not always hold true. Due to MEMS’ large surface area to volume ratio, surface effects such as electrostatics and wetting dominate volume effects such as inertia or thermal mass.
They are fabricated using modified semiconductor fabrication technology (used to make electronics), molding and plating, wet etching (KOH, TMAH) and dry etching (RIE and DRIE), electro discharge machining (EDM), and other technologies capable of manufacturing very small devices.
Companies with strong MEMS programs come in many sizes. The larger firms specialize in manufacturing high volume inexpensive components or packaged solutions for end markets such as automobiles, biomedical, and electronics. The successful small firms provide value in innovative solutions and absorb the expense of custom fabrication with high sales margins. In addition, both large and small companies work in R&D to explore MEMS technology. Complexity and performance of advanced MEMS based sensors are described by different MEMS sensor generations.
I do know that there are some of these wonderful devices in the new Nintendo Wii (shameless plug, can’t fault a man for trying to get some extra cash can you?).
(image Courtesy of Sandia National Laboratories, SUMMiTTM Technologies, www.mems.sandia.gov)
Sandia MEMS: Image Gallery