At the end of Tim Walker’s V&A exhibition, there’s a sign that shows another part of V&A Museum that we should look up to. I went to the photography gallery on the upper level, and found a section of stereograph images made in the past.
As I was just started to get my interest in 3D, VR, and AR, this collection delighted me. I knew the existence of stereograph images before this, but never realise that it is very interesting. And to discover that it’s an ancient technique was just another surprise. I feel the necessity of learning about stereoscopic images because it gives a sense of 3D world that VR offers and it will add another type of output I can produce for my work. In addition, I found that stereoscopic images can be made into .gif format. So you have a digital version that allows you to see the effect without using cards or telescope.
Example of stereoscopic .gif
I tried to search on how to produce such images and turned out I need a stereoscopic camera. The OG one is Nimslo, and the better later generation is Nishiki N series, particularly the Nishiki N8000. I wanted to buy one of them, but both cost a lot. Then I found a company from Hong Kong, funded by Kickstarter, that currently making the ‘modernised’ stereoscopic camera, called Reto. The camera also comes with an app with the same name, and it eases the process of making digital .gif. The camera costs a lot cheaper than Nimslo and Nishiki, but I read some reviews that said the quality isn’t as good as its predecessor (well, figures). I am still contemplating on which camera to buy, but I tried experimenting with the app on my phone.
I think I’ll need a lot of practices to reach the perfect stereoscopic effect. For now, I’ll continue experimenting before I decided on which camera to get. I’d love to create media production with this technique in the future!