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Stereoscopy for your digital SLR

Loreo's lens enables an SLR to take two simultaneous pictures of the same scene, letting people see 3D views from a print.

Stephen Shankland Former Principal Writer
Stephen Shankland worked at CNET from 1998 to 2024 and wrote about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.
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  • Shankland covered the tech industry for more than 25 years and was a science writer for five years before that. He has deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and more.
Stephen Shankland

Loreo's lens for taking stereo photographs, shown here mounted to a Canon SLR. Loreo

I have had a pet interest in the 3D photography technology called stereoscopy ever since my mom gave me a stereoscope of 19th century design for some boyhood birthday. Although the technology remains a small niche of photography, it is being adapted to the digital age.

I recently came across the Loreo 3D Lens in a Cap, a stereo lens that works on most film or digital SLRs. It's a 38mm lens with an f/11 of f/22 aperture that takes two images of the same scene from slightly different perspectives.

With stereoscopy, your brain can reconstruct depth information from the two images, just as it does with the two views from your eyes.

Loreo's 3D viewer Loreo

Loreo also sells a basic $24 3D viewer into which you can put 4x6 printouts of your stereo photos. The lenses cost between $48 and $117, depending on what model you buy.

(Via Red Ferret.)