NZ Stereoscopic Society Library

This post contains a listing of the contents of the library of the New Zealand Stereoscopic Society. Initially, in no particular order other than the order in the cardboard box they are contained in. It is a work in progress. Images are linked to where useful or interesting. The name of any donor and relevant date is noted in the description, if known. 

Books

"La Guadaloupe en Relief" by Chris C. (France) (Front Cover)

Description: Published some time in the 1980s (according to The Stereoscopic Society index of authors) . Glossy, soft-cover 52-page (including cover) booklet in French and English. There are 36 colour anaglyph photos of places, things and people on the island of Guadaloupe. The book itself contains no information about publisher or date of publication. But there is an advertisement for Air Canada that includes a photo of a Boeing 727 aircraft, which Air Canada did not use after 1992, so a date in the 1980s seems credible. The anaglyphs are colourful, but low-resolution and somewhat blurry in fine detail. The age of the prints mean the red-shift often isn't visible, so the depth perception is limited at best.

"Stereo Cameras Since 1930" by Dr. Werner Weiser (Front Cover)

Description: "An illustrated documentation of 69 stereo cameras since 1930". Dr Weiser surveys stereo cameras from 1930 to 1984, The German version of this book was published in 1985. This english version was published in 1988. If you want to know the tech spec of old stereo camera, this is probably the book for you. Also available via Amazon (used). 

"Make Your Own Stereo Pictures" by Julius B Kaiser (Front Cover)

Description: Owner: Vic (V H) Meston of Athenree -  ISBN: B0000CJ9P0 - Published in 1955 by the Macmillan Company in the US. First Printing. 344 pages. A 1955 state of the art technical textbook on everything to do with stereo photography and stereo image viewing. What is Stereo Photography? Equipment: One Single Lens Camera Equipment: Two Single Lens  CamerasEquipment: Stereo Cameras Composition for StereoTechnique: The Outdoor SceneAdjusting Lens SeparationTechnique: The Close UpFlash & Flood LightingColor FidelityMounting & Viewing EquipmentMounting ProcedurePrinciples in Stereo ProjectionProjecting the Stereo Show Stereo HorizonsIndex (very extensive!) 

"Stereo Realist Manual" by Willard D Morgan and Henry M Lester (Front Cover)

Description: Donated by Brian Tonks, September 2003.  ISBN-13 978-0871000545, Morgan & Lester Publishers (New York) / The Fountain Press (London). 1954. 400 pages. An in-depth look at how to use the "Stereo Realist" camera that was manufactured by the David White Company from 1957 to 1971. Lots of black and white stereo images and a few colour stereo images.  

"Practical Stereoscopic Photography" by J Moir Dalzell (Front Cover)

Description: Donated by Vic (V H) Meston of Athenree, November 1995. The Technical Press Ltd, London. 1936. 224 pages.  As per the foreword (by W L F Wastell) this book "will appeal to the hard-headed technician and to the lover of humour; to the photographer who desires to put the hallmark of perfection on his work, and to the coinoisseur of literary craftsmanship". Quite. So it is. They just don't write like this anymore. 

"3D Past and Present" by Wim Van Keulen (Front Cover)

Description: donated by Rex Julian - ISBN 90-71377-01-6 3D Book Productions, Netherlands, 1986 - Illustrated overview of the history of stereo imaging. Includes 3 Viewmaster discs.

"Simplified Stereoscopic Photography" by C W Wilman (Title Page)

Description: Percival Marshall & Co Ltd, London and Maidenhead. ca 1945 (undated). 72 pages. "The aim is ... to concentrate on stereoscopic technique, which has hitherto received comparatively little attention in this country." C W Wilman - This book focuses on the theory of stereoscopic photography.

"Photographie und Forschung" (Photography and Research) A compilation by Zeiss Ikon (camera makers) (Front Cover)

Description: 1956 / 57. The article relevant to 3D and stereoscopy is "Stereo-Photography with the CONTAX, the CONTAFLEX and the CONTINA", by Dr Otto Vierling. It's on pages 193 to 224. The rest of the book has nothing to do with 3D or stereoscopy.

"OBJECTIV - Tamenhummer Stereoscopi" by the Dansk Fotohistorisk Skelskab (Danish Photo Historical Society) (Front Cover)

Description: Donated by John Calcott 21 October 2001. Originally from Peter Randløv, Denmark. Includes articles by various authors; Flemming Berendt, Peter Randløv, Erik Fersling. Published in 1987. The history of stereoscopy is covered. Many camera models prior to 1980 are presented and described. There are many stereo pairs reproduced, all in black and white, dating back to the mid-1860s in some cases. Google Translate is of some help in understanding the content if you don't speak Danish.

"Photographing in 3D" by David Burder and Pat Whitehouse (Front Cover)

Description: Received 4th of July 1985 by "J.C." (John Calcott?). ISBN 0-950-6531-1-X Published by The Stereoscopic Society 1985. Contents: The 3-D Photograph, 3-D with an Ordinary Camera, Shifting the Camera, Mounting the Slides, A Simple Viewer, Using Two Cameras, Stereo Attachments, Projection, History, 3-D Today, Viewing Without a Viewer, Some Useful Addresses. There are 30 stereo pairs. Almost all are in colour. The back page holds a small, plastic viewer for parallel pairs that allows the viewer to see a third, stereo, image in the "middle". It works very well.

Viewmaster Reels

"3D Highlights - The Pat Whitehouse Show" 3D Book Productions (Front Cover)

Description: Published in 1989. A look at the life and work of the late Pat Whitehouse. 24 pages. 3 Viewmaster reels: "The Hallelujah Chorus", "At Home" and "Close-up in 3D".

"3D Highlights - Jacobus G. Ferwerda - The Man of 3D" 3D Book Publications (Front Cover)

Description: Published in 1989. A look at the life and 3D career of Jacobus Ferwerda. He experimented with large base stereo photography. The 32 page booklet also includes several pages about the Dutch 3-D Club and involvment in international organisations. 3 Viewmaster reels: 21 images of diverse subjects.

"Viewmaster Science Series - Ichthyology - Fish Life" Viewmaster Stereo Pictures - GAF Corporation (Front Cover)

Description: 3 Viewmaster reels of images of various fish. Includes a small 16-page booklet about the images included on the reels.

Newsletters and Articles

NZ Stereoscopic Society

An Outline of the History of the Stereographic Society (with particular reference to the N.Z. Section) (1977 09 05) PDF

A Personal History of the NZ Stereoscopic Society by Fritz Golding (1977 09 01) PDF 

Stereo Club of Southern California (now the LA 3D Club)
2011 July 3D News Vol LV #11 PDF
2011 June 3D News Vol LV #10 PDF
2011 May 3D News Vol LV #09 PDF
2011 April 3D News Vol LV #08 PDF
2011 March 3D News Vol LV #07 PDF
2011 February 3D News Vol LV #06 PDF
2011 January 3D News Vol LV #05 PDF

2010 December 3D News Vol LV #04 PDF
2010 February 3D News Vol LIV #06 PDF
2010 January 3D News Vol LIV #05 PDF

2009 December 3D News Vol LIV #04 PDF
2009 November 3D News Vol LIV #03 PDF
2009 October 3D News Vol LIV #02 PDF
2009 September 3D News Vol LIV #01 PDF
2009 August 3D News Vol LIII #12 PDF
2009 July 3D News Vol LIII #11 PDF
2009 June 3D News Vol LIII #10 PDF
2009 May 3D News Vol LIII #09 PDF
2009 April 3D News Vol LIII #08 PDF
2009 March 3D News Vol LIII #07 PDF
2009 February 3D News Vol LIII #06 PDF

2002 November 3D News Vol XLVII #11 PDF

Support Phereo.com!

I've been posting 3D photos on the Net for just over 4 years now. There have been several sites that tried to capture this niche. Most were the hobby of a single person. That person eventually got tired of spending time and money on their site and, after neglecting it for a while, it would disappear one day.

Sites like 3dporch.com, start3d.com and 3df33d.tv have all either died completely or persist as dead pages that can't be updated any more.

But one site has stood the test of time: phereo.com.

The good news is that phereo.com remains operational and has a dedicated community of 3D photographers who upload content daily to share with anyone and everyone.

The bad news is their business model didn't work out, so they have - for now - ceased developing the site. It is maintained by a volunteer.

Phereo is unique in offering a fully-functional Android app, a windows-based 3D image client called Phereoshop, and support for every major 3D mode out there, included 3DTV and Occulus Rift. If you're into 3D photos at all, please support Phereo.com by becoming a Pro member.

Please. :-)

3D Camera Crazy at the Tall Ships Festival 2013.

Yesterday, I went to see the tall ships in Auckland for the Tall Ships Festival 2013. I took lots of 3D photos (and some video). I've uploaded quite a few of the stills to phereo.com, though I did try very hard to be selective.

I used a Fuji Real 3D W3 camera and a DXG-5F9V (mainly for stills).   

Up Close at Niagara Falls

Unboxing the DXG-5F9V 3D video / still camera.

Cheap 3D TV Solution

I've been wanting a 3D TV for a while, but the pricing has put me off. Where I live, they cost about NZ$1499 for a 40" screen and you have to buy the glasses at about $100 / pair and each person needs one, so I'm looking at 5 pairs of glasses for about $500. Plus, no one broadcasts in 3D where I live, so 3D can only be for playback, not broadcast reception. 

There had to be a better way...and there is if you're prepared to compromise on screen size.

I recently bought an LG D2542P 25" monitor for my PC from PB Tech for NZ$338+GST. I found that it supports viewing of any 3D content I have that is in side-by-side parallel format. This is the default format for both my LG 3D Max phone and my Fuji Real 3D W3 camera, so it is a perfect match.

On my Windows 7 64-bit PC, the Tri-Def  3D software supports all 3D formats I've tried it with - excluding obvious ones like anaglyph where the "3D" is embedded in a 2D image using different colours.

I have been using my "Magix Movie Edit Pro MX Plus" video editing software to compose higher-quality 3D videos for local viewing. It's the same software I use to make 3D videos for upload to YouTube.  

3D TV

This worked so well on my PC we went out and got a cheap (NZ$124 on special) Philips BDP5200 3D Blu-ray  (with Wi-fi and ethernet) player from DSE. But we soon found it was hard to use the PC when people wanted to use the same screen for watching 3D movies.

I bought a second LG D2542P monitor to use as a dedicated TV.  Problem solved.

We have a Magic TV "My Freeview" set top box for viewing free-to-air digital TV. It and the Blu-ray player connect to the LG screen via HDMI. But as the screen only has one HDMI port, I bought a Digitech HDMI switch with 4 ports from Jaycar.  The Switch is HDMI 1.3b compliant (not 1.4) but works very well with the 3D Blu-ray player and the MagicTV box and I have had no problems. I also bought 2 x Concord 0.5m, HDMI 1.4 fly cables.

One little quirk: to get the LG screen to see the MagicTV box I had to connect a regular CRT TV to the MagicTV box and - via its setup menus - tell the MagicTV box it was talking to a PC monitor, not a CRT TV. After that, I connected the monitor to the MagicTV device and all was well. Maybe it would have worked anyway and I just wasn't being patient enough....but this way it definitely worked.

Audio is fed via HDMI to the 4-port switch which also includes an audio splitter. I run a male-to-male 3.5mm cable between the HDMI switch an the 3.5mm "AUX" input port on my very cheap Philips stereo. My ears aren't that great (though not that bad, either), so I don't waste money on hi-fidelity audio gear I can't really appreciate anyway.  

Now I can watch normal 2D TV or 3D Blu-ray movies on my very cheap  25" 3D TV. I can use passive glasses instead of active shutter, so the glasses are cheaper and viewing 3D movies is easier on the eyes.

The smaller screen means we have to sit closer, but we found this actually free-ed up a big chunk of the living room / lounge and we now have space to use for other things, whereas before the CRT TV had dominated the room. As we aren't really heavy TV watchers, they was a big waste of space. 

If you want a 3D TV for cheap and you're prepared to make some compromises on screen size, then this will work great.

Ok then....Lightbox is closing down.

I got up this morning to discover that Lightbox is closing down and their development team is moving to Facebook.

Lovely. In the 5 weeks I'd been on Lightbox I'd uploaded over 1,100 photos. On June 15th, they disappear.

The prudent approach seems to be to use my "+3D Luver NZ" page on Google+ as a base for future photo sharing and back that up with Streamzoo, where I am "Linuxluver"

I guess what annoys me most is the time I wasted on Lightbox....and they fixed my "Likes" counter just 2 days ago, which had been falling for 2 weeks. I think the total should be more like 6,600....as it went down by one for each 100 likes I got...and it went down by more than 25 in 2 weeks.  :-)

Not that I was keeping score or anything. ;-)