Kickstarter Mercury Stereoscopic Medium Format Camera

[zhorton]

Mercury Works just launched a Kickstarter for a "universal" medium format stereo camera that takes a variety of lenses and features removable backs (using the Graflok/International 45 standard). It shoots 120 roll film, 4x5 sheet film, and 70mm film. The final fused image is 6x6. The campaign includes many accessories like ground glass backs, as well as high-quality (glass optics) stereo viewers for medium format stereo slides and digital (using Xperia 4k phones).

This is a passion project of mine that has taken my team five years to engineer and perfect. I hope that it can bring the magic of medium format 3D photography to folks who have avoided it due to a lack of serious tools.

You can check it out here:

I'm happy to answer any questions you might have!

 

[x-ray]

Looks like a very well designed and crafted camera.

Is the body machined from a single piece of aluminum? The lenses appear to be 47mm f8 Super Angulons. Is that correct?

I use a Sputnik but like many Russian cameras they look like they were forged on an anvil and are pretty crude. Yours is a beautiful piece of work.

 

[zhorton]

Thanks for your kind words, x-ray!

I have a Sputnik as well and know what you mean!

The body of the Stereo 12 is actually 3D printed, using several different materials and printers. It also contains a circuit board and many metal parts, etc., but the main body panels are 3D printed. We've been perfecting this technique since 2015, when we launched the Mercury Universal Camera system. We're pretty proud of our work, so thanks!

The camera can take a wide variety of lenses (26 tested so far, out of hundreds of possibilities). The Super Angulon 47mm f/5.6 is one of them, and highly recommended: it is of course a legendary lens, and takes medium format 3D images with amazing depth! It is one of my favorites.

We developed this camera to give photographers alternatives to the fixed-lens stereo cameras of the past. Your comment is spot on!

 

[Zuiko-logist]

It looks well designed and flexible. I am not into medium format stereo - how do you view the output?

 

[Pál_K]

Many years ago at Blue Moon camera I attended a presentation where 3D medium format transparencies were projected (we wore those colored 3D glasses) - it was absolutely astonishing.

 

[armadsen]

This looks like a really cool project! You mention that if Mamiya TLR lenses are used, some small modifications need to be made. Do these modifications compromise the ability to later use the lenses on a Mamiya TLR in the future?

I ask because I have a C330 and several lenses, and the ability to reuse those is attractive, but not if I have to "destroy" them in the process.

 

[Vince Lupo]

Nice project and seems like a fair price given all the work involved. I looked at the stereo samples you provided with my Lite Owl viewers and they look really good.

One thing that I've liked in the stereo cameras I collect are those that can either give you 6x6 pairs or a 6x13 panoramic by sliding the lens board to one side. I'm sure trying to implement something like that into your design would be pretty complex.

 

[x-ray]

Colored glasses aren’t used for this type of stereo viewing. A binocular type of viewer is used with a pair of prints or back lit transparencies. That’s how the Sputnik and similar cameras like a Stereo Realist work too. I believe Rollei and several other companies made stereo MF cameras around the 20’s. Amazing 3D effect that can be seen using this system.

 

[Vince Lupo]

Colored glasses aren’t used for this type of stereo viewing. A binocular type of viewer is used with a pair of prints or back lit transparencies. That’s how the Sputnik and similar cameras like a Stereo Realist work too. I believe Rollei and several other companies made stereo MF cameras around the 20’s. Amazing 3D effect that can be seen using this system.

Brian May (of the rock group Queen) is quite the stereo photography aficionado and has a line of books out as well as his ‘Owl’ viewers. The ‘Lite Owl’ viewers are pocketable and you can even wear them around your neck with a cord. Very handy at flea/antique markets if a vendor has old stereo cards for sale. They cost about $10.

Rollei had two cameras - the Heidoscop in two sizes and later the Rolleidoscop. Voigtlander had the Stereflektoskop (also in two sizes), which was basically copied by Rollei. I believe Franke and Heidecke initially worked for Voigtlander.

 

[zhorton]

It looks well designed and flexible. I am not into medium format stereo - how do you view the output?

Thanks! There are many ways to view the output from this system, some of which have been mentioned by others in this thread. There's the classic print viewer like Brian May's Owl and Owl Lite. That's the current version of old Victorian stereoscopes. You print 7.5" wide cards and view them via ambient light. Very fun, especially in a group setting! You can also view them on a good screen (monitor or TV) with a screen viewer (those are also inexpensive and use internal mirrors rather than lenses). Many people can also view them in "cross-eye" format without any viewer at all. You can load them into any VR headset. You can project them on a 3D projector. Moving up to the most spectacular method, you can view them in a dedicated medium format viewer like the Mercury Stereoscopes that are part of this Kickstarter (bundled with the camera system at the higher reward tiers). You can insert a Sony Xperia phone (which has a 4K screen) to view digital files in a really spectacular format. When viewing in this way, though high-quality lenses and the specialized viewer, you will feel like you are in the scene depicted. But the absolute ultimate viewing experience (in the entire world of photography, in my opinion) is backlit medium format stereo slides. The Mercury viewers do this as well as digital. It's like viewing a 3D IMAX movie, but instead of it happening in front of you, you are pretty much inside the photo. And of course, as a photo instead of film, you will see far more detail as you "explore" the space and the relationships captured in the photo. There is nothing else like this experience!

 

[zhorton]

This looks like a really cool project! You mention that if Mamiya TLR lenses are used, some small modifications need to be made. Do these modifications compromise the ability to later use the lenses on a Mamiya TLR in the future?

I ask because I have a C330 and several lenses, and the ability to reuse those is attractive, but not if I have to "destroy" them in the process.

Thanks! The modification to Mamiya TLR shutters (which includes adding a small hole to the release lever and re-adjusting a ring) does not affect the functioning of the shutter/lens, so they can still be used on your C330 if you remount them. One thing that can get in the way, though, is the shutter sync connector and wire. You can keep that functional and intact if you wish, or you can eliminate it for ease of use. Other shutters, such as Copals, require only the small hole, so are a little easier. But those TLR lenses/shutters are very plentiful and cheap, and so pretty attractive for use on this system. They take great photos, too! (There are many compatible lenses, so folks can choose between inexpensive, mid-range, or expensive lenses as they wish, and of course between a wide range of focal lengths.)