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Fujifilm FinePix REAL 3D System

The Fuji 3D system is made up for a camera the Finepix Real 3D W1, a 3D viewer Finepix Real 3D V1, but they have also developed a 3D printing technology so you can print out the 3D images as well. With this system you do not need special glasses to view the images, the technology used allows you to view the images on the camera LCD panel and the viewer with the naked eye. A real breakthrough and it works.

Finepix Real 3D W1

This is the first compact digital all in one 3D camera on the market and with 3D becoming more popular I am sure we will see more of them in the future. After reading the reviews I got a chance to see it and to get to hold it at the Focus on Imaging Show in March 2010. It is basically 2 cameras in one small body, it was small and compact no bigger than an average compact camera. It has two lenses with 3x optical zoom and two 10 megapixel CCD's, so not only operates as a 3D camera

but will also take 2D photos as well. As well as taking still images it will also take movie images and for this it comes with two inbuilt microphones and speakers giving stereo recording and playback. When you take a picture two images are captured at the same time and its inbuilt image processing system merges them to create a 3D image which you can view on it's rear 2.8" LCD monitor.

The controls on the back were intuitive and on button allows you to quickely change from 3D to 2D shooting. The LCD panel on the back was able to view the 3D images clearly, so you get to see what you have shot straight away. Its 3D auto function allows you to capture 3D images simply and you can take 3D stills and movie.

However the camera also allows you to shoot 2D images as well but because it has two sensors you can actually capture 2 different images of the same scene on the same push of the button, with its simultaneous shooting method, each lens CCD is treated like a separate camera, so it's like having two cameras in one and you can take both telephoto and wide angle shots at the same time, or a standard picture alongside a black and white, or with a moving image as you pan you can take them with differing degrees of sensitivity so that one image has more motion blur than the other.

Like most compacts it comes with 13 pre-defined scene modes as well as M, A and P modes.

The 2D images are saved as JPEG's and the only downside I suppose is with the 3D images in that they are captured in MPO format which means it limits where they can be viewed. The camera does come bundled with a piece of software FinePixViewer which allows the MP format to be converted to conventional 2D formats.

There is no need for special tripod mounts, or any special knowledge to take the 3D images, you just point and shoot the camera does everything else for you. The cost of the camera is around £450.

If you want to find out more about what the camera can do before outlaying any cash then take a look at it's instruction manual available as a PDF.

3D viewer Finepix Real 3D V1

management and navigation functions that allow you to organize and select photos from micro thumbnail, 5 or 9 frame views at a time. It also has an image search facility. When playing back moves you get stereo sound.

It can view images stored on SD cards, but can also take images direct from the camera via a wi-fi link, or from a computer via a USB cable.

We took a look at the viewer, the colours were good, bright and vibrant, the 3D image wasn't bad especially if you stood directly in front of it, just being a little off line and you started to loose the 3D effect or your eyes started to see the two images instead of one.

The cost of the viewer is around £350.

However if you decide to get the camera it is worth getting the viewer to be able to see the images at a decent resolution and size, the downside of this is the cost by the time you buy camera and viewer you are looking at nearly around £800. Although Park Cameras have a bundled offer at £700 as at March 2010.

Printing 3D Images

Of course capturing 3D images and then viewing them on the viewer is one thing, but what if we want printed images to give to friends or relations. Well Fuji have thought of this also and have produced a print system which uses Lenticular technology. They were  demonstrating a printer which could print out the 3D images and then put them behind a Lenticular sheet. They had some sample images on display and they were good. Prints currently come in two sizes of 4" x 6" and 5" x 7".

Of course it's not possible for all of us to go out and buy a special printer and for the number of images we potentially want printed it would not be cost effective. So Fuji have come up with a solution and have their own online printing service. You upload your images to their site and can request prints in 2 different sizes 6"x4" or 5"x7". This service is not cheap, with 6"x4" prints costing £3.99 each and 5"x7" costing £4.29 each, then there is a delivery charge of £4.99 per order as at March 2010. It is also not fast, as the prints are being hand printed they say it will be printed, packaged and delivered to you in 20 days. If you want to find out more about this service, how it works, the specification of the images they need then take a look at their dedicated website for this www.fujifilmreal3d.com.

If you want to find out more about this 3D experience then take a look at the special site Fuji has put together on this at finepix.com/3d/en/index.html. They also have a PDF brochure available covering the REAL 3D range.

See more on 3D in our 3D Section.