Loreo 3D lens-in-a-cap (T) review

[orionid]

So, most of you have seen me use it, here’s my official review.

I purchased the Loreo 3D Lens-in-a-cap (T) fitted for Nikon about a year ago, and have played with it off and on since. Here’s my thoughts so far:

Pros:
Lightweight
Nifty
Fun
One focus control for both lens sides
Stereoscopic images are cool as shiat

Cons:
Lens is plastic
Only two aperture settings (f/11 and f/22)
(T) Model doesn’t work with film or full-frame SLR’s.
Can only be used with camera in landscape mode, 3d image is always vertical.
No electronic feedback to camera, therefore can only be used in manual mode.
No hope for macro (Loreo now has a macro version that I haven’t tried yet)

Summary notes: This is definately “get a feel for it” lens, but is quite fun and rewarding once you do get the hang. I’ve got a small collection of cool shots, and a whole shiat-ton of WTF in 3d. It won’t give you any masterpiece shots, and experience has proven it to max out around 10 votes on farktography, but it can still be personally rewarding. Plus, taking printed copies of the stereo photos and a viewer to work generates alot of comments.

If I had it to do all over again:
I’d consider trying the full-frame version on digital to see if it worked, mostly so I could also use it with my film camera. I’m also very much considering purchasing the macro version.

Still yet to try:
My D90 has a (barely ever used) video capability. I have played a little with 3d video, and think there might be a potential here – especially in the realm of 3d, first-person, ummm…. well, use your imagnation.

As a whole:
4/5.

[chupathingie]

Oooooh… samples?

Side note: I’ve been making 3d-landscapes by shooting out the car window at 90mph in multiple exposure mode and using images separated by 2-3 exposures. One of these days I need to take a passenger to either run the camera or drive while I stand up thru the sunroof… My wife simply won’t ride when she can fly (I prefer to see the scenery driving, myself)

[3Horn]

Oooooh… samples?
One of these days I need to take a passenger to either run the camera or drive while I stand up thru the sunroof… My wife simply won’t ride when she can fly (I prefer to see the scenery driving, myself)

Rig up a mount and fire it with a remote?

That’s something I’ve thought of doing with my Jeep, using my fisheye on some long exposures. I’ve done it with the D90 sitting on the dash, but it’s not quite the same.

[orionid]

Oooooh… samples?

I knew I was forgetting something.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/orionid/sets/72157614428704461/

[bob_ross]

Thanks for the write-up! Still on the fence… Does it come with all the software you need for making the animated GIFs?

[orionid]

No. I use Photoshop CS4 animation settings for that. At one point, I made a *.swf file so that I wouldn’t have to palette the colors, but it was redonkulous huge.

[chupathingie]

Oooooh… samples?
One of these days I need to take a passenger to either run the camera or drive while I stand up thru the sunroof… My wife simply won’t ride when she can fly (I prefer to see the scenery driving, myself)

Rig up a mount and fire it with a remote?

That’s something I’ve thought of doing with my Jeep, using my fisheye on some long exposures. I’ve done it with the D90 sitting on the dash, but it’s not quite the same.

I’ve got a Bogen tripod that’s perfect for that kind of thing; I wedged 2 legs in the corners of the dash and one leg between the passenger seat and console, which placed the camera just under the rear-view mirror. Great for time-lapse, but little else. There’s no substitute for an eye behind the viewfinder.

Orionind: nice pics. I think the effect would be more pronounced with the macro version, of course… the separation is a bit a bit close for longer range shots. A nifty gadget to be sure…

[bob_ross]

What is the best way to create the animated gifs in photoshop?

[orionid]

Copy and paste each half into a new image, each as a separate layer. Whichever’s on top, set the opacity to an arbitrary value near 50%, then line up a landmark somewhere in the center of depth (or an object that you want to be the center of stereographic rotation). Turning off “snap” when you do this helps considerably.

Set the opacity back to 100%.

Open up the animation menus (under window).

Click on “new frame”

Unselect “propagate frame 1”

choose frame 1, hide one of the layers. choose frame 2, hide the other layer.

Quickly toggle between the frames to check for the desired effect. If neccessary, readjust opacity and realign the top layer.

Crop to eliminate broken edges, or as desired.

Once you’re satisfied, go to “file–>export for web or other device”

when that menu comes up, choose compuserve gif, set your animation settings as desired, and save.

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