Why they don't 3D cameras anymore?

I too have been interested in 3D for a long time. I still have my father’s Realist camera that he bought around 1950 or so. I used that camera back in college when I was getting my Masters Degree in Educational Media. I had to do a Master’s project and I chose, “The Educational Advantages of Stereo Vision”. I needed a topic that would work well in 3D and Karst Topography, which is landscape involving limestone structures such as caved, sinkholes and springs turned out to be just right.

I joined the University’s Caving club to get access to caves since springs and big holes in the ground are easy to find. The project went over well and my professors enjoyed looking at the 3D slides (I did get an A) but the viewing part was always a bit of a problem. For my professors I used the well made Realist battery powered viewer with inter ocular adjustment and focus and it worked well since I was showing the project to only one professor at a time. As I prepared for the project I contacted another professor outside of my college, who was teaching about Karst topography to get some input. She was not very interested in my project since she just saw me as someone (who was not in her College) that wanting free help. But, when I came back a few weeks later with slides of a local landmark sinkhole and let her view them, she became very interested in 3D and my camera. It didn’t take long before she bought her own camera, viewer and projector with polaroid glasses. 3D helped people see what Karst structures really looked like much more so than a 2D photograph.

Fast forward about 47 years (I’m 72 now) and I’m getting interested in using the Realist again. I checked it out and everything seems to work and have put some negative color film in for a trial run. What has me interested this time is History. I have about 100 old stereo pairs from back in the early 1900’s. Several of them were taken in St. Augustine, Florida (about 80 miles and 1.5 hrs from where I live) and when I looked at Google Maps (the street view) I was able to find locations that still exist. Now I want to use my stereo camera, taking photos from the same places that other photographers used, and show what that location looks like today, in 3D, to match the original. Since I’m using film there will be a lot more work in getting a final digital image, but I think it will be worth it. I have also been looking for a digital camera (one with video) and the only two that look promising is the Fujifilm W3 and the GoPro 3+ Black with the synchronizer and housing.

My thought on viewing, to make it more readably available, is to have a smart phone camera case that has a built in optical viewer. You won’t need a light since the screen is lit and most newer phones are high enough resolution you don’t see the pixels in the magnified view. I think a web site dedicated to 3D stereo pairs would work well. All you would need to do is slide your finger across the screen to go to the next image (the viewer would be open on the bottom enough to reach it). The web site would be an icon on the phone and the home page would contain the index for the folders available to view. Almost everybody has a phone on them all day long, readably available and technically able to provide a sharp enough view.  Well, that’s my story … and I’m sticking to it!