Synchronization

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dah_dah - 11 May 2005 23:47 GMT

Is there any material available on how to synchronize the shutters of two
disimilar cameras?
I would like to take my two cameras and try to construct a digital stereo
camera, but I haven't the slightest idea of how to sync the shutters.

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Whiskers - 12 May 2005 16:04 GMT

> Is there any material available on how to synchronize the shutters of two
> disimilar cameras?
> I would like to take my two cameras and try to construct a digital stereo
> camera, but I haven't the slightest idea of how to sync the shutters.

The traditional approach is to use mirrors or prisms to put the two stereo
images onto a single frame in one camera, or use a single shutter with two
(or more) lenses, possibly in a specially-built camera.

If your subject is static, then you can use one unmodified camera and move
it between the 'left eye' and 'right eye' positions - there have been
tripod gadgets marketed for that purpose.

I have seen home-made cable-release gadgets where two cameras can be 'fired'
by pressing a single lever - but that wouldn't synchronise the shutters
with any great precision, even if the cameras were from the same batch of
the same model.

Certainly an interesting idea :))

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peter - 13 May 2005 09:20 GMT

>>Is there any material available on how to synchronize the shutters of two
>>disimilar cameras?
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
>
> Certainly an interesting idea :))

I think you need to set the two cameras up with a common release
mechanism, and then take a few shots of a moving object on a calibrated
background, ideally moving vertically so that the camera separation is
ignored. Then you can see which camera fires first, and by how much, and
adjust the release mechanism to get the best sync. You will of course
also have to set the images to the same format (zoom, pixel count &c)
and ensure the two images are equally exposed. Good Luck!

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james - 13 May 2005 23:19 GMT

>I think you need to set the two cameras up with a common release
>mechanism, and then take a few shots of a moving object on a calibrated
>background, ideally moving vertically so that the camera separation is
>ignored.

I'm just imagining what Muybridge must have gone through, to accomplish
what he did. And he did it with naked college girls hanging around
while he messed with his gadgets too.

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Whiskers - 14 May 2005 12:52 GMT

>>I think you need to set the two cameras up with a common release
>>mechanism, and then take a few shots of a moving object on a calibrated
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> what he did. And he did it with naked college girls hanging around
> while he messed with his gadgets too.

Took him years.

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AustinMN - 18 May 2005 18:28 GMT

Unless your subject is moving, the bigger problem is getting the images
properly registered to each other.

The focal lengths have to be almost exactly the same.
The image distortions (all lenses have some distortion) have to be
similar enough to not destroy the intended effect.
The cameras have to have very nearly parallel sensors.
The exposures have to be reasonably close (minor differences - less
than 1/3 of a stop - can be PS'd out, but larger differences will be a
problem).

A lot easier to do those three with identical cameras (or, as I do,
using a single camera that gets shifted laterally).

Austin

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