My new Fuji FinePix 3D W3 digital camera

Headline! "I bought a Fuji FinePix 3D W3 digital camera and I'm very happy with it."

It can do stills up to 10MP in 4:3 format, but most of my pics are 16:9 and the max there is 7.2MP.

It does 2D and 3D still and video. I bought it for the 3D capability, so I use that more or less exclusively. Videos support up to 1280x720 HD for both 2D and 3D.

It takes SDHC cards. I have a couple of 16GB SDHC cards and several 8GB MicroSDs with SDHC adaptors I also use with my Android phone(s). They are interchangeable.

The 3D stills are "MPO" files. (The camera optionally saves a 2D jpeg at the same time. Left camera. I do this). Apparently each MPO file contains both the right and left jpeg images shot by the camera's two lenses (77 millimeters apart).

You can view stills or videos on the camera's display without glasses as it uses a lenticular display surface to allow each of your eyes to see the appropriate image...and the 3D effect is very good in my opinion.

But to see it off the camera, you have several options. Probably the best would be a 3D-capable TV or PC monitor and whatever glasses or paraphenalia may be required to see what is being displayed. I'm not quite there yet, so I have found other ways to see - and share - my 3D stills and videos that are both effective and accessible.

For the still images, I can upload them to start3d.com. It's free and supports a wide variety of 3D formats for use with static images, including the old faithful: stereo images and you just cross your eyes.
In many ways, the cross-eyed method is the best, allowing you to see the full, correct colour, properly lit, as well as adjust the parallax as you shift your own focus around within the 3D image. I've found with red/cyan viewing (with glasses) the parallax in the image is locked...and the centre of attention may be in great 3D while other details much closer or further away have a different parallax...and you see red ghosting, as not all parts of the image line up properly due to the simple fact they are at varying depths in the field of view...and don't line up properly in real life either....but our eyes adjust for that and our brains filter it out. You can see some of my albums here. The only real downside to start3d.com is the site aggressively shrinks the hi-res uploads and they can end up looking marginal...certainly compared to what was uploaded. But it works and anyone can access it from anywhere. You can have both public and private albums. You can also pay to have a favourite image printed on lenticular paper and shipped to you so you can put your favourite 3D images up on the wall. :-)

Here are a couple of sample images I uploaded to start3d.com. The site supports several 3D formats, but the embedded display below is "piku-piku" is the default, and is slightly animated:

For videos, I upload them to YouTube, which does a pretty good job of supporting 3D video uploads. But before I can upload them, I have to process them into side-by-side stereo video from the 3D-AVI files the Fuji camera produces. For that, I use the free "Stereomovie Maker" application for Windows. I also downloaded a Free Xvid MPEG4 codec that YouTube also supports, allowing me to produce HiDef HD 3D movies that look great, but aren't so huge they take a week to upload. I've also had good results with the Microsoft MPEG4 codecs. But to import anything at all into Stereomovie Maker, you have to first obtain an MJPEG codec...and the ones I could find and obtain most easily were proprietary. I'm using the Morgan codec, linked to from FourCC.org. I have yet to register it, but it's cheap and I will do that. It expires after 60 days, I think. I'll find out soon enough.

All of the video software mentioned above also runs on Ubuntu 10,10 Linux in WINE without any special tweeking or modding. I just installed it and it ran. The only problem I've had on Linux is that my 3D videos have no sound after I have processed them in WINE. For many of them, this isn't a bad thing as my inane commentary is obliterated probably to good effect. I suspect I haven't installed a required codec (PCM for output and whatever the 3D-AVI outputs for input). In any case, I process the videos as side-by-side with each stream (left and right) being 1280x720...for a total resolution of 2560x720. I've seen hints there is a native Linux equivalent to Stereomovie Maker, but haven't chased it up yet.

You also have to know a couple of tags to get YouTube to process your 3D videos properly, handling left and right. For mine, I use: yt3d:enable=true and yt3d:aspect=16:9.

UPDATE 2011-02-11: There is now a bug on YouTube that screws up 16:9 3D video. There are two work-arounds. You can set the "yt3d:aspect=" tag to either "15.99:9" (that's 15.99 to 9 - *very* close to 16) or use 32:18. That works, too.

Including both these tags results in YouTube supporting 3D display in a variety of formats: red/cyan, yellow/blue, mirrored, half-width and full-width, plus side-by-side stereo for cross-eyed viewing...and several other variations as well.

If you want to have a look at some of my 3D HD videos (Toronto, Auckland Zoo, Auckland) on YouTube, check out my 3D playlist. The most recent videos I've uploaded use the method described above. The first few were rendered by me as red/cyan and uploaded as straight videos. I didn't know how to create ones that YouTube would be happy with at that point. You need red/cyan glasses for those. I got mine on TradeMe for $6 each. Solid ones with plastic frames and good lenses.

This video of seals underwater at Auckland Zoo should display as side-by-side stereo 3D. Cross your eyes and have a look:



Bottom line is I'm able to view my pics and videos full-screen on a large PC monitor, in a variety of 3D formats...and to share them with anyone, anywhere, whether they have 3D glasses or not. It's a big step forward in my view as - and I say this with a straight face - 3D adds a whole new dimension to my photo and video 'life'.