PMA09: Fujifilm digital camera fills your eyes with that double vision

Perhaps it's the floundering economy that’s making camera companies display half-baked, "concept" cameras at this year's PMA. Both Samsung and Olympus have theirs. At the Fujifilm booth, the "concept" on view is based on stereoscopic vision, or creating 3D images by taking two photos and then using some sort of device to optically "merge" them in the viewer’s eyes or perception in order to give you a 3D image.

As you can see from the photos I took at their booth, Fujifilm not only has a digital camera to take the 3D images (which also appear in 3D on the camera's LCD), but they also have on view a 3D picture frame and actual prints. (Click on images for closer looks.) I thought some of the demo prints worked better than others, and all the shots had a lenticular-like quality. Still, I was fascinated with this development, although the company had no details on how far along they were on the products or pricing.

Stereoscopic technology is nothing new. In the photo world, it dates back to the nineteenth century. What I found intriguing is that Fujifilm is following a broader trend in imaging, particularly in the motion picture industry and on HDTVs. We'll be sure to follow up on any future developments from Fujifilm on these products.

—Terry Sullivan