Fujifilm takes a new direction with its FinePix Real 3D W1, the company's first consumer-level digicam capable of recording 3D still pictures and video clips. Relying on the ability of people to perceive depth by viewing objects along two separate planes of sight, it uses two lenses to direct the imaging light to two CCD chips. The resulting data is processed to create a picture that appears three-dimensional when displayed on a suitable screen.
This type of 3D photography isn't new; the technique of combining two 2D pictures taken from slightly different viewpoints to create an illusion of depth was invented by Sir Charles Wheatstone back in 1840. Stereoscopic viewers were on sale in the 1860s and View-Master viewers, which used stereo pairs of photographic slides mounted around the edge of a cardboard disk, were popular from the 1940s.
In addition, 3D technology has been with us since the beginning of the 20th century. In most cases, they relied on complementary colour anaglyphs taken with red and cyan filters and viewed through red-cyan filtering glasses. Almost all were in black and white.
Polarising glasses provided a technology boost in the 1950s and opened opportunities for colour 3D movies, which have recently experienced a revival in cinemas. Fast computers have enabled the creation of animated special effects and there have been further refinements in viewing technology (although glasses are still required).
Fujifilm's system was announced at Photokina 2008 and shown as a prototype camera and viewer at the 2009 PMA Show in Sydney last June. The third component in the system, 3D printing, has also been developed and is expected to be offered via a Fujifilm microsite before Christmas. See below for details.
The camera and viewer don't introduce anything radically new, except eliminating the need for special glasses to view 3D images. And the resulting screen technology represents an evolution of existing systems, rather than a brand new development. Even the printing system, which is based on lenticular screening, is an evolution of technology developed in the 1940s.
The production camera looks different from the prototype but retains the key features: dual sensors and lenses and the same viewing technology. However, the refinements in design that have taken place in the past year are quite obvious. It's also clear that further development of the technology is inevitable for long-term success. In the interim, 3D cameras remain a niche product.
The prototype model of Fujifilm's 3D camera is shown on the left, while the production model is on the right. (Source: Fujifilm.)
From the start it's important to understand this camera was designed primarily for 3D photography and video. The camera powers-up in 3D mode and the welcome screen also displays in 3D. If you want to record 2D stills and video clips, you must switch to 2D mode with the toggle switch left of the monitor.
Capture resolution tops out at 10-megapixels for still shots and VGA resolution for movie clips, regardless of the mode selected. In addition, the lens only provides up to 3x optical zoom, with up to 5.7x digital zoom available for both 3D and 2D shots. According to the user manual (supplied in complete form on a CD), high zoom ratios may reduce the impact of the 3D effect.
Build and Ergonomics
Superficially the Real 3D W1 camera body is styled like a point-and-shoot, slimline digicam, with a push-down front panel that switches power on. This cover carries a sticker proclaiming ‘3D Images & Movies Shoot and View with Your Own Eyes'. (It looks as if it would be difficult to remove!)
Although styled like a slimline digicam, the W1 is comparatively bulky and quite heavy in the hands (the die-cast aluminium chassis is partly responsible). A strap eyelet is recessed into the camera body on the right hand side but it provides little more than assurance that the camera won't hit the floor if it slides from your fingers.
Sliding the front panel down reveals two lenses with their centres about 77 mm apart. The right lens is positioned close to the edge of the front body panel, while the left lens is about 20mm from the edge. On the inner sides of each lens is a pair of microphones for stereo sound recording. A slim electronic flash tube lies between them.
Front view of the FinePix Real 3D W1 camera. (Source: Fujifilm.)
One problem with this design is that it's very easy for a fingertip to stray into the field of view of either lens without your being aware of it. We've noted this before in reviews of digicams with folded optics but it's more serious with a 3D camera because you may not notice when fingertips intrude on the image - as we discovered in our shooting tests. It was common for the intruding fingertip to appear in only one of the paired images, which meant it didn't show up in the on-screen image used to compose shots. An example is reproduced below.
Intruding fingertips in the right hand image of a stereo pair (indicated by red arrows).
In fact, the only way to hold the camera is to use both hands with the camera body between the thumb and index finger. However, this can be difficult because the body is covered by shiny black plastic, which can be slippery to hold and no finger indents are provided.
Back view of the FinePix Real 3D W1 camera. (Source: Fujifilm.)
Central on the rear panel is a 2.8-inch colour LCD monitor with a resolution of 230,000 dots (which, these days, isn't particularly high). Above it is an indicator lamp that glows red when the battery is charging, green when focus is locked and orange when images are being recorded. A blinking light indicates a warning with red indicating the lens or memory, green for focus and orange for flash.
Ranged down the left side of the screen are buttons for switching between 3D and 2D capture modes, a parallax adjustment button, a stills/movie capture switch and a Mode button. To the right of the monitor are the Menu/OK and playback buttons, a four-way arrow pad, the F-mode button and the Display/Back toggle.
Top view of the FinePix Real 3D W1 camera. (Source: Fujifilm.)
The shutter button and zoom rocker share the top panel with an infrared port that can accept signals from devices that support standard high-speed infrared or IrSimpleShot (IRSS) transmissions. (The devices should be no more than 20 cm apart and angled no greater than 15 degrees to each other.)
The battery and memory card (SD or SDHC) go into a single chamber in the middle of the base plate. Left of it is a tripod socket. Two speaker holes lie on either side of the battery/card chamber. USB and A/V cables connect to ports in the right side panel, under a lift-up cover. The strap eyelet sits just above it.
Most of the control buttons are small and fiddly to operate, which means this camera won't suit anyone with large fingers and/or limited dexterity. The main buttons light up for a second or two when the camera is switched on; after that the grey-on-black labelling can be difficult to read.
The LCD monitor is also difficult to read in bright lighting and, even in ideal conditions, viewing resolution isn't high enough to enable users to evaluate shots - particularly 3D shots. However, when you have captured a successful MPO file, the 3D effect can be seen on the screen and the central part of the scene appears to ‘jump' towards you.
Recording 3D Pictures
Identical Fujinon lenses have been developed for the 3D system to ensure complete conformity between the left and right images. These lenses send imaging light to two identical 10-megapixel CCD sensors, from which the image data passes to a newly developed RP (Real Photo) Processor 3D chip, where the 3D image is created. Built-in 3D auto analysis determines the optimal shooting conditions from both sensors and sets exposure parameters accordingly. Focus, zoom range and exposure settings are synchronised to produce identical results from each lens.
Two factors play a major role in creating successful 3D pictures: the distance between the capturing lenses when the shots are taken and the subject and the distance from which the 3D picture is viewed. In general, best results are obtained if the distance between the two shots is between 1/30 and 1/50 of the distance to the subject.
With the distance between the lenses on the FinePix Real 3D W1 being 77mm, the optimal range for 3D photography is from 2.3 to 3.85 metres. Subjects closer to the camera are excessively laterally displaced and difficult to resolve while those further than about four metres from the camera can fail to appear three dimensional. We confirmed this in our shooting tests, as shown in the stereo pair images below.
Within the best distance range for maximum 3D effect.
Too close for 3D viewing. The lenses will certainly focus close enough but the resulting MPO files contain widely differing coverage of the scene. The resulting pictures are too different to merge.
Too far for a good 3D effect. Although the images are slightly different in coverage, this difference is too small to produce a noticeable 3D effect.
Because 3D shooting isn't successful for subjects closer than about two metres, the close-up button is disabled in 3D mode. Macro is only available in 2D mode and even then it's limited to a minimum distance of 8 cm between subject and camera.
The camera provides automatic parallax adjustment to ensure images are aligned for optimal 3D viewing. For shots taken outside the optimal range, a button to the left of the monitor provides manual adjustment facilities both prior to taking the shot and while you are viewing it. However, shots are cropped in the process and there may not be sufficient adjustment to create a full 3D effect with MPO images taken outside of the optimal distance range.
When shooting moving subjects, it is also vital that both images are captured simultaneously. The Fujifilm W1 includes a built-in control that can synchronise shutter speeds to within 0.001-second, which should be adequate for both stills and 30 frames/second movie recording. However, you must use the twin lenses and sensors to achieve this precision. This rules out using the Advanced 3D modes (see below) for anything but stationary subjects.
Because the lenses are mounted horizontally, you can only record 3D when the camera is held horizontally (landscape format). The only way you could make the system work for vertical shots would be to turn your head (or the viewer) through 90 degrees to view them.
3D Image Viewing
Viewing 3D images is one area in which the Fujifilm system provides a significant advance. Unlike previous systems, you don't need special glasses to view the 3D pictures - but you do require a screen that can present different pictures to your left and right eyes.
The camera's 230,000-pixel LCD monitor uses a proprietary ‘Light Direction Control System' (illustrated below), which splits the display to direct the left hand image of the MPO pair to the left eye and the right hand image to the right eye. It's like viewing the images through a lenticular screen and creates a reasonably good 3D illusion without compromising its ability to display 2D shots.
The LCD monitor has been adjusted to minimise screen flickering, which could interfere with image and video clarity. But it doesn't provide a perfect view of 3D stills or video clips, even though it works as well as any other digicam display with similar resolution when displaying 2D stills and video clips.
The above diagram shows how the Light Direction Control System splits the 3D image to present slightly different views of the subject to the viewer. These are combined by the viewer's brain to create the 3D illusion. (Source: Fujifilm.)
A more impressive view is provided by Fujifilm's Real 3D V1 picture viewer (RRP $699), which is reviewed separately.
File Formats
For 3D still picture recording, the FinePix Real 3D system adopts the MPO (Multi-Picture) format, which was standardised by CIPA in 2009. The format is designed to enable easy combination of two or more Individual Images. By default, each picture taken with the FinePix Real 3D W1 consists of a regular JPEG file plus an MPO file carrying the same file name. (You can also record the MPO file only.)
Interestingly, the MPO file is essentially a JPEG file containing the two frames (for left and right eyes). Adoption of these formats enables 2D playback of recorded images on the user's computer. Users can also convert MP format and 3D-AVI to conventional 2D formats and extract stereo pairs from MPO files with the bundled FinePix Viewer image viewing software.
The diagram below shows how the file is structured - and why individual (2D) frames are relatively easy to extract.
The above diagram shows the structure of a typical MPO file from the FinePix Real 3D W1. (Source: CIPA White Paper DC-X007-2009.)
Tags stored within the MPO file can contain information about the number of images, scanning orientation, horizontal and vertical overlap, base viewpoint, convergence angle, baseline length, divergence angle, horizontal and vertical axis distance and pitch, yaw and roll angles. This information is used when reconstructing 3D images for playback on the camera's monitor or the Real 3D V1 picture viewer.
The FinePix Real 3D W1 doesn't support raw file capture - but it does offer a 3:2 aspect ratio option in addition to the standard 4:3 aspect ratio. However, it's only available in one image size: large. Two compression ratios are available: Fine and Normal. Typical image sizes are shown in the table below.
|
File format
|
Image
Size
|
Pixels
|
Aspect Ratio
|
Compression
|
|
Fine
|
Normal
|
|
MPO+JPEG
|
L
|
3648 x 2736
|
4:3
|
14.7MB
|
7.4MB
|
|
M
|
2562 x 1944
|
7.5MB
|
3.8MB
|
|
S
|
2048 x 1536
|
4.7MB
|
2.4MB
|
|
MPO (3D)
|
L
|
3648 x 2736
|
9.8MB
|
4.9MB
|
|
M
|
2562 x 1944
|
5.0MB
|
2.5MB
|
|
S
|
2048 x 1536
|
3.1MB
|
1.6MB
|
|
JPEG
|
L
|
3648 x 2736
|
4.9MB
|
2.5MB
|
|
M
|
2562 x 1944
|
2.5MB
|
1.3MB
|
|
S
|
2048 x 1536
|
1.6MB
|
0.8MB
|
|
MPO+JPEG
|
L
|
3648 x 2432
|
3:2
|
13.1MB
|
6.6MB
|
|
MPO (3D)
|
8.7MB
|
4.4MB
|
|
JPEG
|
4.4MB
|
2.2MB
|
3D movie clips are recorded in 3D-AVI format, which adopts the popular AVI multimedia container, making use of its ability to support multiple streaming audio and video. Normal 2D video clips can also be recorded. For both formats, users can choose between VGA and QVGA resolution, each with a frame rate of 30 frames/second. Typical recording times for a 2GB memory card are shown in the table below.
|
Movie format
|
Resolution
|
Capacity of 2GB card
|
|
3D movie
|
640 x 480
|
14 minutes
|
|
|
320 x 240
|
28 minutes
|
|
2D movie
|
640 x 480
|
28 minutes
|
|
|
320 x 240
|
54 minutes
|
File sizes for video clips will vary with the amount of detail in the scene. Movie recording will cease when a clip reaches 2GB, regardless of the capacity of the memory card.
Controls
The W1 has the same menu structure as other Fujifilm digicams, with the main menu controlling general camera settings and the F-Mode menu (which is accessed via a button on the lower right corner of the LCD monitor) allowing adjustments to parameters like ISO, image size/quality, white balance, exposure compensation and colour modes. This menu is also used for setting apertures and shutter speeds in the A and M modes.
Despite its point-and-shoot interface, W1 users can take advantage of some more sophisticated controls, albeit with limitations in the range of adjustments provided. Pressing the Mode button lets you choose from five modes for shooting stills: Auto, Scene Position, Manual, Aperture-priority AE and Program AE. The Scene Position sub-menu contains pre-sets for Natural light, Natural light and with Flash, Portrait, Landscape, Sport, Night, Night (Tripod), Sunset, Snow, Beach, Underwater, Party and Anti-Blur shooting modes. These modes are usable with both 2D and 3D capture. Auto mode is the default for shooting video clips.
In the M and A shooting modes, the W1 only provides three aperture settings, ranging from f/3.7 to f/8 at the shortest focal length to f/4.2 to f/9 at full tele zoom. Shutter speeds are only adjustable in Manual mode and range from two seconds to 1/1000 second, although the lens must be stopped down to f/8 for the fastest shutter speed to be usable. Three-second exposures are only possible in Night Tripod mode, although you can't set the exact exposure duration.
A special Advanced 3D mode provides greater flexibility for photographers when taking 3D photographs. In this mode, the camera takes two shots with the left lens and combines them to produce a 3D image. Users can choose between Individual Shutter 3D Shooting and Interval 3D Shooting.
With Individual Shutter 3D Shooting, a shot is taken each time the shutter button is pressed. This lets users take two shots of the same subject from different positions and choose the order in which the shots will be taken (left first or right first). After the first image is taken, it appears as a transparent overlay on the monitor to help you align and frame the second shot.
Interval 3D Shooting is used for capturing 3D shots from a moving vehicle. Pressing the shutter button records two successive shots at a fixed interval, which is adjustable between one and 10 seconds. These shots are combined in the camera to produce a 3D picture.
Having two lenses and sensors opens some interesting possibilities for 2D shooting via the Advanced 2D Modes. These settings use the two image capture systems independently, allowing users to choose different zoom, sensitivity and color settings for each image capture system and take two shots of the same scene simultaneously. These shots are saved as separate files.
Options include:
Tele/Wide Simultaneous Shooting, which allows one lens to be set for zoom magnification while the other is set to wide angle.
2-Colour Simultaneous Shooting, in which users can set one lens system to record shots with Standard colour rendition and the other to capture either the vivid colours of Chrome or Black & White or shoot simultaneously with Chrome and Black & White.
2-Sensitivity Simultaneous Shooting, which allows simultaneous recording of high- and low-sensitivity shots in situations where the user may be uncertain about which ISO setting to use or where they wish to record different degrees of background motion blurring in panned shots.
Playback and Software
The playback menu in the W1 contains all the standard functions, including protection and deletion of single or selected images, copying pictures between the internal memory and a memory card. Users can crop pictures to M, S or VGA size and Intelligent Face detection is available for 2D shots to assist with framing crops. Images can also be resized in-camera to produce VGA or QVGA-sized pictures. Aspect ratio changes are not supported for cropping and resizing.
A new addition, parallax control, lets users create copies of 3D pictures with parallax adjusted to improve viewing quality. In-camera red-eye correction is available for 2D shots and 2D shots can also be rotated in 90-degree steps. Printing of 2D shots is supported via the standard PictBridge interface.
Two software disks are provided with the W1. One contains the complete user manual in PDF format for seven languages while the other contains Software for FinePix CZ Version 5.5b for Windows and Macintosh. This software comprises just one application: FinePixViewer (V. 5.5 for Windows and V. 3.,6 for Mac OS X).
FinePixViewer is a fairly basic viewer/browser/uploader with basic editing and slideshow support. The latest version includes a ‘Split MP file' function in the Tools dropdown menu that enables users to split an MPO 3D file into stereo pairs. The left and right images are saved as separate JPEG files and can be printed individually. The screen grabs below show how simple this process can be.
Select the MPO file and locate the Split MP file function (circled) in the Tools dropdown menu.
Splitting the file.
The stereo pairs are saved as individual JPEG files (circled), identifiable by ‘l' and ‘r' tags in their file names.
When the left and right images are extracted, the resulting JPEGs are 3648 x 2736 pixels in size and between 4.5MB and 4.8MB each. Any editing adjustments must be made after the files have been extracted because FinePixViewer doesn't support editing of MPO files.
Printing 3D Pictures
Fujifilm's High-Resolution 3D Print System is already in operation in Japan, the UK and Europe and will be offered locally this month. The system uses a fine pitch lenticular sheet to combine the two images from each MPO file. This technology isn't new and we were not supplied with sample prints that could provide examples of picture quality.
Australian customers will be able to access Fujifilm's printing service via a dedicated website. Files are uploaded via this site for printing in Japan and completed prints are posted back to the customer. Two sizes will be offered: 6 x 4 inches (152 x 102 mm) and 7 x 5 inches (179 x 127 between A$7.00 and A$8.00 per print. (Postage costs are not included in these prices.)
Fujifilm Australia is considering offering a local printing service some time during 2010. However, no details are available as yet. (We surmise that launch of this service will depend on the number of customers ordering prints via the online service.)
Enterprising photo enthusiasts may also try printing the stereo pairs and viewing them with a stereo viewer. They could also be displayed with twinned digital projectors and, when 3D TV sets take off (which is predicted), displaying images from the W1 should become even easier.
Given the high cost of the lenticular 3D prints, stereo pair printing in which the extracted left and right images are printed side-by-side with a border around them, could be a profitable venture (and relatively easy to achieve) for enterprising photo retail outlets, particularly if they could offer complementary viewers as an adjunct. (More information on converting MPO files into stereo pairs can be found at http://3dvision-blog.com/how-to-convert-mpo-s3d-pictures-into-jps-stereo-pairs/.)
Performance
Because computer screens are strictly two-dimensional, we are unable to display any of the 3D images and video clips we took with the review camera. In addition, Imatest only works with regular 2D image files so it wasn't possible to subject the 3D images to our standard Imatest evaluation.
Suffice it to say that when the subject and viewing distances are within the correct ranges, the depth impression created by the W1 can be quite impressive. The problem is that both camera-to-subject and photo-to-viewer distances are quite limited. Outside of these distances, the image begins to degrade rapidly and dramatically.
3D video clips suffer from all the problems that plague still images - plus a few more related to moving images. When the shooting and viewing distances are correct, the depth illusion is powerful. However the autofocusing system can have problems keeping up with moving subjects - or camera panning. We found frequent instances of lateral displacement in clips where the paired images were briefly out-of-synch.
These synchronisation problems were not evident in 2D video clips. However, 2D clips weren't particularly impressive at either VGA or QVGA resolution. Low contrast and muted saturation reduces the impact of the picture, although audio was clear and slightly above average in quality.
In our Imatest tests on the 2D images, the review camera failed to meet the expected resolution targets for a 10-megapixel camera. However, resolution held up well throughout the camera's ISO range, where we found a gradual, but steady, decline from ISO 100 to the highest setting of ISO 1600. The graph below shows the results of our tests.
Image noise became visible in test shots from ISO 400 on and was quite obvious at ISO1600, particularly with slower shutter speeds. (The Night Tripod mode, which supports exposures of up to four seconds, is restricted to a maximum ISO of 200.) Interestingly, although noise was less obvious in flash shots at high ISO settings, contrast and sharpness declined as sensitivity was increased and shots taken at ISO 1600 were relatively flat-looking and soft.
Lens quality appeared to be relatively high when the small size of the lenses is considered. However, the optical system was very susceptible to veiling flare, largely because the lenses are relatively unprotected against stray light.
Although barrel distortion could be seen at the 6.3mm focal length, it was no longer evident by 8mm and no additional distortion was observed. Slight edge softening was noticeable, particularly in shots taken at the 6.3mm focal length. This was confirmed by our Imatest tests and is shown in the graph below.
Colour reproduction was also comparatively good and saturation was modest. Imatest showed minor shifts in red and cyan but few other deviations from ideal colours. Interestingly, lateral chromatic aberration was consistently negligible in our Imatest tests. We found no evidence of coloured fringing in JPEG images.
We conducted out timing tests with a 4GB Class 6 Verbatim Premium SDHC memory card. Even with a fast card, the review camera proved relatively slow to respond. Start-up time averaged just under four seconds and shot-to-shot times ranged from 3.1 seconds (when subjects were pre-focused) to more than four seconds (when focusing was required). It took a little over three seconds to zoom from the wide to the tele position.
We measured an average capture lag of 0.6 seconds, which reduced to 0.1 seconds with pre-focusing. In the 2D mode, it took 2.3 seconds to process each high-resolution JPEG file. MPO files took 4.5 seconds to process and store in 3D mode.
In the continuous shooting mode, the review camera recorded 10 JPEG images at 2048 x 1536 pixels in 3.3 seconds in the High-speed burst mode and 10 Large/Fine JPEGs in 8.6 seconds with the standard burst mode. Both were for 2D image capture. Processing these bursts took between 2.2 and 2.5 seconds, suggesting some processing is done on-the-fly.
The High-speed burst mode is disabled for 3D continuous shooting but we were able to record seven MPO files in 4.1 seconds with the standard burst mode. Once again, images appeared to be processed on-the-fly as it took 4.8 seconds to process this burst.
Conclusion
We had lots of fun reviewing the FinePix Real 3D W1 and feel Fujifilm should be praised for stepping out of the mainstream and into such a challenging arena. The W1 is an exciting first step into 3D imaging - but probably not a camera for family snapshooters, although it may appeal to more ‘geeky' enthusiasts who can see potential in exploring 3D photography. (There are plenty of things you can do with the paired images!)
However, there are a few issues that will deter some potential purchasers. The first is the price point, which is comparatively high. The second concerns the 3D capabilities, which impose restrictions on shooting and viewing that many will find unacceptable. When conditions are ideal, the 3D effect is impressive; otherwise the pictures and video are uncomfortable to view - even if you've invested in the (expensive) FinePix Real 3D V1 viewer, which we have reviewed separately. (INSERT LINK)
Buy this camera if:
- You're interested in 3D photography and video and want to be the first with a camera that can shoot both.
- You can work within the camera's not inconsiderable limitations.
Don't buy this camera if:
- You want a pocketable camera that is comfortable to operate.
- You require fast continuous shooting.
- The price of camera and viewer is too high.
IMATEST GRAPHS
2D images only
SAMPLE IMAGES
2D images only
Auto white balance with incandescent lighting.
Auto white balance with fluorescent lighting.
6.3mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/335 second at f/8.
18.9mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/292 second at f/8.9.
Macro mode: 18.9mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/136 second at f/4.1.
Low-light photograph at ISO 100; 7.1mm focal length, 1/15 second at f/4.
Low-light photograph at ISO400; 7.1mm focal length, 1/58 second at f/4.
Low-light photograph at ISO1600; 7.1mm focal length, 1/215 second at f/4.
Night photograph taken with the Night Tripod scene mode; ISO 200, 7.1mm focal length, 2 seconds at f/4.
Flash exposure at ISO 100; 18.9mm focal length,1/160 second at f/4.1.
Flash exposure at ISO 400; 18.9mm focal length, 1/160 second at f/4.1.
Flash exposure at ISO 1600; 18.9mm focal length, 1/160 second at f/4.1.
Flare; 6.3mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/36 second at f/8.
Two examples of still frames from VGA video clips taken in 2D mode.
