In the 1950s, the Stereo Realist was claimed to be America’s most popular and best-selling stereo camera, endorsed by film stars like Fred Astaire, Doris Day and John Wayne. Today, it holds the distinction of being an interesting yet affordable collector’s item which, for film fans, is still very usable.
What is stereo photography?
We see the world in three-dimensional depth because we have two eyes. Each eye sees the scene before us from a slightly different viewpoint, then the brain combines this information to give us one view and the illusion of depth. If we use a camera with two lenses, then view its resulting twin images so that the left eye sees only the view from the left lens and the right eye sees only the view from the right lens, the brain works its magic and the image appears in three dimensions.
Stereo, also referred to as 3D (for three dimensional), photography, was much loved by the Victorians, before dying away, coming back to life in the 1920s, fading away again, then returning strongly in the 1950s when the
