YouTuber, Jack Joy, (Graindead) has released a rather enthralling video about a rare 3DS-EXP 645 Medium Format Lenticular Camera. This analog oddity is so unusual, information online is virtually non-existent. And Jack is rather upfront about how perplexing his find really is, saying: “I’ve got no idea where it came from, no idea how it operates, no idea what the photos are like out of it, and also, no idea if it even works…” *SPOILER* He gets it working!
Turns out, the YouTuber was lent the six-lens behemoth by a friend who deals in secondhand cameras. And it certainly is a behemoth, clearly a lot bigger than your standard DSLR or mirrorless. It’s flippin' massive!
Unsurprisingly, Jack turns to the Internet to find out more about the camera, but beyond an old auction listing, there’s not much to go on. And I don’t find this particularly surprising. I quite often cover odd camera finds here on Digital Camera World, and information regarding a lot of analog-era cameras can be surprisingly sparse, considering many photographers enjoy nothing more than talking about camera specs.
But regardless, the lack of information has made for one heck of an interesting YouTube video, with Jack investigating the camera himself, even going so far as to visit a few vintage camera shops, who he says were just as perplexed. He begins by identifying the fact that this is a lenticular camera, with five of the six lenses providing a small shift in perspective when photographing the scene at hand. Combined, the images can be used to create a lenticular photo. Not unlike how my colleague Wendy Evans created a 3D anaglyph in Photoshop.
I won’t spoil the video with all of Jack’s findings, so make sure you give it a watch to learn about the camera’s features, controls, its ridiculously specialist battery, idiosyncrasies, and how a single image from the Internet helped Jack work out how to operate the thing (it didn't come with a manual). And yes, you’ll get to watch him put a roll of 120 medium-format film through it, which only yields two complete photos. And I thought the best film for 35mm cameras was expensive...
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Want more weird camera articles? This '90s Star Wars toy is a working 35mm film camera. Also, is this the world's best camera museum? (Yes it is, and you have to go!) And I can imagine James Bond using one of these ultra-rare pocket-watch cameras.
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