The FinePix Real 3D W3 is Fujifilm's second stab at a 3D digital camera.Its first was a bomb, selling just a few hundred units worldwide, by the company's own admission.Thanks to its binocular lens system, and twin 10mP sensors – designed, the Japan
The FinePix Real 3D W3 is Fujifilm’s second stab at a 3D digital camera.
Its first was a bomb, selling just a few hundred units worldwide, by the company's own admission.
Thanks to its binocular lens system, and twin 10mP sensors – designed, the Japanese camera maker says, to mimic the human visual system – the W3 can take both stills and video in 3D.
Both can be watched without glasses on the 3.5-inch LCD display on the back of the camera, or watched on a 3D TV using the goggles that came with the television.
The W3 costs $799 and is available now through Harvey Norman and various photo specialists.
The camera is so new that overseas reviews are, as yet, few and far between.
Engadget, which notes Fujifilm’s first generation of this 3D camera got panned, says this second-generation model is more user-friendly, and impressively compact (from the rear it looks like any point-and-shoot camera).
But it still doesn’t produce very good pictures.
The 720p high definition video looks VHS quality and flickery, according to the gadget blog site.
Photography Blog reckoned that, with practice, the W3 could create foreground, middle and background elements that “appear to float”, creating an “all important depth to an image, or at least the illusion of depth”.
However, like others, its reviewer found the W3 limited as a regular, 2D camera, and a poor performer in challenging situations, such as low light.
MORE:
Engadget: W3: We go hands-on
The Photography Blog: Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D W3 Review
NBR: AUT University researcher finds problems with 3D, from tired eyes to impaired depth perception
