Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D W3 Digital Camera (10.2 MP, 3x Zoom, 3.5 Inch LCD Screen)

I went along to see Brian May and Elena Vidal give a talk on Stereoscopic photography, titled 'a village lost and found', (the book is available on Amazon) I found the talk absolutely fascinating, and learned that Brian May uses the Fuji Finepix W1, which is the predecessor to the W3. Since the talk I have been avidly taking 3D pictures at every opportunity and decided to treat myself to the Fuji W3. The camera has a brilliant 3.5" lenticular screen which displays 3d images so well you feel you could almost reach into the camera, however there are a few rules to observe to get the best 3d effects, I found scenic shots of distant objects did not really show much of a 3d effect, (which it does say in the manual) however if you choose your subjects carefully, such as group shots and subjects within the range of about 1m - 6m then the 3d effect is really pronounced.
The overall build quality is excellent, the camera feels very 'solid' and is quite heavy compared to some compacts, but I rather like that solid feeling - do wear the wrist strap though as the camera is easy to drop. There are too many features to list here, however the camera is a very capable piece of kit and can take 3D movies as well, plus there are a host of 2d features, the camera does not fare as well as some in the reviews, which state the image quality to be only average, however I find the image quality is reasonable, and the fact that it takes and displays 3d pictures and movies more than makes up for any slight loss of definition, although to be honest I can't say I've noticed any problems with the images. Tends to be a bit grainy in low light, but most cameras seem to suffer that way to some degree or other and it's not that bad at all in my opinion.
Overall I would recommend this camera, I really enjoy using it and the 3d effects make even a so-so image interesting. I've owned Fuji cameras in the past and been very pleased with them, and this camera is no exception. I also bought the V1 viewer as I don't have a 3d television as yet.

I have used both the Fuji W1 and W3. First a word about what they have in common:
- a dual 10MP CCD sensor to shoot stereo images
- an autostereoscopic LCD display to view 3D images without glasses

In either case, the sensors give a typical image for a point and shoot: OK when looking at the image as a whole, but if you start to do some pixel peeping, you see plenty of grain and noise, even on images shot in very bright sunlight.

Both cameras are able to shoot stereo video, which is also a pleasant feature, although the picture quality of the video shot is not amazing. More on that later.

Unlike what some reviewer said, both can shoot stereo either by taking 2 (left eye and right eye) images at the same time, or by shooting the 2 views sequentially: both images can be shoot one after another by pressing the shutter twice. The camera then uses the same settings for both views, and once the first view has been shot, it is overlaid on the LCD display with the CCD image so that you can align the second view properly with the first one. The purpose of this feature is to vary the amount of 3D effect. For close-up objects, you need less shooting distance than the 77mm you have between the 2 lenses of the camera, and shooting the left and right view one after another allows to use a smaller distance by moving the camera by few centimeters between the 2 shots. Conversely, it is useful to increase the depth effect of scenes shot at a long distances, such as landscapes, by moving the camera between L and R views by 20cm or so. This sequential stereo shooting only works with static objects of course.

Overall, the fujis are an affordable way to enter the world of 3D imaging, which offers a very different experience from classical photography. You have to rethink the way you shoot photos, and the results can be quite compelling.

The image and video format used are completely standard. MPOs (JPEG based) for the images, and AVIs with 2 video streams for the videos. Even a Linux user not having the Fuji tools running will have no problem to read these files with standard tools and maybe 1-2 short scripts downloaded from the web.

Differences between the W1 and the W3:
- the big big stuff: the LCD screen of the W3 is much better than that of the W1. Resolution is much finer, and crosstalk has gone. On the W1, the crosstalk of the LCD display was very bad. Crosstalk is an artifact of 3D displays (and in particular of many fancy 3D TVs espcially LCDs with active glasses) that causes the left and right views to be mixed. Instead of the left eye only seeing the left view and the right eye seeing the right view, the left eye sees the left view overlaid with a tiny bit of the right view, and conversely. This is very disturbing, especially on images with a high contrast (bright objects on a dark background). Objects seem to be duplicated and the image just looks completely wrong. To me, this makes the W1 very painful to use. On the W3, this crosstalk is as good as gone, and this makes the viewing of 3D images on the back LCD of the W3 very pleasant, and the 3D effect very compelling. This is alone a good reason to switch from the W1 to the W3, especially now that the price tag of the W3 has gone to a sub-200£ level.

- the W3 is also supposed to shoot HD (720p at 24 fps) video while the W1 only shoots VGA. This is a gain, but the video has a general problem in both cameras that (1) the image is very noisy even in bright sunlight and (2) the compression is quite brutal. No AVCHD here, but a bad old motion-JPEG struggling with HD video (2 HD video streams, not just one). The result is that the images are very blocky, and have a bizarre noise structure (sensor noise shaped by a crude compression). Do not expect great video quality from the W1 or the W3. The W3's HD gives to me a similar experience to more or less clean SD (e.g. PAL with 576 lines). If you want really serious stereo video, you'll probably want to buy a real 3D camcorder such as the TM750 from Panasonic.

- another drawback in the W1 was that the L and R lenses were not perfectly aligned vertically, so you could end up with left and right views that had a small vertical offset, which could also be disturbing on zoomed images. This is less so on the W3.

- I read complaints here and there about the short battery life in the W3. True. The W1 has a terrific battery life, and that of the W3 is kind of short. But at 7£ apiece, you can buy 1-2 spare batteries and shoot longer. Another advantage of the W1 against the W3 was that the construction seemed more sturdy with a metal casing and metal lids protecting the USB port and the battery. The W3 is all plastic. But this is offset by the far superior LCD display of the W3.

- The Fujis also offer to use the left and right sensors to do some rich man's bracketing: you can do one shot at wide angle and the other one on tele, or vary the settings to get 2 simultaneous shots. This is just a gimmick to me and I never used it. If I want bracketing, this means I am fussy about quality and I use a DSLR with a serious sensor.

To summarize,
- if you hesitate between a W1 (on ebay) and a W3, choose the W3, together with a spare battery.
- if you have a W1 and find the LCD display a bit crappy with its low resolution and its disturbing crosstalk, spending 200£ on a W3 can substantially enhance your experience.
- do not expect terrific videos, either from the W1 or from the W3. But Fuji is quite honest on this aspect, and videos you can download from their website show this clearly, so if you have done your research, you should not say you have not been warned.

I think Fuji deserves congratulations for having the guts to put these quite unique little toys on the market. Most manufacturers are taking less risk and just copying successful innovations. The W3 is despite its battery life a real achievement. It is a comparatively cheap and convenient way to do real 3D images. Pros will probably have 2 DSLRs on a rail with mirrors and lenses to achieve the correct shooting distance between left and right views, but the price tag is probably not less than 10x the price of the Fuji.

Fuji also sell a 3D photo viewer (real 3D V1). This one has a very crappy resolution and bad crosstalk, the displayed images have terrible aliasing artifacts with loads of staircase effects, so do not buy it.

This camera has caused quite a stir in the ranks of the Stereoscopic Society, of which I am a member. Its predecessor the W1 was an exciting product as the first all-in-one digital stereocamera, but it had some rough edges and I decided not to buy at that stage. However, in the W3 most of the niggles have been corrected and Fujifilm have also added value. In fact the specification of the camera is now well in excess of most stereoscopist's requirements, as it allows some sophisticated 2D effects as well as a pretty comprehensive stereoscopic capability. For instance, it is possible to take two 2D images at the same time, with one lens capturing the wide angle view and the other a telephoto shot. The on-camera display is excellent (a lenticular image, similar to that produced by the prints from a Nimslo camera) and it is easy to convert the stereo .mpo files to two side-by-side jpgs if you need to correct the exposure or colour (not many digital photo-editors can read the .mpo file format). I have done this using the free StereoPhotoMaker software, rather than that supplied by Fujifilm, as I find the latter a bit clunky and I don't wish to catalogue my stereo images in a completely different way to my conventional (2D) digital work. I have not tried the images on a stereo TV or monitor, as I believe these to be overpriced at present and there is still some difference in technological approach by the various manufacturers. Thus all my viewing has been as side-by-side stereo pairs on my computer monitor, which are viewed by either the freeview or cross-eyed method. I am assured, however, that the W3's stereo pairs are easily viewed on a Panasonic 3D HDTV using the Panasonic glasses. Fujifilm's own viewer is rather expensive and I suspect that it will be improved and will fall in price before long, so I am not attracted by this at present. Particularly since the satisfactory angle of viewing is very restricted and thus not very suitable for displaying 3D images to a group of people.

On the whole, I am delighted by my purchase and particularly the price Amazon are offering. Probably the best Christmas present I have ever bought for myself.