Swivel stereoscopic camera apparatus

Abstract

The present invention relates to a mini stereoscopic single camera apparatus in the form of swivel plates with positioning stop brakes. With this apparatus an attached camera can swivel and turn in a semi-circular path from the position on the left to the position on the right. This allows the apparatus to be the smallest designed apparatus to aid a user to shift a single camera from a left-eye capture position to a right-eye capture position distance of 6.5 cm without moving on a straight-line path. This novel mini-sized stereoscopic apparatus may be used with any digital, SLR, APS, Polaroid, disposable, point and shoot, or any other camera that can capture a still image of a scene or a subject on any medium. This apparatus may also be used in conjunction with any tripod or monopod. The invention helps to capture a stereo pair of images, one that emulates a left eye view of the intended subject and another that emulates a right eye view of the same scene or subject. The two image pairs can then be processed, scanned or downloaded into a computer and/or printed on paper through printing devices or viewed in any desired 3D, stereoscopic, anaglyph or interlaced viewing formats.

We claim:  
     
         1 . A mini pocketsize swivel stereoscopic apparatus comprising: 
 three main member plates with a short radius swivel distance to help travel a camera's lens from a left position to a right position over a diameter of 6.5 cm (may also be below or above for close-ups or distant scenes);    means on first (bottom) member plate to attach securely to a tripod or monopod;    means on said second (middle) member plate to attach and swivel and stop over the first member plate in an exact semicircular path (or a smaller arc with the use of a macro adapter) this second member plate could range in size from 3 cm to 10 cm or more;    means on third (top) member plate to attach to any camera and secure on top of, and swivel and stop over the second member plate;    means on third (top) member plate to level horizontally;    
     
     
         2 . A small macro plate that restricts the movement path of  claim 1  from left to right in a smaller arc needed to capture stereoscopic images of close objects.  
     
     
         3 . The apparatus claim of  1  with the first (bottom) member plate attached to a tripod or monopod, and the third (top) member plate attached to the camera, the second (middle) plate swivels from left to right in a semi-circular arc path to move the camera lens from a right-eye view position to a left-eye view position of a scene or a subject.  
     
     
         4 . The apparatus claim of  3  including means to level said camera horizontally and in parallel on either a flat surface or any uneven surface by use of any standard tripod.  
     
     
         5 . The apparatus claim of  4  including means to position digital camera to a left or right first position to capture the first pair of a stereo pair of images for the purposes of future viewing in various three dimensional formats. Said swivel top, middle member plate, and attached camera is first moved in a semi-circular path to the furthest left point where it comes to a complete stop when the right side of the camera is pushed forward, this is accomplished with the help of left and right stop brakes located on the top and bottom member plates.  
     
     
         7 . Said apparatus claim of  1  is the first swivel apparatus to achieve stereoscopic photographs but requires nearly half the size of any other stereoscopic apparatus to achieve travel of the same distance.  
     
     
         8 . Said apparatus claim of  1  is designed to take two separate left and right views of an intended subject with a distance separation of 6.5 cm resembling the average distance separation of two human eyes or less if using additional macro adapters or up to 20 cm (radius of 10 cm) or more when using wider second (middle) member plate as shown in FIG. 12.  
     
     
         9 . Said apparatus claim of  1  is intended for use with any camera in all its mode of operations including but not limited to various macro, zoom or wide-angle modes/or attachable lenses. Also said apparatus claim of  1  has a default pre-set right and left view distance separation based on the width of the second (middle) member plate, the distance may also be reduced with the use of a macro adapter as shown in FIG. 13-16.  
     
     
         10 . Said apparatus claim of  1  is an extremely simple, efficient and accurate process to move a digital camera from the default left position to the right position. It is the first and only mini-size mechanism that allows for a normal human eyes separation of 65 mm. This makes the apparatus in  claim 1 , the fastest and smallest stereoscopic adapter ever created for a single lens camera to capture an accurate pair of left-to-right or right-to-left eye views and making it the most suitable for stereoscopic photography when traveling lightly.