International Camera Museum : Blue Moon Camera and Machine

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Argus 3D Camera (Loreo Mark I)

The Argus 3D camera is a simple and inexpensive stereo camera. Originally sold as a Loreo Mark I stereo camera, Argus bought and rebranded the model to make it their own. The camera produces a pair of offset images on the same 24x36mm frame; making developing, printing, and scanning easy for most photo labs. The camera features a pair of fixed-focus 28mm lenses that achieve depth perception by a pair of mirrors creating separation between the two lenses' fields of view. The camera has a fixed 1/90th of a second shutter, fixed aperture, and preset focus that works best between 10 feet and infinity. The camera has a pop-up flash that, while not terribly powerful, would be useful in a pinch.

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Argus 3D Camera

Since the 1980s, the Hong Kong-based company, Loreo, has been popular as the makers of both inexpensive 3D cameras and, perhaps even more importantly, affordable 3D print viewers. This Argus 3D camera is actually a Loreo Mark I, produced in the late 1990s, and rebranded under the Argus name. It is a nifty little camera featuring a pair of fixed-focus 28mm lenses.

Most stereo cameras achieve the appearance of depth by separating the lenses at a distance, approximating human eyesight and, hence, our natural depth perception. The closer the lenses, the less depth is able to be perceived and, likewise, the farther apart the lenses, the greater depths that are able to be distinguished. This latter characteristic is why you will sometimes see landscape stereo photographers with cameras several feet apart in order to convey depth in subject matter that is focused hundreds of feet in the distance.

Anyway, back to the Loreo Mark I. This camera's lenses are quite close together, so it uses a pair of mirrors to redirect the lenses' fields of view farther apart. This technique achieves the same effect as if the lenses were physically farther apart. Furthermore, it records its twin images onto a single, standard 24x36mm frame, meaning you could take your roll of film to any lab and have it developed and printed. The resulting prints could then be loaded in one of Loreo's viewers and you'd have 3D images.

We have a small but active contingent of stereo photographers among our customer base, so this was a camera that never even made it to the sales floor, it got claimed within a day of it coming for sale. Nonetheless, it is a fun camera to have on your radar if you'd like to play with 3D photography.