3d World Tl1201: International Camera Museum : Blue Moon Camera and Machine

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3D World TL120-1

The TL120-1 is one strange, little stereo camera. It was produced by the company 3D World in Hangzhou, China beginning in about 2006. It was only in production for a few years, later models having a variety of only minor improvements. At its core, the TL120-1 is a 'tri-lens" camera which is, more or less, exactly what it sounds like - the camera has three lenses. The top lens is the viewing lens; meanwhile, the lower pair of lenses are the taking lenses, responsible for producing the stereo pair of exposures. These lenses are the standard 80mm focal length, they have a standard focusing range of .8m to infinity, and have a distance of 63.5mm between them for stereo separation.

The TL120-1 is a fairly large camera but also pretty lightweight. It requires a red window for advancing frames and produces six pairs of stereo images per roll. The shutter is mechanical and the camera does have a battery powered light meter.

When it comes to medium format stereo photography, there are not many options out there. We wish you luck in your search to track one of these cameras down. The work would certainly be worth it, the TL120-1 is a very respectable stereo setup.

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Mark Hadley with his 3D World TL120-1

Mark Hadley, one of our favorite former employees, doesn't do photography because it is a serious pursuit. He does it because it is fun. He loves freezing action; from friends flying over campfires at the beach, to people rocketing skyward off diving boards. He loves underwater photography - he owns at least three Nikonos cameras. Most of all, he loves stereo photography. Several years ago, he heard about this mythical tri-lens medium format stereo camera and, while he loved his Holga 120-3D, he had to find this beast and own one himself. He got in contact with 3D World, a company in China that made this camera and, after navigating the language barrier, discovered they no longer made it. From them, he was given the names of four distributors that may still have had them. He called, e-mailed, and struck out on each of the four but continued his search! Finally, a camera store in Madrid produced a hit - they had two left. He bought this camera for about $1,300.

The camera works sort of like a twin lens reflex: you focus and compose through the top lens and the pair of stereo images are made through the twin bottom lenses. Setting exposure is all manual, the camera has a full range of shutter speeds, up to 1/500. Film advance is also manual, using the age-old technique of numbers in a red window. The camera itself is pretty darn cool, in both aesthetic and function. We do all of Mark's scanning and printing, pairing up the stereo images on one canvas and making prints of the pairs. He generally leaves a pair of glasses with us, so we can sit around the computer screen, flipping through his photos, marveling at the appearance of depth in what is usually a two dimensional medium.

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3D World TL120-1

Two things we have been falling in love with of late: the 3-D World Triclops camera and the recent discovery of Atlas Birch Beer soda - so good.

Speaking of falling in love; congratulations to former Blue Moon Camera star employee, Mark Hadley, and his fiance, Julie. The two of them will be getting married this Sunday - hooray! - and a significant part of the wedding will be documented on this very camera. That's right: weddings in 3D.

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(503) 978-0333
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8417 North Lombard Street
Portland, OR 97203

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3D World TL120-1

Mark Hadley with his 3D World TL120-1

3D World TL120-1

Blue Moon Camera and Machine llc