Stereo with a single camera

SDM has aids for taking and previewing stereo image-pairs taken with a single camera.

For taking the images, 'Outline' mode allows you to determine if there is excessive deviation or perspective deviation.

This mode does not work on all cameras, it may corrupt the main menu or crash the camera.
Please report your experiences on the Yahoo SDM forum.

To use this mode, check 'Outline Mode' in the main menu.
To exit this mode, it will be necessary to switch to playback so that the menu may be accessed.
Point your camera at the subject and half-press the shutter.
A brightly coloured outline will appear around parts of the subject.
You only need a few reference points at the nearest and furthest distances.
Fully-press the shutter to capture the image, its outline will re-appear and it will say 'Frozen' on the display.
Move slightly to your right and line-up the nearest part of the subject with its outline from the previous shot.
The background should be no more than about 2mm (depending on screen size)from its previous position.
If it is, you have moved too far and the deviation is excessive.
Take your second image.

To preview your results, switch to playback mode, select the first (left) image and half-press the shutter.
Now select your second image and half-press the shutter again to see a monochrome anaglyph preview.
(users of the s2is, s3is, s5is and A550 should use the SetFunc button instead of half-press).
This is intended to show the accuracy of hand-held but may also be viewed in stereo with red/cyan glasses, especially on larger screens.
This works on most cameras, but not all, and on some cameras the odd/even position of the images in your browsing sequence can prevent the creation of the anaglyph.

You can change the threshold value for the edge outline from the menu if the default setting is not suitable for a particular situation.
This mode is also useful for studio and outdoor macro shots (under suitable conditions) because you can instantly determine background deviation and perspective distortion due to change of viewpoint.
For hyper landscapes you could capture the image from the first viewpoint and then walk to a second viewpoint and line-up the subject with its outline and determine resulting stereo-depth.
It is also useful for stop-motion animation (a technique known as 'onion skinning').