The W3BPS 

W1 / W3 camera stereo base reducer Text & pictures Copyright Sylvain Weiller 2013 –

Version 3.2

Do not copy this on blogs or web page serveurs, please only link to : http://sweiller.free.fr/FUJI-W3-3D/Base_W3W1_/FujiW3BPS.PDF Note : If you make this accessory, it is under your own and only responsability !

This cheap DIY accessory has been designed to reduce the original base of the Fujifilm W3-3D* camera (7.5 cm) to about 1.6 cm (it could be adapted for the W1 with some small modifications). This allows to take live and easily viewed instant 3D pictures at a distance of about 30 cm instead of the usual smallest comfortable distance at full 3x zoom of 1.5 m ! Then it is intended for capturing moving insects or flowers even in difficult windy conditions (not permitting the cha-cha usual macro technique) or part of larger live animals … Moreover compared to cha-cha , you will be able to use the manual mode ‘M’ and that’s makes a major difference when you make close-up pictures of flowers under the Sun (generally greatly overexposed in cha-cha !). Also the focus if set to ‘center’ will be exactly the same in both fields. The prisms are from dismantled commercial Bed Prism Spectacles hence the name. The prototype was finished on my 66 birthday  * (Trade mark)

Pictures

(Much more in the W3BPSGallery.PDF )

Material used for the prototype :

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2 pairs of Bed Prism Spectacles (about 35$ free shipping on Internet) a very thin metal saw (picture later) small screwdriver 3 aluminium plates (2mm thick) cardboard or thin balsa for cover strong glue for the prims + best 5 min setting epoxy glue for the plates a lathe and drills to make a rather large clearance hole (6.5 mm) taps and corresponding drill to make 1/4" - 20 standard Kodak threads

Aluminium plates (1/4) : Sizes in mm : 160 x 27 160 x 48 160 x 70 Work on the 160 x 27 plate : Drill a 6.5 clearance hole at 50 mm from left edge and 17 mm from top edge and 2 threaded Kodak one at 10 mm from side edges and 20 mm from top one.

Aluminium plates (2/4) : The plates should be epoxy glued* as shown in the next picture : leave about 4 mm on each side to be able to epoxy on both sides too (also it would be good to reinforce somehow the joins where I draw the blue squares and this in the middle of the plates). it is (I guess, that’s what I did) easier to glue the largest plate only after the prisms assembly is done but not sure … * Using product setting time, temperature (and previous metal degreasing)

You will have to saw some excess of the plate after gluing, to be able to use monopods / tripods heads wider than about 25 mm diameter …

Aluminium plates (3/4) : In next version, to reduce weight some of the top plate should be cut of …

Aluminium plates (4/4) : And also here moreover allowing easy opening and closing of the camera …

Plates new cuts and consolidation (1/3) : (Version 3.1) Here follows the result and then details of those improvements …

Less weight, smaller front width, possibility to mount on any tripod , opening and closing of the W3 without any problem !

Plates new cuts and consolidation (2/3) : Only gluing was a bit fragile even with Araldite … now it is much stronger !

Plates new cuts and consolidation (3/3) : A little cut and now the W3BPS is easy to fix on any pro tripod !

Prism assembly (1/5) Intro picture showing most of the work to do …

Prism assembly (2/5) Removing the prisms …

Step 1 : Remove the branches of the spectacles Step 2 : Hold tight of better fix the prism holding plastic part Step 3 : Saw vertically & carefully the bottom external side of the holder just below the external lower side of the the prism (never touch them with the saw ! Better to stop a bit before). Image after prism removal … Step 4 : Twist the plastic a few times to break the unsawed remnent and also the fragile seals of inside glue and slowly push the prism out at the 30° angle (with alternate new twists) without anything else than your fingers and nails (don’t hurt the fragile edges of the glass prism)

Prism assembly (3/5) Positioning the prisms …

Clean the prisms from leftover glue Glue together (not with epoxy who knows !) and with precision the future 2 front prisms as shown on the picture Label the top front side of the largest plate (farthest from camera) this to be sure to glue later on the good edge which is the opposite ! Draw vertical lines starting from right edge at : 43 mm 51 mm 88.5 mm 126 mm 134 mm Draw one horizontal lines starting from top edge at 6 mm

Prism assembly (4/5) Gluing the prisms and testing …

Use this picture to measure the different distances with a precision of 1 mm. The distance are important to assure than the FOV will be maximized : at full zoom you should get about 50% of the W3 FOV width and full FOV height. The distance between the center prisms and the side ones determines the horizontal centering of the FOV. Don’t use epoxy to be able to remove the prism when applying strong force. Now you can test the accessory on a table using books to see if everything is fine putting a small object or a flower at about 45 cm.

Prism assembly (5/5)

Top view just before gluing and taping cover …

Protection

Adding cover to cut stray light …

After gluing all the plates with epoxy, it is time to protect the system. First clean all the glass surfaces. Then cut cardboard or balsa pieces and glue them to make the cover (you should reinforce with tape) …

Last tips … Don’t forget to take many batteries with you as they will last only a quarter of an hour when permanently sollicitated. If the camera turns off (after max 5 min of inactivity), push the playback button 2 sec to wake it up then press the shutter button* . To turn off the camera, push and maintain the playback button until done. You can add a little piece of electric tape as shown below to be able to pull up the lid to protect the optics ! This should not be necessary if the plates are cut as said on dia 16 … Finally, control the quality of the pictures (focus , framing & exposure) just after taking them using max playback zoom in 2D !

* Thanks to Bob Aldridge

Congratulations ! You just have finished all the process ! Now just fix the camera as shown and you can go in the fields !

See much more pictures in the file W3BPSGallery.PDF

NEW V3.2 : Adding a close-up lens ! I added a 67 mm diameter, Labeled + 4 lens for stronger macros !

Two examples follow ... See many new pictures with this add-on in the file W3BPSGallery.PDF of my site