A 3D Camera for 35 mm film I made this camera back in 1987. Two Konica FS 1 bodies were merged to a 3D-camera. The shutters are synchronized to allow flash photography. It also works with automatic flash exposure when using dedicated Konica flashguns (e.g. X-24). The right exposure meter controls the automatic exposure of both lenses. The two cameras are separated by one frame. Each frame is 36 mm plus a margin of 2 mm. So the center frame distance is 76 mm. The lenses are separated by 74 mm.

This is how stereoscopic cameras are made to make the images converge at a certain shooting distance. The stereo window is about 2 meters in front of the camera when using 40 mm lenses. The film transport scheme is 1-3-1-3... and is handled automatically through a redesign of the frame counter. The knob between the two finder prisms is a double exposure control. This is a modification as the FS-1 does not allow double exposures. A simple switch is all that is necessary to add this functionality. It is surprising that Konica didn't make it as a standard feature.

Looking back at camera evolution a few decades is interesting. The Konica FS 1 camera was really ground breaking. Not only was it the first SLR with an automatic film winder, the basic body contours with a battery compartment handgrip was a departure from the looks of SLR cameras until then. This kind of handgrip is mandatory for today's digital SLR cameras. But Konica was a little to eager to launch the camera. The first batches had some teething troubles and Konica got a bad reputation in a short time.