Comments for A. Aronsson's WeBOLLog

Comment on Crappy Aiptek 3D i2 is Crap by Andreas Aronsson

Andreas Aronsson — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:34:17 +0000

Yes, that camera was what my comment above was all about! I’m quite excited about the development, though I’m still a bit worried that there might not be any update to neither sensors or optics. The camera itself does not have very many strong points as a compact, mainly no wide angle, no fast lens and no back lit sensor, which I have come to expect from the latest premium compacts. Then again this camera is basically two non-premium compacts put together, so I guess I shouldn’t require it to do wonders. I am still very interested in it :)

Comment on Crappy Aiptek 3D i2 is Crap by Francois

Francois — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 05:21:23 +0000

You probably know by now that Fuji has just introduced an upgraded version of the W1 in the form of the W3. You’ll also be happy to learn that Fuji has addressed all the shortcoming you listed: The screen in now static parallax barrier, the buttons are now intuitive wheels at the right, the movie mode is HD 720p and the price has been lowered…

Comment on Crappy Aiptek 3D i2 is Crap by Andreas Aronsson

Andreas Aronsson — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 04:28:23 +0000

And there it is. I am slightly disappointed with no update to the sensors or optics… but I will check it out if I ever see it in a store. Perhaps it’s more likely now when it looks more like a normal camera :) Interface designers should know that following known conventions is key if you want to make people feel familiar. Perhaps they wanted the W1 to feel entirely new, but at the same time the alienated most compact camera owners! Oh, I’m rambling, enough speculation :P

Comment on Crappy Aiptek 3D i2 is Crap by Andreas Aronsson

Andreas Aronsson — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 18:26:05 +0000

Philip, I’m not sure, but I think it was about the same… thought it felt a bit quicker. Still, just about any very cheap camcorder would do better 2D video, this quality reminds me of an old crappy webcam. For photos… as soon as you don’t have full sunshine you get immense amounts of crazy noise, not recommended.

Michael, it was my displeasure! :P I might give the W1 a second look if my home built rig frustrates me enough ;) When you say new Panasonic camera, are you talking about their prosumer camcorcer?

Comment on Crappy Aiptek 3D i2 is Crap by Michael

Michael — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 06:05:27 +0000

Thanks for the review of the Aiptek and suffering for the team. Good thing you got all your money back! :)

I agree with you that the W1′s screen is not for everyone. I am fine with it, but many of my friends can not stand it like you. I also thought the buttons were unintuitive, but in daily use, some of the controls proved very intuitive, except the rocker-style of the buttons is still a bit odd.

I recommend you have another look at the W1. For on-the-go shooting, it is still the most practical device. Not as good quality footage as the new panasonic, but you don’t have to fiddle with manual parallax adjustments like the panasonic and a home-made rig which limits you to static, tripod shots. The new Fuji firmware fixed all the white balance errors and improved syncing. Check my website. Most of my footage was shot with the W1.

Comment on Crappy Aiptek 3D i2 is Crap by Philip Heggie

Philip Heggie — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 02:24:35 +0000

What was it’s true video framerate for recording 2d video? It might be best for 3d stills and just sluggish at encoding 3d video.

Comment on Crappy Aiptek 3D i2 is Crap by Andreas Aronsson

Andreas Aronsson — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 18:44:04 +0000

You need to click over to the Youtube site to get to the actual 3D version of the flash player. Otherwise the file uploaded was directly from the camera.

Comment on Crappy Aiptek 3D i2 is Crap by Albert Lowell

Albert Lowell — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 16:20:50 +0000

The video does look odd. Are all the tags listed for 3D viewing?

Comment on Crappy Aiptek 3D i2 is Crap by Andreas Aronsson

Andreas Aronsson — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 04:54:46 +0000

You’re very welcome Andrew! I found your site very interesting and will have to drill deeper when I get time!

Apparently my mind was thinking very backwards! In this video which I recoded in 420 fps a cycle displaying right and left images takes 7 frames. Calculating 420/7 = 60 Hz meaning the effective frame rate sure is 120 Hz.
From what I understood they move a screen behind a parallax barrier to shift the direction of the light, instead of cutting the resolution in half.
Still, the time the screen is completely dark is at least 50% due to the shifting, which makes it a very harsh 60 Hz flicker for eyes used to higher frequencies. This is mainly the reason why I have not bought a 120 Hz computer monitor for 3D purposes, though I keep my hopes up for a 200 Hz panel eventually! But, even then the alternation will still mean 50% image time per eye, always, but the increased Hz will help.

And I sure long for an easy to use 3D camera :) The rig I’m currently trying to build consists out of two separate cameras which might be completely out of sync etc, but I’m still waiting for stuff off of eBay! And then again there will not be any easy way to view photos in 3D at once and they will require post processing, something I will have to look into when the time comes.

Comment on Crappy Aiptek 3D i2 is Crap by Andrew Woods

Andrew Woods — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 01:39:48 +0000

Thanks for the review of the Aiptek.
I have the Fuji W1 and also think it is great. The screen on the back of the Fuji is not a parallax barrier – it seems to be a new autostereoscopic 3D display technology from 3M, which allows full panel resolution per eye (parallax barrier is only half) and the frame rate is 120Hz total for 60Hz per eye (not 60Hz total for 30Hz per eye). The screen has no obvious flicker. The 3D screen does have a level of crosstalk, but it is more usable than a parallax barrier and so much better than a 2D screen. It is great to be able to show off the 3D images at the drop of a hat.