Having had a flirtatious past with stereo photography, I looked forward to trying out LOREO's LENS IN A CAP 3D (FD mount) on my trusty old Canon A-1 SLR.

I'd experimented prior with 1) a crusty old stereo camera from decades passed, 2) a Nishika n8000 I'd found at a garage sale, and 3) I'd even mounted a couple of cheap still cameras together. Though a great deal of fun, these methods left a great deal to be desired in both the results and ease-of-use department. Certainly, vibrant deep 3D was my goal, but practicality needed to come first -- or I knew I would never use the method. I wanted two things 1) The ability to shoot on regular 35mm which could then be processed cheaply at the local neighborhood drugstore etc. 2) A shooting apparatus that was not cumbersome.

LOREO's product fulfills both of these functions AND offers an unexpected third: photographers can switch between 2D and 3D on the same roll without problem (simply by changing lenses). After testing the LOREO's lens on Fuju 100 and 400 ASA, inside/outside w&wo flash, I found the 3D depth, image quality and sharpness all satisfactory, though not superior. If your application requires a greater resolution and control, there are other methods. But, I'm lazy, I'm not willing to mount two SLR's together. However, if you want something that's fast easy and mounts on your existing camera (contact LOREO for various mounts), then check out the Lens in a Cap.

Mounting: It took me a few minutes to figure exactly how the lens "screws" into my Canon mount. There's a turn, but no red dot and no click into place. This is a bit unnerving. But after some minimum fiddling, the cap fits and hasn't fallen off yet (and I picked the rig up by the lens more than once).

Viewing: Perhaps the greatest inconvenience of this cap, is the viewing. Eyeballing through the cameras viewfinder is dark and a bit confusing especially when shooting inside or under low light circumstances. The viewfinder splits into left & right eye images (pretty much cutting the each image to 1/2 size). So it's a strain, but not an insurmountable obstacle.

Focus: The cap comes with 3 preset focus positions, close-up, medium and distant. So far in my testing, I haven't seen very impressive differences in these settings and because I seek the simplest method for 3D, I plan to leave it set on Close for every shot. Overall, images proved strong enough for general purposes, very good, but not perfect.

Aperture: Again, the cap comes with just two settings F11 and F22, but I haven't seen any dramatic differences in the film shot, so I plan to experiment and just tape that switch down on one setting. And again, with a flash, the results were very satisfactory.

Overall: I found best results using faster film (400), with a flash, or outside. Anything shiny, especially glass (and eyeglasses) emphasizes the 3D effect and makes the photo more striking. Since I intend to shoot human subjects more often, I'm finding the close up shot (3-4 feet) brings out depth in facial features, whereas anything farther than 5 feet left humans looking like cardboard cut outs.

Photo Viewing: Unfortunately, viewing stereo photo's remains somewhat clumsy. LOREO's Deluxe viewer makes it easier and quicker for the lay-friends of Stereo shooters, but we've still got to carry around the viewer. LOREO included a "light" (plastic eyeglass type) viewer too, but the Deluxe image is so much more fun and even seems to add clarity and resolution that isn't there in the original. If someone knows of a simpler better way ... kindly write in.

Conclusion. I'm very happy with the LOREO LENS IN A CAP. It's an inexpensive solution to making 3d easy, convenient, and doable for the average SLR (and now digital) photo enthusiast.

Read More Product Reviews!

Free Ross Anthony Signed Book Contest!