Nimslo3D: My favorite camera that I rarely use

The Nimslo3D was ahead of it’s time, except it was also late on delivery, so it was always bound to fail.

A four-lens camera that essentially shot two images per frame of 35mm film in portrait orientation, you would send the negatives away to be printed behind a lenticular sheet for a 3D effect. Honestly, the idea sounds awesome, but a manufacturing delay, strike, rising costs, and decline in interest sealed its fate.

Also, that ad is terrible and frightening, so there’s that.

Finding one in working condition online isn’t too tricky, but they can be a little on the expensive side, considering that it is a plastic novelty camera that is prone to failure. I lucked out and found one for around $80 with flash, untested. Luck would strike again, as it arrived fully functional!

There is a small demand for these cameras these days thanks to the minor trend of creating “wigglegrams”. Essentially short animations of the four frames. There’s a Reddit community for them, numerous clones, and not one but two digital versions in development, plus several open-source alternatives. For a commercial failure, people sure do love this little oddity.

And why not? It’s fun, easy to use, and the results look cool as hell. The problem is it’s a little on the fragile side, almost always needs a flash (people hate flash these days it seems), and requires some skill to scan and arrange the photos into a GIF or short video to share. The company that printed the photos has long since gone, and I’m not aware of any company that still does prints of lenticular photos with any consistency. You can try your hand at making them at home using some more third-party software, but it’s not a simple process by any means.

This isn’t a camera you carry with you wherever you go, but if you are attending a party or wedding, or can find a local band that doesn’t mind flash photography, you’re in for a real treat.

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