This camera uses four lenses to shoot in-camera gifs

Or at least, it would do that if it were real. When I first saw this, I thought it was. I have to admit, I got quite excited. A company like Moment had released a 3D analogue camera. But something felt odd, and it turns out it was a concept design.

The “Moment 3D Camera” was not created by Moment. It was created by Industrial Designer Olga Orel. Technologically reminiscent of cameras like the Nishika N8000, it presents a sleek and modern design. It also swaps out film for digital.

Four lenses are better than one

I’ve always thought that a quad-lens digital camera would be a lot of fun to play with. Cameras like the Noshika N8000 and Nimslo 3D cameras were a lot of fun. But they used film. Despite film seeing something of a renaissance, its popularity has only increased its price, not reduced it.

The camera put forward in this design concept, on the other hand, is a digital version. The way such cameras work is that each lens sees the scene from a slightly different angle. This allows them to create either an animated gif called a “wigglegram” with all four images or – using two of the frames – a 3D image.

The lenses on the front of the Moment 3D camera are a quad-array of 38mm equivalent focal length lenses. The view from all four lenses is captured simultaneously on a single ultra-wide sensor. You’re then presented with the results of your shot in a vertical display.

Not made by Moment

This type of camera is definitely a lot of fun to play with when it comes to film – albeit expensive. A unique view of the world that other cameras can’t see. Whether or not a digital version serves a practical purpose is another matter entirely. It may not be easy to provide a professional justification to buy such a camera but for personal use… Absolutely!

I kind of wish this Moment 3D Camera was a real camera. Even though it would never become a popular mainstream photography product, I’m actually quite surprised nobody’s taken the concept digital yet. Hey, it could be a good move for Moment to actually go ahead and make it!

If a quad-lens camera like this ever becomes a reality, whoever launches it would be well advised to chat with Olga to help design it.

You can see Olga’s complete design along with some backstory on the quad-lens camera and how it works, on her Behance page.

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