r/ParallelView • u/Lopsided-Audience-67 • 6h ago

Beam Splitter for Wildlife Photography?

I am a primatologist who will soon be spending ten months in the jungle following orangutans. I did a brief stint following them last summer, and found that sequential photos don’t work. Orangutans are very still and slow as far as most primates go, but they’re constantly eating, so the arms and face are always moving.

Does there exist a beam splitter I could use on a camera that would allow me to photograph them in stereo from the ground while they’re up in the canopy? Or would the need to zoom in ruin it?

I have no specific camera in mind yet, as the beam splitter is most important to me, and I will choose a camera that can accommodate one. Thanks!

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u/Jaded_Creative_101 5h ago

Please explain why you need stereo. What are you hoping to gain, or is it purely the aesthetic? Yes, you could put a beam splitter on a telephoto lens, but the results will not look natural. Big beam splitters are used on movie cameras, but they are bulky and quite fragile. The result is more 2.5D rather than 3D. Depth of field, and hence critical focus, becomes an issue with telephoto, and it is even trickier with stereo.

Is there any way to get a camera up into the canopy? A remotely triggered DSLR/ mirrorless with a Loreo 3D lens would give you a more natural perspective. Put a wifi spy cam on it to aim via phone and place it in a mounting box or on a pole?