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ImageTech 3D Magic Single Use 35mm Film Camera

     805 words  4 minutes 
The ImageTech 3D Magic is a disposable camera from the 1990s. The most interesting feature are the three lenses. The images from the camera can be used to create 3D animated gifs.

The ImageTech 3D Magic single-use camera (disposable) is interesting because it is the only ImageTech camera that has a flash hot shoe.

The 3D Magic is also cheaper than all of the other ImageTech camera models with 3 lenses, such as the ImageTech 3D Wizard.

I purchased a couple of the disposable cameras to see how difficult they are to reload and how they compare to other cameras with 3 or 4 lenses designed to make lenticular prints.

Seeing as how the cameras were made more than 20 years ago, finding them will become more difficult over time.

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ImageTech 3D Magic Single Use Camera

There’s not very much information about the company available online. That would make sense as the company likely went out of business in the late 1990s.

I’m not even sure what the original product prices were. There is no price listed on the packaging.

In addition to selling cameras, the company also developed film and could then also make 3D lenticular prints with the negatives. This is similar to the business model of Nimslo and Nissei Corp. (Nishika) in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

ImageTech 3D Magic Instructions

The most obvious feature of the camera are the three lenses. Each lens produces a half-frame image.

The current popular thing to do with the pictures produced by the camera is to turn them into “3-Dimensional” animated gifs or wigglegrams.

The process for converting the images is easy once they have been scanned and digital photos can be worked with. From there all that needs to be done is to edit and align the images in a digital image editor and then export them as a gif.

I have no information on the shutter speed or lens aperture sizes. My guess is that the aperture will likely be f/8 or f/11, because it is a fixed focus camera.

The shutter speed will likely be 1/60 sec or 1/100 sec.

ImageTech 3D Magic Flash Hot Shoe

By far and away the most interesting part of the 3D Magic is that it has a flash hot shoe on top as opposed to a built-in flash like all the other ImageTech cameras.

This is excellent because a photographer can load any film speed they want and control the exposure through the use of flash.

There was also the ImageTech Flash Magic that was for the camera. However, you can use any center pin fire flash, which is almost all flashes.

I am not aware of any other products that were sold with the camera.

Both of the 3D Magic cameras I purchased had expiration dates of 08/96. That makes them perfect for anyone that enjoys Lomography. However, that also means adjustments need to be made in order to get hopefully properly exposed film.

The camera is loaded with ISO 400 35mm film. There are a total of 16 exposures of a series of 3 half-frame pictures. This means the roll is equivalent to 24 standard 35mm frames.

When you go shoot with the camera you should try to overexpose the film by 0.5 to 1 stop. That should be easy to do if you are using a flash.

If you don’t intend to use a flash, my recommendation would be to do your photography in full sun. That will ensure the 35mm film will get as much light as possible which should give the best results.

ImageTech 3D Magic Film Processing

The standard C-41 process can be used to develop the film. This can be done through developing at home or having the film be developed by someone else.

If you are going to mail the camera to a lab, make sure the photo lab will process film in a single-use camera.

An important aspect for the company was to get people to have them develop their film for a higher price than their local lab could do. There is nothing special that needs to be done to process the film in the camera.

ImageTech 3D Magic 35mm Film Processing

The Nimslo 3D is the best in terms of build quality and functionality. All of the other cameras have a build quality and functionality you would see from a toy camera.

Here are the related cameras with 3 or 4 lenses:

Updated on 2022-10-25
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