Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D W1 review

Here's a little-known fact: early Pentax Optio compact cameras used to come with a 3D mode and a pair of cardboard glasses for viewing your home-made prints in three dimensions. Now Fujifilm's found a way to view 3D pictures without the specs, thanks to the ground-breaking, stereoscopic FinePix Real 3D W1, which is available for around £480.

Easy 3D
When it works, the 3D effect produced by this camera is quite striking, and yet it's no more difficult to use than a typical point-and-shoot compact. A button on the back switches between the 2D and 3D modes (yes, you can use it like a normal camera), and that's pretty much all you need to know. The camera has to adjust the parallax of the two lenses (the angle they converge at) depending on the subject's distance, but that's automatic. If you do see double outlines, there's a pair of parallax-adjustment buttons to fix the problem before you shoot.

In 2D mode, the W1 uses just one of its twin 10-megapixel, 1/2.3-inch sensors, and the results are just what you'd expect, with decent colour, definition and noise levels (click image to enlarge)

The LCD display shows you a 3D view live, as you compose your shots. There's no in-camera trickery going on later to conjure the 3D effect out of your captured images -- you can see it right from the start.

You're not restricted to 3D stills, either -- the W1 can shoot 3D movies too. You can play back stills and movies on the camera's own 3D LCD, on the separate FinePix Real 3D V1 viewer or as special 3D prints ordered via Fujifilm's online 3D printing service.

Serious downsides
There are three big negatives to the W1, though: its design, 3D limitations and cost. The camera's design is probably the least serious of the three. The problem the W1 has is that it's about twice as big in real life as it looks in pictures. It's also heavy and slippery, and it has some seriously awkward controls. The slide-down front panel which exposes the lenses doesn't really give your fingertips anything to grip, and the left-most lens is right where your left index finger's going to be as you try not to drop the camera while you're fiddling with the buttons on the back.

3D photos viewed on the W1's 71mm (2.8-inch) screen look good, but, unless you invest in some expensive extras, it might be the only place you ever enjoy them

The 3D limitations are going to strike you pretty much straight away, and the manual and the 3D printing site spell them out: shoot subjects between 3 and 5m away, don't shoot in the portrait format, don't shoot close-ups, shoot a couple of people but not groups of people, avoid Wednesdays, watch out for dachshunds, and so on.