My first experience with 3d digital photography was with my Panasonic GH1 with a Panasonic Lumix 12.5mm f/12 3D G attached. I wanted to capture 3d images of my recently born daughter and hoped the technology would catch on. Now, almost 15 years later, Canon has continued to bring 3D photography to the masses with the Canon RF5.2mm F2.8 L Dual Fisheye and Canon RF-S 7.8mm f/4 STM Dual Lenses.
I have always been hopeful that 3d Photography would become a big thing in the future as a fan of VR, but every time it gets started, companies pull the plug because people aren’t interested in rebuying all their lenses. Now it seems Canon has come up with a software solution using its dual pixel technology alongside IBIS to create 3d imagery using your current lens selection, which could be big for 3D photography if Canon decides to release the software. This technology captures two image parallaxes in a single image file and it is based on the same Dual Pixel RAW technology that allows you to adjust the bokeh, lighting, and sharpness of images you have already taken with your Canon EOS R5.
A Canon engineer explained the technology at CP+ 2025 to DCW by saying “This Canon camera has a Dual Pixel sensor… that means two photodiodes in one pixel. Currently, we are using that for the autofocus. However, we can use that pixel to [produce] 3D.nSo we can take a photo as RAW data – we call it DPRAW, the extension is .CR3 – and then we made special application software for 3D.” The technology seems to produce a similar 180° level of 3D image as the expensive Canon RF5.2mm F2.8 L Dual Fisheye. You can also shoot 360° by rotating the subject, and taking 12 pictures or more to combine for additional detail.
via DCW