The Mercury Stereo 12 isn't just a camera: it is part of an entire stereoscopic ecosystem. Because it's fully modular, it is also infinitely extensible. We've already developed many components of this system to enable many different styles of photography, and we'll continue to develop more in the future. We are also happy to work with you to develop custom options, or help you to develop your own.

Many modules and accessories are available for the Stereo 12. Here are a few highlights…

Ground Glass Backs

Our Standard ground glass back gives you both stereo views for precise framing and focus checking, as well as previewing stereo deviation (the degree of depth at different focal planes). This back has been formulated to reduce cost.

Standard Ground Glass back

Our Deluxe ground glass back uses the same basic glass, but adds a light seal to more securely seat in place on the camera, as well as a mounting rail system to enable the quick mounting and dismounting of further accessories. Available ground glass accessories for the Deluxe back include a sun hood, protective cap, and a magnifying viewer. The magnifying viewer covers one view (eye) at a time, and can be slid between the left and right positions. Other ground glass accessories are possible in the future.

Deluxe Ground Glass back (shown with mounted hood)

Our Deluxe Superbright ground glass back functions just like the Deluxe back, but instead of standard ground glass, it is built around high-end synthetic glass with built-in fresnel lens and a brightline grid for a significantly brighter image.

Ground Glass Magnifier

The Ground Glass Magnifier mounts to either of our Deluxe lensboards and can slide between the two side-by-side frames. It blocks all light and magnifies the image via a high quality glass achromat lens (focusable for different diopter settings). This is an integrated, excellent way to easily examine your image for precising framing, focus, and stereo divergence.

Deluxe External Trigger

While the Stereo 12 is compatible with readily available external triggers, as well as wireless triggers, we specially build our own Deluxe trigger to match the aesthetics of the camera and to mount to a cold shoe (side or top). This keeps it secure on the camera and very accessible for the moment you are ready to trigger.

Lensboard Shell

The Mercury Lensboard Shell system protects your Stereo 12 electronic lensboards and lenses from damage and scuffs during transportation/travel. This is highly recommended if you will travel any distance with your camera! The Front Shell can be mounted over your lensboard when it is on your camera, or clamps together with a Rear Shell to fully enclose an unmounded lensboard. Consult the Full Lens Info spreadsheet. for a listing of the minimum size Rear Shell for any compatible lens.

Viewfinders

While any cold shoe accessory viewfinder can be used with the Stereo 12, we are making two available to cover the most popular lens choices: 55mm to 105mm. Our “3S” viewfinder is a simple, non-optical viewfinder that works beautifully for lenses 75mm, 80mm, 90mm, or 100/105mm in focal length. It features interchangeable masks for these different focal lengths, and you can easily insert custom masks as well for different formats and sizes.

Our 5W Deluxe viewfinder is for wide angles lenses. It includes brightlines for 65mm lenses, and the entire viewable area corresponds to 55mm. For 47mm lenses, you can either use a third-party viewfinder or use our 5W Deluxe with the understanding that the final frame is a bit wider than visible.

Stereo 12 Modular Lens Hood System

The Mercury Stereo 12 Lens Hood system is fully modular and consists of a base designed for a particular lens diameter, plus a snap-on shade series for different focal lengths. A thumb screw holds the two parts together and tightens the base against the lenses. This allows the hood to be very quickly mounted or removed from the lens pair. The maximum hood size for each lens is given in the Full Stereo 12 Lens Info spreadsheet.

Shades are actually quite important for stereography, because lens flairs tend to affect the two lenses differently, creating an anomaly when fused.

The Mercury Stereo Hood system is large and provides full access to change filters while mounted, and alternately to mount or remove the hood without disturbing the filters. This marks a significant functional improvement over screw-on lens hoods. And because you have the flexibility to mount different shade lengths, you can choose a more compact setup or a deeper one depending on your needs for particular shoots.

If you use multiple lenses, you should adapt them using step-up rings to a common filter diameter, and then use the Mercury Hood Base for that diameter. The base mounts just as easily on step-up rings as lens barrels.

Mercury Hyperstereo Base

This base mounts directly to your tripod, and the Stereo 12 mounts to it. With the HS Base in place you can alter the effective stereo base distance (distance between the lenses). You can use this to add depth to farther-away subjects or to shoot very close-up subjects.