We’ve seen my rather kludgy PVC slider design, as well as a somewhat more sturdy design from RT at MMDO. If you’d like something extremely well-built, this stereoscopic camera slider from John Bump on G+ might do the trick. The travel isn’t too big, but there’s a reason for that.

As to why you might want a slider with a small travel and a scale on the front, the answer is to take steroscopic images. As John puts it, the pictures were to be taken at the “interpupillary distance of a small child.” In other words, one shot is taken for one simulated eye, then the camera is moved. This produces a set of pictures that can be used to simulate a (small) human’s vision.

Since it’s meant for still shots, one might wonder why an industrial-grade THK slide was used for the slide. Maybe this ultra-smooth slide isn’t needed, but technically neither is the machined base, clever locking mechanism, or even the adjustment slide on the bottom.

One might also consider that a watch you get in a Happy Meal keeps as good time as a Rolex. Just because something’s not necessary, doesn’t mean it’s not awesome. Check out some more photos of this build after the “read more.”

Thanks for sharing John! Be sure to check out his G+ page for other neat projects.