Patent ID: 8780180

Claim:
A digital camera for capturing stereoscopic images, comprising: an image sensor for capturing a digital image; an optical system for forming an image of a scene onto the image sensor; a user interface having user interface elements; a color image display; a data processing system; a buffer memory; a storage memory for storing captured images; and a program memory communicatively connected to the data processing system and storing instructions configured to cause the data processing system to: receive a selection of a stereoscopic image capture mode from the user interface elements; obtain a first digital image of a scene captured using the image sensor in response to a first activation of at least one of the user interface elements, the first digital image comprising foreground objects and background objects; store the first digital image in the buffer memory; display a real time stream of low resolution stereoscopic preview images on the color image display, wherein the stereoscopic preview images comprise anaglyph stereoscopic images formed by combining the stored first digital image with a stream of evaluation digital images of the scene captured using the image sensor, and wherein the evaluation digital images comprise shifted foreground objects and shifted background objects; update the stream in real time in response to movement of the digital camera; determine that a plane of zero disparity of the scene is located substantially at a center of a depth range of the scene, wherein the shifted foreground objects are to the left of the foreground objects, and wherein the shifted background objects are to the right of the background objects; obtain a second digital image of the scene captured using the image sensor in response to a second activation of at least one of the user interface elements, wherein the second digital image provides a desired depth effect; and store a high resolution stereoscopic image based on the first digital image and the second digital image in the storage memory.