Nishika 3-D N8000

Nishika 3-D N8000 Overview

The Nishika 3-D N8000 is a lenticular stereo camera produced by Nishika Optical Systems based in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson, Nevada. The N8000 is heavily based on the tongue twisted Nimstec Nimslo which was developed and produced in the 1980s by Nimstec until it went bankrupt and was bought out by Nishika. Nishika itself went belly up in the 1990s when it was investigated by the United States Federal Trade Commission for using a telemarketing scam to unload cameras on a gullible American public.

The N8000 features four fixed 30mm lenses with three aperture settings that can be selected via a switch on the side of the lenses: f/19 (sun), f/11 (sun with cloud), and f/8 (indoors or cloud). All four lenses are fired at the same at a fixed shutter speed of 1/60 seconds and each one exposes half a frame of 35mm film for a total of two frames per shot. Controls include the shutter button mounted atop the grip with a remote release socket just behind it and a the film advance lever behind that. From the advance lever to the other side is the frame counter, hot shoe, battery test switch (which illuminates the red LED on the front), and the film rewind knob.

While the N8000 looks vaguely advanced and high tech, it’s actually a fairly primitive camera. The “pentaprism” between the viewfinder and hot shoe is purely cosmetic as this is not an SLR and what appears to be an LCD display on the top plate is basically a sticker under clear plastic. The two AA batteries located inside the grip appear to power nothing more than the “check battery” light and the two smaller contacts in the hot shoe are not connected to anything. Lastly, the camera’s relatively solid feel can be attributed to metal weights hidden inside the otherwise entirely plastic body.

I bought this practically brand new Nishika 3-D N8000 at a flea market down in St. Louis for just $4. The N8000 came in the original box complete with fake leather case, owner’s manual, and two prepaid envelopes for mail order film processing. The lady who sold it to me said that she had won it in a contest (which probably means she was a victim of the aforementioned telemarketing fraud) and that she had only opened it once and had never actually used it, claims that are backed up by the camera’s mint condition. In the end when I finally took it off her hands, she seemed visibly relieved to be rid of it.