It's too early for April Fool's, and this isn't some sort of mutant camera escaped from a Chernobyl factory — it's a beautifully modded Holga toy camera capable of creating 3-D photos. Randy Smith, who's made a career out of customizing the toy cameras, took two perfectly good Holgas, introduced them to a diamond-tipped bandsaw and emerged with a stereoscopic Frankenstein, with the build quality of a factory-made piece… albeit with the soft focus and light leaks that toy cams are known for.

The fused camera ends up with lenses roughly the same distance apart as human eyes, creating two slightly different angles of the same subject. These sample images taken by the hydra Holga can be viewed with crossed eyes (really! try it!). For those who can't make that technique work (or don't want to), this animated GIF made from the pics also gives the illusion of perspective.

Taking shots like this was especially popular in the early 20th century, and was carried on with toys like the Viewmaster into the present day. The gimmick doesn't come cheap, though, and with each build taking about six man-hours in Smith's one-man factory, who would expect them to? Pricing starts at $250 and each craftsman-quality camera is built to order.

Via Holgamods