Official site for the NeoLucida, the modern camera lucida. Use the NeoLucida to draw accurately from life. Perfect for artists, illustrators, architects, designers, and anyone who likes to draw, or wants to learn to draw.

The camera lucida, patented by William Hyde Wollaston in 1807, is essentially a “prism on a stick.” The stick part is easy to understand, but exactly how does the prism work? What sorcery lives in that little block of glass?

We call the camera lucida a "prism on a stick", but there's more to it than that. How does it actually work? What are the optical principles that allow you to trace directly from real life?

NeoLucida: Split-Pupil Camera Lucida. The NeoLucida uses a prism to split your vision between a view of your paper and a view of your subject. There have been different prism configurations over time, but each split-pupil prism design works the same way: When you place your eye close to the edge of the prism, the lower part of your view sees ...

The NeoLucida Plus prism is based on the very first camera lucida design created by William Hyde Wollaston in 1807. The NeoLucida Plus uses a prism to split your vision between a view of your paper and a view of your subject.

How It Works: NeoLucida, a Split-Pupil Camera Lucida. The NeoLucida uses a prism to split your vision between a view of your paper and a view of your subject. There have been different prism configurations over time, but each split-pupil prism design works the same way:

The NeoLucida Plus prism is based on the very first camera lucida design created by William Hyde Wollaston in 1807. The NeoLucida Plus uses a prism to split your vision between a view of your paper and a view of your subject.

The NeoLucida Plus uses a redesigned glass prism. It is compact and has added features that fold into the eyepiece for easy storage. The prism optics are sharp and crisp under most lighting conditions, and the NeoLucida Plus has an integrated shader for additional lighting corrections. The NeoLucida Plus ghost image easily covers a US Letter/A4 ...

The award-winning device that started it all! This is the original prism NeoLucida. Compact and non-electronic, the ghost image is sharp and bright! Includes storage pouch. Ages 9+ US $59. Learn More →

The NeoLucida XL is an update to the original prism NeoLucida. It works just like the NeoLucida: Look down into the eyepiece to see a ghost image of your subject on your paper. The NeoLucida XL uses mirror and glass to provide an extra-large viewing area.