record home videos in 3D. (Click to enlarge.)
Photo: Panasonic
Panasonic is betting big on 3D. Last night, the company unveiled what it claims is the world's first 3D consumer camcorder, along with a 3D lens for its Lumix SLR-like series of cameras. Both new products would allow you to capture 3D video and still images, which can be viewed on a 3D-capable HDTV, as well as regular 2D content. (Not so coincidentally, Panasonic has several 3D TVs, which we've reviewed, and more are coming.)
That's potentially exciting news. Our engineers have been impressed by 3D video from Blu-ray discs and TV broadcasts displayed on Panasonic's 3D televisions, although I'm less convinced that consumers will rush to create 3D video and still images. However, some of our engineers been have been impressed by the quality of still images from Fujifilm's FinePix Real 3D W1, the first 3D camera, when viewed on the Panasonic TVs.
You'll have to wait for October to check out the Panasonic HDC-SDT750 camcorder, which is priced at $1,400. The 3D G-series lens for Lumix cameras is scheduled to come out by year's end, at a price still to be announced. 3D-enabled Lumix cameras are also in the works.
At the moment, Fujifilm's FinePix Real 3D W1 is the only camera that can capture both 3D still images and video. Sony has several cameras that incorporate its cameras 3D Sweep Panorama system for still images, but not for video.
Like Fujifilm's FinePix Real 3D W1, the HDC-SDT750 camcorder uses two lenses to create stereoscopic images and video—in this case, a detachable 3D "teleconverter" lens that fits over a 12x optical zoom lens. When you take the 3D teleconverter lens off this camcorder, it can capture regular 2D 1080p HD video. You can also shoot still images in either 3D or 2D, as 7.5-megapixel files.
The camcorder simultaneously records two images through the two lenses, one for the right eye and one for the left eye, each 960 x 1080 pixels. The two images are played back on the TV screen side-by-side, like the commercial 3D recordings and broadcasts we've seen. When the TV is viewed with 3D glasses, the images are three-dimensional. However, on the camcorder's 3-inch touchscreen LCD or its viewfinder (rare on camcorders these days), they appear in 2D. With the Fuji camera, you can see 3D on the built-in display and a related digital photo frame, but the quality is nowhere near as good as on the TV.
The camcorder also has video-editing software for editing 3D images and video and a 5.1-channel audio recording sound system. It features a manual ring for adjusting focus and other settings. It stores video and photos on flash memory cards and is compatible with the newest high-capacity cards, the SDXC cards.
Panasonic 3D Lumix SLR-like lens
In addition to the 3D camcorder, Panasonic has also announced plans to reconfigure its SLR-like, G-series Lumix camera line to include a 3D feature. It also plans to produce a 3D G-series lens by the end of 2010.
However, no new SLR-like camera bodies, specifications for this new lens or product pricing have been announced at this time. (SLR-like cameras have large image sensors and the ability to set many manual settings and manual focus, but are much smaller than SLRs and don't have a through-the-lens viewfinder.)
Panasonic claims that its new systems will be superior to Fujifilm's "two lenses and two CCD" format and Sony's NEX-cameras 3D Sweep Panorama system, both of which Panasonic says have trouble capturing moving objects. The company says its 3D lens will allow for "instant 3D shooting, without distortion or time lag between left and right images—even when shooting moving objects."
We'll see how these claims hold up when we get both products into our labs.
What do you think of 3D photography and video? Would you like to see this feature on more camcorders and digital cameras? Or do you think it's a gimmick? Weigh in below.
—Terry Sullivan
Previous
Post a comment
Comments: