Panasonic Presents the World's First Consumer 3D Camcorder

Following the growing popularity of 3D movies, Blu-rays and television sets, Panasonic is the first manufacturer to unveil a consumer 3D camcorder. The HDC-SDT750 can film both 2D and 3D footage by the simple attachment of a convertor lens.

Good ideas are often surprisingly simple. So instead of starting from scratch and manufacturing all the components of a 3D camcorder, Panasonic has simply taken the body of one of its pre-existing AVCHD camcorders and stuck on a 3D converter lens, which can be clipped over the regular lens.

The 3D lens simultaneously records separate images for the right eye and the left eye thanks to its two internal lenses. Images for the right and left eye are both captured in a resolution of 960 x 1080 pixels. However, without the 3D converter the camcorder films footage in 1920 x 1080 pixels to a memory card, like any other AVCHD camcorder.

With or without the 3D lens?

The SDT750 has the same spec as the HDC-TM700, released earlier this year (and which got a very good score in our product review). There's the same 1080/50p mode (50p progressive scan at 28 Mbps), as well as the same 1/4-format 3MOS sensor, 12x optical zoom and wide angle with a focal length of 35 mm in 24 x 36 equivalent. However, the camcorder's performances differ when the 3D lens is hooked up. With the 3D lens, the angle of view is reduced to just 58 mm in 24 x 36 equivalent. Similarly, the aperture of the built-in Leica Dicomar lens drops from f/1.5 to f/3.3 with the 3D lens. Note that the SDT750 doesn't have an internal flash memory and only records to SD memory cards (SDHC/SDXC).

One thing I'm sure you're all dying to know is whether it'll be possible to buy the 3D converter lens separately, so you can clip it onto another camcorder (given that it has a diameter of 46 mm). Panasonic, however, said it had no plans to make the lens available separately.



The SDT750 is expected to launch this autumn. Although UK pricing is still to be confirmed, the US RRP is a advertised at $1,400. Like with the onset of high definition in 2005, you'll have to make sure you're kitted out with compatible devices if you want to watch back 3D footage at home. As the 3D images are captured in 'side-by-side' mode, you'll have to make sure the 3D TV you buy to go with it can display 3D images captured in 'side-by-side' format ... like Panasonic's Viera 3D TVs, for example.


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