I’m in Sydney at the moment. At the airport more precisely, awaiting a flight back home after a lightning trip across yesterday/last night for the launch of two new camcorders from Panasonic. It is the second of these that is the more important, the SDT750 and therefore the subject of this First Looks.

Why? Because this is effectively the first true 3D camcorder for the domestic market.

Actually, that is not quite true; the SDT750 is actually a top-of-the-range 2D camcorder that comes with a 3D converter lens in the box. This is screwed on to the front of the main body of the camera and into the existing 2D lens assembly where a pair of lugs locks it in place and then a thumb wheel is used to tighten it to the main camera.

Every time the 3D conversion lens is re-attached, a small amount of calibration is needed.

There are sensors embedded into the lens that interact with the main camera, so unfortunately, it is not possible to add this conversion lens to another camcorder at this time. For those that hanker after 3D, and have just bought an SD700, this will be a bit of issue I suspect. And the cause of some amgst.

Once the lens is in place, zoom is locked to 50mm (38mm in the 35mm world) and the main point of 3D convergence is set at 1.5 metres.

Footage obtained can be edited by a package supplied in the box, and effectively, as the image created is a combo left / right set of images, Panasonic say only the right side needs to be edited. Until I try it, I am not sure how that works I hasten to add. I cannot confirm or deny if any existing editing packages on the market support the 3D format as yet, but am investigating this as we speak.

The camcorder can also be plugged in to a 3D LCD/Plasma TV and the footage played back in 3D, or the SD card used to store the footage similarly plugged into an SD card slot in a 3D capable TV, or an attached peripheral (DVD player, Blu-ray player etc). Of course, 3D glasses are needed to get the full “viewing experience” as they say. Demonstration footage we were shown using 3D glasses looked clean, but I would need to compare it to something else to give a definitive opinion. My benchmark is still 3D footage from an Audi R8 in full anger mode taken at Nurburgring…

Ignoring the 3D conversion lens for a moment, the basic 2D camcorder is an impressive beast in its own right – Panasonic say it is the most advanced consumer camera they have yet made and indeed, it is very reminiscent of the venerable and coveted GS400..

The SDT750 sports a 3MOS system with “improved” noise reduction, records 1080/50p in the AVCHD format and uses a new hybrid optical image stabiliser that incorporates some electronic elements for supreme handshake capability so we were told. A manual ring gives fingertip control over focus, zoom, iris, shutter speed and white balance settings.

Coupled to the 3MOS is a F1.5 Leica Dicomar lens and the overall package gives an effective 7.59 million motion image pixels.

Audio capture is via an inbuilt 5.1 channel sound system, but an external mic and also headphones can also be connected. And joy of joys, as well as a decent flip out LCD, there is a viewfinder that can be extended, but not tilted. Heavy duty batteries are also available.

In the hand, the SDT750, even with the extra weight – minimal as it is – of the conversion lens added is surprisingly balanced. All controls are at hand, and there is a fast startup time of 0.6 seconds. The launch had a “circus” theme, and even in the low light afforded by the venue imagery captured appeared clean and crisp. A three second Pre-record buffer allows spontaneous moments to be hopefully caught.

Other features of the SDT750 include wind noise canceller, touch screen icons (there has to be one downer-Ed), time lapse recording up to 2 minutes, interval recording in 3D and 50 frames/second high speed burst shooting.

A full road test is going to be necessary to see how the specs of the SDT750 actually stack up in real time and under real conditions of all types, but I for one am looking forward to this as in a quick play at the launch, it looks promising indeed.

The Panasonic HDT-STD750 will retail for $1999 including the 3D conversion lens, and be available in September.

See www.panasonic.com.au for further details.

By David Hague

David is the owner and publisher of AusCam Online. He has a background in media dating back to 1979 when he first got involved with photojournalism in motorsport, and went from there into technology via a 5 year stint with Tandy Computers. Following that, he ran a software distribution company on the Gold Coast and was one of the first to recognise the potential of Microsoft Windows.

Moving back to WA, David wrote scripts for Computer Television for video training for the just released Windows and Office 95 among others, and was then lured to Sydney to create web sites for the newly commercial Internet in 1995, building hundreds of sites under contract to OzEmail including Coates Hire, Hertz Queensland, John Williamson, the NSW Board of Studies and many, many more.

He went back into full time journalism as the Managing Editor for Channel 7's 'Gadget Guy', Peter Blasina's publications VideoCamera and Pixelmag, before starting Australasian Camcorder magazine when these publications were shelved. He lives at Sydney's Avalon Beaches nearly on the ocean front with dog Budweiser and in his spare time is a nut for motor sport, road safety, fishing, science fiction - especially Dr Who - and technology.

David can be contacted via david@auscamonline.com 

Comments(2):

1. 3D NLEs

   Just to add: Adobe CS5 is capable of editing 3D footage if it has been through the Cineform 3D codec. More information about the Adobe CS5 3D workflow can be found at http://tv.adobe.com/.

   Sunday, August 15, 2010 Tim

2. 3D

   As someone who's been interested in 3D for quite a while, this interests me. I have used a still 3D camera in the past and I can tell you that 3D has it's own charms and has been an awesome way to take family photos. But video, I wonder how far a person could go with that? ahh the possibilities! Wolfie!

   Monday, August 30, 2010 Wolfie