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Panasonic Goes 3D With New Camcorder and G-Series Lens

A detachable dual lens for 3D video capture, and a new lens for Micro Four-Thirds cameras will add 3D-shooting capabilities.

By Tim Moynihan / Thursday, July 29 2010

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New 3D Lens for Micro Four-Thirds cameras

Much less is known about the new 3D lens for Panasonic's Lumix G-Series cameras; at the time of writing, Panasonic hadn't even released an image of the new lens. The 3D Micro Four-Thirds lens is expected to be available by the end of the year.

The lens is still in prototype stage, and Panasonic was unable to comment on many specifics. It's still unknown whether the 3D Micro Four-Thirds lens will be compatible with all Panasonic G-series cameras, whether it will be compatible with Olympus's Micro Four-Thirds cameras, whether the new lens will support video capture as well as still images, and whether a firmware update will be necessary for the new lens to work properly with existing Lumix G cameras.

Panasonic HM-TA1: Panasonic's first pocket camcorder

The HM-TA1 is Panasonic's first foray into the ever-expanding field of high-definition pocket camcorders, offering specs that are on par with the highly-rated Kodak Zi8.
 
It shoots 1080p MPEG-4 video at 30 frames per second and 8-megapixel still images; both are stored to a user-provided SD, SDHC, or SDXC card.

Other key features include a front-mounted LED lamp for shooting in dark environments, electronic image stabilisation, a 4x digital zoom, a 2-inch-diagonal LCD screen, and a flip-out USB connector for offloading clips and recharging its battery.

The HM-TA1 can also be used as a webcam and microphone when connected to a computer via an included USB cable, and Panasonic says the camcorder is Skype- and video-chat-ready as soon as it's connected to a computer.

Available in dark grey, red, and purple, the HM-TA1 will start selling in the US August for US$170.

Panasonic HDC-SDX1: Small but skilled

The new Panasonic HDC-SDX1 is slightly larger than a pocket camcorder, but not by much. Despite its diminutive size, it offers a full stock of features to go along with its 16.8x optical zoom, F1.8 lens.

The single-CMOS HDC-SDX1 shoots 1920 x 1080 high-definition video at 60 interlaced fields per second in AVCHD format at 17mbps (as well as 720p MPEG-4 video at 30fps and 2.8-megapixel still images).

It offers the same high-powered Hybrid OIS stabilisation system as the HDC-SDT750, as well as Intelligent Auto mode, motion-tracking autofocus, several scene modes, and a 2.7-inch-diagonal touchscreen LCD. Like the new pocket camcorder, it also can be used as a Skype-friendly webcam when connected to a computer, and it offers easy video uploads to YouTube and Facebook.

Weighing in at less than half a pound, the HDC-SDX1 is due in the US in September for US$500.