Panasonic obviously believes 3D technology is here to stay. The company said it has begun taking individual orders for its new dual-lens HD 3D camcorder (AG-3DA1), which it's marketing as the industry's first professional 1080p 3D camcorder with SD media-card recording capabilities.
Panasonic said the 3D unit--which was first introduced at the International CES show last month and will make an encore appearance at the NAB Show in Las Vegas (April 11-15)--is being made available for pre-order (with a non-refundable $1,000 deposit per unit, which is less than five percent of the total price) largely in response to the attention it garnered from attendees and the media at CES. (The timing also coincides with the 3D movie "Avatar," which recently became the highest box office draw in film history.)
The AG-3DA1 weighs about 6.5 pounds and comes with dual lenses and two 1920 x 1080 2.07 megapixel 3-MOS imagers that can record 1080/60i, 50i, 30p, 25p and 24p (native), as well as 720/60p and 50p in AVCHD.
Panasonic says the unit is capable of recording for up to 180 minutes (on dual 32GB SD cards) in AVCHD PH mode. It has professional interface options of dual HD-SDI out, HDMI (1.4), two XLR connectors, one internal stereo mic, and twin-lens camera remotes.
For more details, see the article in sister publication Broadcasting & Cable.
