Panasonic Serves Up First Consumer 3D Camcorder at U.S. Open

If you've been ducking and weaving virtual tennis balls in your living room for the past week, chances are good that you've been watching the U.S. Open tennis tourney on a 3D HDTV. Panasonic is providing the high-end, commercial-grade gear that's being used at courtside to render Venus Williams, Rafael Nadal and the other tennis stars into almost-live participants in your living room, but for those who want to try 3D video for themselves, Panasonic has a solution: a new consumer-grade, handheld 3D camcorder.

Panasonic announced the $1,400 HDC-SDT750 3D camcorder a few months ago, but gave the press a chance to give it a little exercise at the U.S. Open in New York last week. The unit proved as easy to use as any other camcorder and felt balanced despite its 3D lens. The camera can take standard 2D video in full 1,080p HD resolution (1,920 by 1,080-pixels), but connect its stereo lens adapter and the unit can shoot 3D video at 960 by 1,080 pixels. You can pre-order the unit now, but it won't ship until mid-October.

Want to know more? See my piece in PC World.

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