Panasonic has announced pricing and availability for its latest professional 3D camcorder the HDC-Z10000 delivering in December at a suggested list price of $3500. The Z1000 achieves the industry’s nearest close-up of approximately 17.7 inches (45cm) for a twin-lens 3D camcorder while maintaining an equivalent 32mm wide angle of view. It records close-up images that would be conventionally difficult to capture in crisp detail. The Z10000 is Panasonic’s first integrated twin-lens 2D/3D camcorder that is fully compatible with the AVCHD 3D/Progressive standard. Based on the AVCHD format this new standard has been upgraded to AVCHD 3D which uses MVC (Multiview Video Coding) to record and play 3D images via the Frame Sequential Method (each frame is full resolution). Panasonic says that AVCHD 3D/Progressive is the latest format in the 3D domain and assures frame-by-frame beautiful results. Two independent high-sensitivity 3MOS sensors (left and right) for superb color and detail reproduction and a newly developed Crystal Engine Pro II for high-speed processing and noise reduction make the Z10000 a breakthrough camera at its price point. With the two high-sensitivity 3MOS sensors (with an effective pixel count of 6.57 megapixels each) that are independently mounted left and right the Double 3MOS system creates outstanding Full HD 3D video content (which can be viewed on any Panasonic consumer 3D TV). The same level of performance is also provided for 2D images allowing remarkable 2D image quality in combination with 1920 x 1080 60 progressive recording. “The Z100000 is the first handheld 3D camcorder that makes capturing close-ups easy ” said Jan Crittenden Livingston product manager Panasonic Solutions Company. “With its breakthrough convergence setting the Z10000 is the affordable choice for shooting small subjects that are typically difficult to capture close-up in 3D such as flowers and jewelry or in environments with little room such as inside a vehicle.” The Z10000 features a 1 152 000-dot 3.5-inch 3D LCD that requires no 3D eyewear to view. The user can check 3D images while shooting without having to connect to a 3D monitor by having it in the Mix Overlay mode and focus is then easily achieved by using the left eye only. The display can also be switched between 2D and 3D. Three independent manual rings allow fine adjustment for the focus zoom and iris to create precisely the intended image and a dedicated dial lets the user finely adjust 3D convergence. Functions that are frequently used for recording such as O.I.S. ON/OFF Color Bar ON/OFF Zebra Pattern Display 3D Guide Display Auto/Manual Iris Auto/Manual Auto Focus and Auto/Manual White Balance are also arranged on the side of the camera body as separate buttons to enable quick intuitive operation. In addition to built-in microphones for recording Dolby Digital 5.1-channel surround sound/2-channel stereo the Z10000’s uncompromising audio quality is augmented by two XLR audio inputs with a 48-V phantom power supply for external microphone use. Uncompressed Linear PCM (2-channel only) is also supported. Panasonic www.panasonic.com/broadcast
