3D Vision Blog

Panasonic Lumix DMC-3D1 3D camera is what is considered as the first actual alternative in the form of a portable digital camera of the very popular among 3D users Fujifilm Real 3D W1/W3 compact digital cameras is now available on the market and you can get it for $499 USD. The Lumix DMC-3D1 camera comes equipped with dual 12-megapixel sensors capable of capturing stereo 3D photos with a maximum resolution of 3264×2448 (8 Megapixels with 4:3 aspect) or 3264×1840 (6 Megapixels with 16:9 aspect ratio) as well as 3D video with Full HD 1920×1080 resolution (Side by Side with half horizontal resolution, 60i for the NTSC model and 50i for the PAL model). The camera also comes with 4x optical zoom, optical stabilization system, 3.5-inch touchscreen display that is unfortunately not autostereoscopic 3D capable, but there is a HDMI 1.4 output for direct connection to a 3D-capable display.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-3D1 3D camera’s interaxial distance should be very close to 3 centimeters or around 1.2 inches based on the officially announced camera size and the photos of the device, but the exact distance between the two lenses of the camera still hasn’t been officially announced. This is about half of the interaxial distance that the Fujifilm 3D cameras have, meaning that the Panasonic’s product should be more suitable for closer photography in 3D mode. The fact that the Lumix DMC-3D1 does not feature an autostereoscopic 3D display that can be used for direct previewing of the images and video you’ve shot in 3D mode is a serious drawback in the useability of the device in stereo 3D mode as well. If you were so eager to get one of these and try it out, you are welcome to confirm the exact interaxial distance as well as to share your feedback from the product and even some sample 3D photos and 3D videos you have recorded…

- For more information about the Panasonic Lumix DMC-3D1 digital still camera…
- The Panasonic Lumix DMC-3D1 3D Still and Video Camera is now available for purchase….

The French company Camsorts has chosen the CES show this year to present their new 3D-capable action camera that is going under the name Fusion 3D (if you’ve been there and seen it live you are welcome to share your feedback). The interesting thing about the device is that it is going to be providing a dual sensor Full HD 3D camera in a single package with a fixed interaxial distance. Camsports has not yet officially announced what will be the interaxial distance of the Fusion 3D camera, however the interaxial should be roughly about 3 centimeters, judging from the official pictures of the device. You should know that the camera itself is not going to directly produce the output in a single file, instead it will be recording in two separate streams in two different SD cards, so you will have to join them in the post production. This may sound a bit inconvenient at first, but apparently the idea behind this design is to be able to offer a non 3D recording mode as well with the option to use the two sensors for recording with different settings. Both sensors should be well synchronized no matter if you use them in 2D or 3D mode, and when not in stereo 3D recording mode you should be able to use different resolutions, exposure, color temperature, white balance or even apparently shutter speed.

And now a bit about technical specifications, the Fusion 3D camera should be offering a 135°wide-angle Full HD recording in either 1920×1080 with 25 or 30 fps or 1280×720 in 25/30/50/60 fps modes (not too sure if it is interlaced or progressive as there is contradicting information). The Fusion 3D camera will apparently use a 5 megapixel CMOS sensor and should also be able to record photos in 5Mp resolution (not yet clear if this will also support 3D or only in 2D mode) and the videos are recorded in MOV file container (hopefully with H.264 compression). As mentioned, the camera records two separate streams on two different SD flash cards with two 4GB cards included with the product and up to 32 GB cards supported. The dimensions of the Camsports Fusion 3D camera are: 13 cm in length, 7 cm in width, 2.5 cm in depth and the weight is 230 grams with the battery included (should last you for 60 minutes of use). The device will not be waterproof apparently and waterproof case should be offered as an accessory should you need to make it more resistant to not so good environmental conditions, something that is quite common in action sports.

The new 3D-capable Fusion 3D action camera should become available on the market in the spring this year with a recommended price of $599 USD and that is something that might be a bit of a setback at first, but it also depends on the level of quality and performance that it will be offering as compared to other already available alternatives such as GoPro’s 3D HERO system using GoPro Hero/Hero 2 cameras for example. So be on the lookout for first reviews and/or sample 2D and 3D footage recorded with that new camera when they start becoming available online, hopefully very soon.

- For more about the Camsports Fusion 3D camera visit the official website…

If you thought that you can use only the GoPro HERO or HERO 2 action cameras together with the GoPro 3D HERO system or maybe alternatively use the Drift HD Action Camera with MIO 3D for recording 3D video with a compact solution and in extreme conditions, then you should be aware that there are other alternatives as well. One such interesting alternative is the VIO POV HD action camera, a similar solution to the others already mentioned, but with slightly different approach and some extra features. The VIO POV HD camera uses a separate module containing the lens and the sensor (camera head) connected with a cable to the long main body of the device, it appears to be more rugged and also offers some interesting and more advanced features compared to the HERO and Drift HD cameras… but all that also comes with a higher price.

As with the other action cameras, using VIO POV HD also requires you to pair two of these cameras together and have them synchronized in order to get the two separate views required for the 3D video you are making. On the image above you can see roughly what are the sizes of the camera head of the VIO POV HD, so that you can get an idea how you can pair two of them in a stereoscopic 3D rig. The largest size is the front part of the camera head has a diameter of about 38 millimeters, so the minimum interaxial distance you can get by pairing two of these heads is going to be around 38 millimeters. It is up to you to make a custom mount that will hold the two camera heads together and maybe will also allow you to easily change the interaxial distance.

The VIO POV HD action cameras come with a wireless remote control that can be used to start/stop recording video on single as well as multiple cameras at the same time (works with more than two cameras as well). The thing you need to do is first make sure what is the channel number at which the remote control is set to operate at, there is a dial inside the remote that can be used to select from 10 available channels. Then you need to set the channel of the wireless remote inside the configuration of the two cameras that you are going to use for recording 3D video, you can find the option in the Settings menu of the device under Remote ID Channel. Make sure that both cameras are set to use the same channel and that the channel is the same that one of the wireless remotes is set to operate at, you can easily test if everything is properly working if both cameras start/stop recording at the same time. As usual with this type of synchronization of two cameras using a remote control to trigger them together you should expect some slight drift in the synchronization, but you should be able to fix that in post most of the time.

- To check what are the current prices of the VIO POV HD action cameras…