Having received a pre-production version of Panasonic’s new 2D/3D HD camcorder – the strangely-named HDC-Z10000 – we’re getting ready to shoot a variety of test clips over the coming week.

As we reported back in our news piece back in September, the Panasonic seeks to bridge the gap between the professional and amateur video maker and, although we think that’s possibly an over-simplified way of putting things, it’s true to say that the HDC-Z10000 certainly looks and feels like a serious player in a market that’s leaning heavily towards 3D.

Anyhow, this isn’t meant to be a review (our brand new review sample hasn’t long been out of its box and the battery has just finished its charge cycle) so we’ll leave you only with a couple of instant desktop pics just to whet your appetite.

Panasonic HDC-Z10000 2D/3D HD Camcorder, Frontal View

Panasonic HDC-Z10000 2D/3D HD Camcorder from the front

However…

Those among you who like to have proper lens and function control won’t disappointed to learn that the Z10000 has a nice big knurled focus ring as well as a manual zoom control in addition to the two zoom control rockers. Although the camcorder has an upward-facing built-in microphone capable of grabbing either 5.1 surround sound of plain old 2-channel stereo, it shouldn’t be counted upon to shoot anything like production quality audio; for that, you have the option of direct-connecting mics to the two XLR inputs, which can also be switched to handle line-in sources (from an external mixer, for instance) as well as 48v phantom powered sources.

Panasonic HDC-Z10000 2D/3D HD Camcorder, Rear View

Panasonic HDC-Z10000 2D/3D HD Camcorder from the rear

Oh, and in addition to being given twin 3MOS image sensors, two SDHC/SDXC card slots (with the option to relay record from one to the other seamlessly) and the option to save settings for three individual users it also offers an array of manual function switches on the operator side of the body as well as a colour EVF (Electronic Viewfinder) as well as a slide-away LCD screen which is switchable between 2D and 3D. Phew.

By the way, Panasonic now bundles a new version of its (Windows) software package in the form of HD Writer XE 1.0. More of that in due course. And that’s all for now. We’re off to have a play with it over the weekend! Catch up later….

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