Fujifilm announced out of Tokyo today a new 3D camera called the Finepix Real 3D W3. It has a 3.5 inch LCD with a 16:9 aspect ratio. It can record 3D videos at 720p and then connect directly to 3D-ready HDTV’s through HDMI 1.4. Just like other 3D cameras, it uses two separate lenses and then merges the two perspectives into a 3D-ready image.

Both lenses have individual shutters that sync up on release and they then capture two separate images that are then mixed down. So it is the using the same technique that other 3D cameras are using. What this camera does well is shoot good 3D footage on auto mode. Its ’3D Auto’ t mode makes sure that all footage captured is properly enhanced and is in high resolution.

For those who want it to do things other than 3D, it can also capture 2D images. It has a maximum output of 10Mp and has a Fujinon 3X Optical Zoom. But that does not mean only one of the two lenses will be used. Far from it. The two lenses in fact make it even more interesting to shoot in 2D than 3D.

When shooting in 2D, one lens can be zoomed into the subject whilst the other lens takes a wide angle shot of the same picture. They can also be set up to take the same photo in two versions — one in color and one in black and white. This is possible thanks to the fact that the camera is built to process two images every time it is exposed.

It has a little bit of inbuilt memory — 32MB  — for its own use mostly. It can be expanded using an SD card. It has three main modes — SP mode, Advanced 3D and Advanced 2D mode.

[via]