Ready or not, Panasonic has just unwrapped a consumer camcorder that enables you to capture video in 3-D. But you’ll still need the glasses, and a 3-D TV, to view your videos in the third dimension.

The Panasonic HDC-SDT750 camcorder, which will be available in October, is among the first camcorders to let consumers take home video into James Cameron territory. It creates a 3-D effect by using a 3-D conversion lens that shoots right-eye and left-eye images simultaneously through two lenses. This stereoscopic video can be viewed in 3-D, although its resolution for each channel tops out at 960 by 1080 pixels.

Detach the 3-D conversion lens, however, and the SDT750 can shoot 2-D video at a resolution of 1080p in the AVCHD format. The camcorder employs a 3MOS sensor that Panasonic says creates rich color quality by splitting light information into red, green and blue, and then processing each color separately.

The SDT750’s f/1.5 to f/2.8 Leica Dicomar lens has a 12X optical zoom, a bit shorter than many of Panasonic’s other camcorders. Other features include a 5.1-channel audio recording system, a 3-inch touch-screen LCD, intelligent auto mode and a revamped hybrid optical image-stabilization system that should decrease hand-shake blur. The camcorder records to SD/SDHC/SDXC memory cards but lacks integrated storage.

Just in case you’re wondering, the 3-D conversion lens is not compatible with other Panasonic camcorders, which means you can’t buy the conversion lens separately and use it on an existing camcorder. (NYT)