Sony has announced its plans to launch what it calls the first global 3D awards for video and photography as part of its annual Sony World Photography Awards 2012 competition.

Opening 1 July 2011, both competitions will be open to both professional and amateur photographers and videographers.

The 3D photography competition has two categories: ‘3D Panoramic’ and ‘3D Still’. Entries will be sought from cameras and video cameras that use true 3D technology.

The Sony World Photography Awards are free to enter, with photographers and videographers have until 4 January 2012 to submit their entry. Winners will be announced at a prestigious ceremony in London in April 2012 and will receive prizes including Sony products with 3D technology.

While Sony calls this the first global contest of its type, this is technically not true as there have been a number of such competitions going on among 3D photo enthusiasts for years, in some cases decades. I founded the 3D-StereoviewXchange back in 2000 and a check of the archives at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/3D-StereoviewXchange will yield a number of open competitions with global participation.

Granted, the Sony competition is likely to overshadow any previous efforts simply due to more chance for mass awareness and it’s very likely to be the largest very quickly but it’s not the first.

See http://www.photoradar.com/news/story/sony-launches-3d-photography-competition for the launch story.

– Brian