Whatever version I saw in 3D, I thought it was the most convincing 3D effect I've ever seen in a movie theater. Far better than any previous 3D movie I've seen. But I'm not sure if that was the 24 or the 48 (there is no 60). I paid $13.50 so I'm hoping it was the 48.
Anyways I liked the movie a lot, but I didn't feel it was up to the level of any of the LotR movies. Maybe because its been ~25 years since I read the book as a kid. I'm not going to re-read it until I've seen all the movies so that I'm surprised by all the things I've forgotten.
One thing I didn't like, was that I couldn't suspend my disbelief that humanoids, even heroic dwarves protected with armor, could fall so often or far and not get seriously hurt or killed. Peter Jackson seems to have a fetish for people falling off stuff. Or maybe that was Tolkien, but if Tolkien says they live, maybe the fall shouldn't be so far. That's my chief criticism.