By Tim Moynihan
Besides the new ultracompact camcorders and 70X optical-zoom
standard-definition models that were also announced at the Consumer
Electronics Show in Las Vegas today, Panasonic unveiled six new
high-definition camcorders as part of its 2009 lineup--three high-end
and three entry-level models.
On the high end, Panasonic announced two new hard-drive models, the HDC-HS300 (pictured above) and HDC-HS250 (pictured below).
Each
have 120GB hard drives that hold up to 50 hours of footage at the
lowest-quality setting. The HDC-HS300 ($1400, available in April)
offers manual controls, an electronic viewfinder, and the ability to
add an external microphone, while the HDC-HS250 ($1000, also available
in April) is a slimmed-down version that offers none of those options.
Also
new to the Panasonic high-definition camcorder line is the HDC-TM300
($1300, available in April), which records to both a 32GB solid-state
drive and a user-supplied SDHC/SD card. Panasonic says the 32GB of
on-board storage translates to 12 hours of footage at its
lowest-quality setting. Panasonic is touting the HDC-HS300,
HDC-HS250, and HDC-TM300 as excellent low-light performers, and claims
the new high-def camcorders have the highest pixel count of any
consumer camcorder. The three new models capture 10.6-megapixel images
when shooting stills and can save 8.3-megapixel still images while
shooting video. Each new model features Panasonic's Intelligent Auto
mode for automatically optimizing footage based on shooting conditions,
touch-screen-controlled subject tracking and autofocus, and optical
image stabilization.
Also
new to Panasonic's HD camcorder line are the new entry-level models:
the HDC-HS20 ($800, pictured above), which records to both an 80GB hard
drive and an SD/SDHC card; the HDC-TM20 ($650) records to a 16GB
solid-state drive and SD/SDHC card; and the HDC-SD20 ($600, pictured
below), which records to SD/SDHC cards only. All three models will be
available in April.
source : http://www.pcworld.com/
|