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CES: Panasonic's entry and mainstream HD camcorders
With the exception of a couple models, for the most part Panasonic's entry-level and midrange HD camcorder models for 2011 look underwhelming, thanks to sensors with insufficient resolution for HD capture.
LAS VEGAS--In 2011, Panasonic is expanding the number of models in its entry-level and mainstream HD camcorder lines; sadly, most of them follow the regrettable trend of using sub-HD resolution sensors, leaving only the top-end of the midrange HDC-TM90 and SD90 as the models likely to produce decent video.
Here's a summary of the lineup, with last year's SD60/TM55 for comparison:
| HDC-SD60/TM55 | HDC-TM40/SD40 | HDC-TM80/SD80 | HDC-HS80 | HDC-TM90/SD90 | |
| Sensor (effective resolution) | 3-megapixel CMOS | 1.2-megapixel CMOS | 1.3-megapixel CMOS | 1.3-megapixel CMOS | 2.6-megapixel CMOS |
| 1/4.1 inch | 1/5.8 inch | 1/5.8 inch | 1/4.1 inch | 1/4.1 inch | |
| Lens | 25x f1.8-3.3 35.7 - 893mm (16:9) |
16.8x f1.8-2.6 42.9 - 721mm (16:9) |
34x f1.8-4 33.7 - 1240mm (16:9) |
12x f1.5-2.8 35 - 420mm (16:9) |
21x f1.8-3.5 28 - 729mm (16:9) |
| Min illumination (lux) | standard: 1400 low light: 4 Color Night View: 1 |
standard: 1400 low light: 7 Color Night View: 1 |
standard: 1400 low light: 7 Color Night View: 1 |
standard: 1400 low light: 7 Color Night View: 1 |
standard: 1400 low light: 4 Color Night View: 1 |
EVF |
No | No | No | No | No |
| LCD | 2.7-inch 230,400-dot | 2.7-inch 230,400-dot | 2.7-inch 230,400-dot | 2.7-inch 230,400-dot | 3-inch 230,400-dot |
| Primary media | SD/8GB flash; SDXC | 16GB/0GB flash; SDXC | 16GB/0GB flash; SDXC | 120GB hard disk; SDXC | 16GB/0GB flash; SDXC |
| HD recording | AVCHD: 1080/60i @ 17, 13, 9 ,5 Mbps |
AVCHD: 1080/60i @ 17, 13, 9 Mbps |
AVCHD: 1080/60i @ 17, 13, 9 ,5 Mbps |
AVCHD: 1080/60i @ 17, 13, 9 ,5 Mbps |
AVCHD: nonstandard 1080/60p 28Mbps; 1080/60i @ 17, 13, 9 ,5 Mbps |
| Manual shutter speed | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Manual iris | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Accessory shoe | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Audio | 2 channels |
2 channels | 2 channels | 2 channels | 2 channels |
| Body dimensions (WHD, inches) | 2.0 x 2.6 x 4.4 | 2.0 x 2.3 x 4.3 | 2.0 x 2.3 x 4.3 | 2.6 x 2.8 x 5.8 | 2.0 x 2.5 x 4.7 |
| Operating weight (pounds) | 10.5 | 7.4 (est) | 8.2 (est) | 10.8 (est) | 10.1 (est) |
| Mfr. Price | $499.95/$529.95 | $399.99/$349.99 | $499.99/$449.99 | $599.99 | $599.99/$549.99 |
| Ship date | March 2010 | March 2011 | March 2011 | March 2011 | March 2011 |
The SD90/TM90 will also support Panasonic's optional 3D lens, and all but the TM40/SD40 will incorporate Touch Zoom and Touch Shutter. Panasonic declined to provide pricing and availability information.Now Panasonic has a confusing 7 models in the $200 range between $400 and $600. My preliminary take (given that I haven't tested any of them yet): you should either consider the cheapest, with the caveat that it will likely deliver sub-par video quality because of the low-resolution sensor, or one of the x90 models. The rest are just confusing.
