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Panasonic HX-A500 wearable 4K camcorder claims 'world's first'

The gnarly Panasonic HX-A500 waterproof wearable camcorder shoots sick 4K video of your extreme adventures.

Richard Trenholm Former Movie and TV Senior Editor
Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.
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Richard Trenholm
2 min read

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The Panasonic HX-A500 is a wearable 4K camcorder. Panasonic
If you like your extreme sports in extreme detail, the HX-A500 -- which Panasonic reckons is the world's first 4K 25p wearable camcorder -- is about to take to the slopes.

The waterproof A500 shoots eye-wateringly high resolution 4K video at 25 frames per second while attached to your head or clipped to your body. It comes in two parts: a 31g (1.1oz) camera bit and a 119g (4.2oz) body unit with a 1.5 inch, 115,200-dot colour LCD screen.

Clip the camera on your clothes, attach it to your helmet or place it anywhere you want; or combine camera and body into one with an included case for shooting one-handed. You can shoot your adventures on the slopes, the beach, or the waves with the A500, as both units are dustproof and waterproof, happily swimming down to 3 metres for 30 minutes.

Wearable cameras at CES 2014 (pictures)

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Other shooting options include gnarly Levelling Correction to automatically straighten tilted videos; rad Image Stabilisation function to cut down on blur as you're bumping and bouncing across track or piste; and sick slow motion at 200 frames per second, 100 fps in 720p, or 50fps in full HD. The camcorder connects to other devices via near-field communications and Wi-Fi, talking to the Panasonic Image App on a tablet to edit, share and even broadcast your extreme adventures live to the Internet.

Slightly less wearable new cameras that shoot 4K video include the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH4 camera and Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone. Other, lower-resolution wearable cameras include the Looxcie 3 , the always-snapping Autographer and the mighty GoPro Hero3+ .

The Panasonic HX-A500 goes on sale in the UK in May 2014, costing £380 ($626). Oh, that, plus the four grand to buy a TV you can actually watch your video on.

Watch this: Most-anticipated 4K TVs