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Panasonic's latest squadron of camcorders

Nine new Panasonic camcorders are due in Australian shops this March, including two SD/hard-disk hybrids and two high-def camcorders.

Derek Fung
Derek loves nothing more than punching a remote location into a GPS, queuing up some music and heading out on a long drive, so it's a good thing he's in charge of CNET Australia's Car Tech channel.
Derek Fung
2 min read

Nine new Panasonic camcorders are due in Australian shops this March, including two SD/hard-disk hybrids and two high-def camcorders.


Using the soon to be released DMC-TZ3 digital camera, CNET.com.au snapped some aerial shots of Sydney.

On Tuesday's the skies cleared above Sydney, giving Sydneysiders a welcome respite and clearing Panasonic's range of new camcorder and digital cameras for take off. (Click here for the lowdown on Panasonic's latest additions to its camera range.) As we soared above Sydney harbour, CNET.com.au was able to get an extended first-take of the Panasonic HDC-DX1 high-def DVD camcorder.

High definition
Panasonic revealed two high-definition camcorders, due here in March, with optical image stabilisation and three CCD imaging sensors but only DVD and SD/SDHC flavours. Not a hard-disk in sight.


Hard-drive and SD hybrid
Hitachi started the hybrid ball rolling with its DZ-HS303 camcorder which can record to both DVD and hard-disk. Panasonic's take on the hybrid theme records to SD/SDHC and hard-disk.

HDC-SD1
  • Price: AU$2,419
  • Available: Mid March
  • Recording medium: SD/SDHC (4GB SDHC card included)
  • Recording format: AVHCD
  • 12x Leica zoom lens
  • 3CCD sensor system
  • Five microphones for 5.1 channel surround
  • 3-inch LCD
  • Optical image stabilisation
HDC-DX1
  • Price: AU$2,119
  • Available: Mid March
  • Recording medium: 8cm DVD-RAM/RW/R/R DL
  • Recording format: AVHCD
  • 12x Leica zoom lens
  • 3CCD sensor system
  • Five microphones for 5.1 channel surround
  • 3-inch LCD
  • Optical image stabilisation
Read our hands-on first-take

DVD camcorders
Three new DVD camcorders with the top-of-the-pile VDR-D310 featuring a 10x Leica zoom lens, 3CCD imaging system and optical image stabilisation.

SDR-H250

  • Price: AU$1,319
  • Available: April
  • Recording medium: 30GB hard-disk and SD/SDHC (512MB SD card included)
  • Recording format: MPEG2
  • 10x Leica zoom lens
  • 3CCD sensor system
  • 2.7-inch LCD
  • Optical image stabilisation
SDR-H20

  • Price: AU$989
  • Available: Late March
  • Recording medium: 30GB hard-disk and SD/SDHC (512MB SD card included)
  • Recording format: MPEG2
  • 32x zoom lens
  • 2.7-inch LCD
  • Optical image stabilisation

miniDV camcorders
The miniDV format lives on with two new Panasonic miniDV camcorders, which double up as the most expensive webcams running around.

VDR-D310

  • Price: AU$1,209
  • Available: March
  • Recording medium: 8cm DVD-RAM/RW/R/R DL
  • Recording format: MPEG2
  • 10x Leica zoom lens
  • 3CCD sensor system
  • 2.7-inch LCD
  • Optical image stabilisation
VDR-D220

  • Price: AU$769
  • Available: March
  • Recording medium: 8cm DVD-RAM/RW/R/R DL
  • 32x zoom lens
  • 2.7-inch LCD
  • Optical image stabilisation
VDR-D160

  • Price: AU$659
  • Available: Mid March
  • Recording medium: 8cm DVD-RAM/RW/R
  • 30x zoom lens

NV-GS230

  • Price: AU$989
  • Available: February
  • Recording medium: miniDV
  • 10x zoom lens
  • 3CCD sensor system
  • USB 2.0
  • Webcam functionality
NV-GS320

  • Price: TBA
  • Available: March
  • Recording medium: miniDV
  • 30x zoom lens
  • USB 2.0
  • Webcam functionality