Panasonic bestows new HD camcorders with manual focus ring

Panasonic has announced six new high-definition camcorders at this year's CES, some featuring its 3MOS sensor set-up and a manual focus ring.

HS300 features larger sensors and a manual focus ring (Credit: Panasonic)

Three models — the HDC-HS300, HDC-TM300 and HDC-HS250 — feature a 3MOS sensor array. Unlike the 3CCD system we've seen on earlier Panasonic models, such as the HDC-HS9, the sensors used in the 3MOS set-up are significantly bigger (6.2mm versus 4.23mm) and have a much higher resolution (3-megapixel each versus 0.56-megapixel each). This should, hopefully, lead to sharper images with more detail than we're used to on Panasonic's HD cameras.

Two models — HDC-HS300 and HDC-TM300 — also feature a manual focus ring. Also on display at CES are three lower-end HD models — HDC-HS20, HDC-TM20 and HDC-SD20 — details for which are a little bit harder to come by. All models will be available in the US in April with Australian availability and pricing yet to be confirmed.