Shock proof and hybrid camcorders star in Panasonic's 2008 line-up
The rain held off for Panasonic's launch event at the Great Barrier Reef but there was a deluge of another kind: nine new camcorders from Panasonic.
The rain held off for Panasonic's launch event at the Great Barrier Reef but there was a deluge of another kind: nine new camcorders from Panasonic.
High definition
Panasonic seem to have adopted a policy of renewing its high definition camcorder line-up every half year. Again there's an SD card model and a hybrid, although this time the hybrid is of the hard-disk/SD card type not DVD/SD card.
We've bemoaned the fact that manufacturers have, thus far, bundled a maximum of 4GB worth of memory with their memory card-based camcorders. Panasonic has now heeded our calls, shipping the new SD9 with a 32GB SDHC card -- almost as much as entry-level high definition hard-disk camcorders. This gives us hope that one day soon all manufacturers will heed our calls to bundle an HDMI cable with their cameras.
*There's also a kit for the SD9, priced at AU$2,299, which includes a portable DVD burner, Pinnacle video editing software and a mini-HDMI cable.
Standard definition: hard-disk and SD card
There are five new standard-def cameras which record onto SD card -- two of which are SD card only, the other three have built-in hard-disks. The hero model of the new range is the shockproof, waterproof and dustproof SW20, which we're looking forward to putting through its paces.
HDC-HS9 | HDC-SD9 | |
Price | AU$1,999 | AU$1,869* |
On sale | Late February | Early March |
Sensor | 3CCD | 3CCD |
Max shooting rate | 1920 x 1080p at 25fps | 1920 x 1080p at 25fps |
Optical zoom | 10x | 10x |
Image stabilisation | Optical | Optical |
Recording medium | SD/SDHC card and hard-disk | SD/SDHC card |
Included media | 60GB hard-disk | 32GB SDHC card |
Dimensions (WxDxH) | (not supplied) | 65 x 67 x 126mm |
Standard definition: tape and DVD disc
In addition, Panasonic has announced a new miniDV and a new DVD standard-def camcorder. Both will be available any day now.
SDR-SW20 | SDR-S7 | SDR-H280 | SDR-H60 | SDR-H40 | |
Price | AU$769 | AU$549 | AU$1209 | AU$989 | AU$879 |
On sale | March | April | February | April | February |
Media | SD card | SD card | Hard-disk and SD card | Hard-disk and SD card | Hard-disk and SD card |
Included media | 4GB SDHC card | 4GB SDHC card | 30GB hard-disk | 60GB hard-disk | 40GB hard-disk |
Sensor | CCD | CCD | 3CCD | CCD | CCD |
Optical zoom | 10x | 10x | 10x | 50x | 42x |
Leica Dicomar lens | No | No | Yes | No | No |
Image stabilisation | None | None | Optical | Optical | Optical |
Water-proof to | 1.5m | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Shock-proof from | 1.2m | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Quick startup time | 0.6s | 0.6s | (not supplied) | 2.1s | 2.1s |
Dimensions (WxDxH) | 33.8 x 115.4 x 63.4mm | 41 x 102 x 59mm | (not supplied) | (not supplied) | (not supplied) |
Weight | 224g | 165g | (not supplied) | (not supplied) | (not supplied) |
VDR-D50 | NV-GS330 | |
Price | AU$659 | AU$989 |
On sale | February | February |
Media | Mini-DVD disc | MiniDV |
Sensor | CCD | 3CCD |
Optical zoom | 42x | not supplied |
Leica Dicomar lens | No | Yes |
Image stabilisation | Optical | Optical |
Quick startup time | n/a | 1.7s |