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Panasonic HDC-HS200: 80GB of goodness

The Panasonic HDC-HS200 is a hybrid high-definition camcorder packing an 80GB hard drive. Just the thing to distract us from the tyranny of summer, with all this talk of 'going outside'

Richard Trenholm
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.
Richard Trenholm
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When summer finally drops over Britain, like a blanket made of ice cream and sunburn, there are two types of people: those driven to the debilitating brink of eye-streaming, nose-gushing insanity by hay fever, and everyone else. Either way, you can distract yourself from the misery of the sunny months with a shiny new gadget -- and today's suggestion is the Panasonic HDC-HS200 high-definition camcorder.

Panasonic has proved itself hard to beat in both the camera and camcorder sphere, with the HDC-HS100 setting the bar high for the HS200. Like all Panny models, it's built to last, with excellent build quality and a brick-like feel.

The HS200 is a hybrid model, with two methods of recording MPEG4-AVC/H.264 video and stills. As well as SD and SDHC, it packs an 80GB hard drive.

Features include optical image stabilisation, pre-record and an intelligent auto mode to take over the running of things -- like the autopilot in Airplane but less frisky. Click through our gallery for more lovely, lovely pictures and details.

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The HS200 packs three 1/4.1-inch CMOS sensors. They record 1,920x1,080-pixel HD video in 16:9 ratio, and can also fire 8.3-megapixels at the same time.
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Front and centre is a 4-48mm Leica 12x zoom lens. Next to that is the video lamp and flash for stills.
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The HS200 records 5.1 channel sound through a stereo microphone up top.
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Footage is captured to a 80GB hard disk drive, which can transfer files to a SD or SDHC card.
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SD cards live in the screen well, beneath the HDMI, component and A/V connections.
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The 69mm (2.7-inch) screen includes secondary controls on the bezel.
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It's also a touchscreen, hence the included pokey-tappy implement. Stylus, that's the word we were looking for.
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Also included is a remote control, which will control the camera and connected Panasonic Viera televisions.
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The Panasonic SDC-HS200 is out now for around £780.

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