Panasonic Unveils FullHD Camcorder Pair

By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 2/9/2010

Secaucus, N.J. - Panasonic unveiled Tuesday two new digital camcorders with 3MOS sensor technology, capable of capturing action in FullHD 1080/60p resolution.

Panasonic’s HDC-HS700 offers a new 3MOS imager for FullHD video recording, 32GB of internal storage and an SD card slot.

Panasonic models HDC-HS700 and HDC-TM700 (pricing to be announced later), both include 3MOS sensors that are said to produce vivid, true-to-life colors, even in darkly lit environments.

The new HDC-HS700 records both to a 240GB hard disk drive and to an SD/SDHC/SDXC flash-memory card.

The HDC-TM700 has 32GB of built-in flash memory and an SD/SDHC/SDXC memory card slot for additional storage flexibility.

The TM700 will replace the HDC-TM300 from last year.

Both models have a 35mm wide-angle Leica lens and a manual ring for creative flexibility, Panasonic said.

"For video enthusiasts looking for a feature-rich, high-performing, yet affordable high-definition camcorder, Panasonic's new TM700 and HS700 3MOS models will be a hit this year," said Chris Rice, Panasonic imaging product manager. "Last year's TM300 was extremely popular and won several honors and awards for its video quality and performance, so with the improvements we have made with the TM700/HS700, including extended zoom, wider angles and a more advanced image stabilization system, we are excited to give consumers the ideal tool they need to capture their memories with superb quality."

The 3MOS system has 7,590,000 effective active pixels (2,530,000 pixels multiplied by 3) and separates the light received through the lens into the three primary colors — red, green and blue — processing each independently.

The sensor shoots 14.2-megapixel still images (in Still Image mode) and 13.3-megapixel still images from recorded video.

Newly developed technology in the camcorders increases sensitivity and reduces noise by one-half to achieve vivid images with minimal noise, the company said.

This is said to produce strong color reproduction, high resolution, rich gradation, and lets the user capture vividly colored images in bright or darkly lit places.

Also included in each model is Power OIS (Optical Image Stabilization), which uses gyro sensors to detect hand shake and reduce blurring; an iA (Intelligent Auto) function that automatically selects the most suitable shooting mode; face recognition; Smile Shot that automatically takes a still photo during video recording when it detects a smiling face; 5.1-channel surround-sound recording with a zoom microphone; wind-noise canceller; and Auto Power LCD that adjusts the LCD screen to the shooting environment.

The large-diameter F1.5 (46mm) Leica Dicomor lenses on each model were designed to suppress ghosting and flaring, while minimizing distortion and degradation of contrast and resolution.

Both models feature a 12x optical zoom lens, which can be enhanced via Panasonic's Intelligent Resolution Technology to extend the zoom to an effective 18x Intelligent Zoom with minimal distortion.

Both models also offer 3-inch LCD touchscreens that allow users to navigate by selecting icons on the display.

A manual ring allows more creative flexibility, by offering intuitive control of the zoom, focus, aperture, shutter speed and white balance.

An electronic viewfinder, earphone terminal and microphone terminal are also included.