Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. announced the Panasonic NV-EX21, a combination DV-format digital camcorder with a detachable network-ready digital still camera.
The unit is shipping in Japan and Panasonic plans to bring it to the North American market in the spring for approximately $1,600.
The Panasonic NV-EX21 consists of two units, a digital still camera and a digital video camera. The NV-EX21 becomes an SD memory card capable movie/still camera by detaching the still camera unit and mounting it on the battery adapter (sold separately).
The new still camera features a 1.08 -megapixel recording capability and a Leica Dicomar lens with a 10x optical and 25x/100x digital zoom. The camera features 200,000-pixel color LCD screen, SD Memory Card, MPEG-4 video, and voice recorder capability.
When the digital still camera unit and digital video camera unit are joined together, the entire unit becomes a digital camcorder able to record moving images onto digital video tape.
The NV-EX21 is also wired with Bluetooth technology, which allows users to transfer through the camera still images wirelessly to a personal computer, up to 10 meters away.