Tech bytes for tea?

For camcorders, Panasonic has a line-up of 9 new models that will hit the shelves in April. These comprise the HC-X900 & HC-X900M, HC-V700, HC-V500 & HC-V500M, HC-V100, HC-V10, HX-WA20, and HX-DC2.

Panasonic's Summer/Spring line-up of camcorder ranges from the compact HC-V10 to the flagship HC-X900M.

Panasonic’s nine new camcorders for Spring/Summer 2012 features advanced lenses; high sensitivity sensors; sophisticated Optical Image Stabilizer (O.I.S.) capabilities; and powerful image-enhancing engines.

HD Writer video editing software is included with all models.

Flagship HC-X900 and HC-X900M

Panasonic HC-X900

The re-engineered F1.5 LEICA Dicomar lens of the flagship HC-X900 and HC-X900M enables bright image rendering, high corner-to-corner resolution and Nano Surface Coating Technology to significantly reduce ghosting and flaring, which minimises distortion and degradation of contrast.

The advanced 3MOS Sensor is capable of high-speed processing of massive number of pixels – approximately equivalent to four times the pixel count of Full-HD – using pixel shift technology with submicron accuracy, to produce high-detailed images with excellent colour reproduction.

Panasonic HC-X900M

The newly-developed, ultra-high speed Crystal Engine Pro II can also dramatically reduce noise by 40% compared to the previous models to record clear, stunningly beautiful images even in dim lighting.

The new Hybrid O.I.S.+ corrects horizontal, vertical, yawing and pitching movements made by the hand during recording; while its five-axis correction capability takes care of any rolling motions resulting from walking.

3D shooting is enabled by the 3D Conversion Lens, creating the realistic depth, texture and dimensionality of 3D.

HC-V700

Panasonic HC-V700

The HC-V700 features a 28mm wide angle for recording in tight spaces such as indoors.

The 46x Intelligent Zoom extends ultra-telephoto shooting beyond the range of the 21x optical zoom; while the HYBRID O.I.S.+ suppresses blurring across an entire zoom range even for handheld zoom shots in high magnification, to ensure crisp and beautiful images..

Images taken in 2D can also be converted to 3D with the new 2D to 3D Conversion Function.

HC-V500 and HC-V500M

Intelligent Zoom is up to 50x, using the LSI “Crystal Engine PRO” image processing engine.

Panasonic HC-V500 & HC-V500M

Hybrid O.I.S.+ and five-axis correction are also available.

Advanced Highlight Playback function enables quick viewing of recorded images. The Intelligent Index System detects zooming, panning, scene changes and faces in recorded images as “highlights” and then automatically plays back the detected highlight scenes – and scenes that the user has personally selected – according to a set time interval.

HC-V100 and HC-V10

Panasonic HC-V100

Both models are compact and lightweight, and feature high optical zooms stabilised by the POWER O.I.S.

The HC-V100 has an 42x Intelligent Zoom, as well as Power O.I.S., with a continuous recording time of up to 165 minutes on a fully charged battery; while the HC-V10 has an even more powerful 63x optical zoom lens that can be “enhanced” to 70x.

HX-DC2 (monitor folded in) & HX-WA20

HX-WA20 and HX-DC2

For active outdoor use, check out the new waterproof (up to 3m) and dustproof HX-WA20.

It can record fast moving sports motion at 240 fps (640×360 px) or 480 fps (320×180 px) for 15 seconds, and then playback in slow-motion at 60 fps at ¼ or ⅛ of the original speed, allowing analysis of golf swings etc.

Both the HX-WA20 (16.4 MP) and HX-DC2 (14.4) shoot Full-HD, HDR stills and 5x optical zoom.