eK-gadgets info

Looking for a Blu-ray camcorder? Hitachi has a hybrid now, the DZ-BD10HA which will do the trick for you. Its 7 megapixel CMOS image sensor will get you both photos and videos in FullHD quality.

You get a built-in 30GB HDD upgreadable via a SDHC card slot for even more videos and pictures. You get to record up to 4 hours and 20 minutes video in 1920×1080 resolution or 8 hours and 40 minutes of 1440×1080 video on the initial 30GB.

With a single button push you will be able to transfer video from the HDD or SDHC slot to the 8cm BD drive, without needing a computer hooked to the camcorder. When you are done with any editing you might check out the Transcoding feature will let you transfer HD videos to standard definition DVD discs for those of us who aren’t Blu-ray blessed yet.

The Hitachi DZ-BD10HA is available in Japan and it will hit the Americas in September. Suggested price is $999 but then again it is you who wanted a Blu-ray camcorder in the first place.

Panasonic HDC-SD100

In an effort to improve upon the light sensitivity characteristics of its prosumer AVCHD camcorders, Panasonic has switched to a new three-chip MOS system dubbed “3MOS” for its newly announced HDC-SD100 and HDC-HS100 models. The company claims the new sensors provide about twice the photo-sensitive area as the CCDs used by its last-generation model, the HDC-SD9. However, Panasonic did not indicate the resolution of the chips; it’s likely relatively low, as most three-chip solutions tend to be. The new models also have a new 12x zoom lens, extended over the 10x zoom in the SD9. (Since most of our complaints about the SD9 revolved around the lack of sharpness and poor low-light quality, I’m quite curious to see how the new models fare.)

Panasonic HDC-HS100

As its name implies, the HDC-SD100 writes to SDHC flash-memory cards, while the HS100 can record to its 60GB hard disk as well as SDHC. They both provide a broad range of manual shooting capabilities, as well as Panasonic’s Intelligent Auto mode, which incorporates face detection and Panasonic’s Intelligent Contrast Control and Intelligent Scene Selection to optimize exposure and focus. And, as always, the units incorporate Panasonic’s Advanced OIS optical image stabilization.

The two camcorders lie at the upper end of the price range for consumer HD models: $1,299.95 for the HDC-SD100 and $1,099.95 for the HDC-HS100. Oddly, the hybrid model is the cheaper, although it’s possible you’re paying for the miniaturization in the smaller SD100. Both are slated to ship in September; we expect to get our grubby little paws on one sooner than that, so stay tuned.

A relic from the 1970s? Far from it - this is a brand new camcorder from Panasonic - the SDR-SW20.

It’s built to last and to go where your average camcorder fears to tread - offering waterproof protection up to 1.5m underwater, shockproofing that protects from falls of up to 1.2m and general dustproofing if you’re out in the wilds. And just to add to stability, everything is recorded to SD or SDHC cards - up to 13 hours in long play to a 16GB card.

Other features include 10x optical zoom, Image Stabiliser, a 2.7-inch LCD screen, a quick start of just 0.6 seconds and the ability to create a DVD of your recordings with just a touch of a button.

Panasonic AG-HMC150

The high point–at least for us–is the introduction of the AG-HMC150, an AVCHD SD card-based addition to its affordable pro HD options, which includes the HDV-based AG-HVX200.

Leveraging the design of the older, standard def AG-DVX100, the HMC150 will incorporate a trio of new 1/3-inch CCDs with native 16:9 aspect ratios, and support all the various 1080 and 720 progressive and interlaced options. It will use a broader 28mm Leica lens, also optically stabilized, and provide XLR audio inputs, an HDMI output (among others), as well as remote capability for iris and record controls.

The real wildcard for the camcorder looks like bit rate. Current Panasonic AVCHD implementations max out at 13 megabits per second (Mbps), while Sony’s go up to 15Mbps and the specification itself supports up to 24Mbps. The HMC150 will support the 13Mbps rate, plus a higher bandwidth option. Though Panasonic executives wouldn’t commit to the actual maximum data rate for the HMC150, an unrelated comment during the conference alluded to achieving bit rates of approximately 20Mbps. It’s unknown as to whether a new bit rate might pose software compatibility issues.

Slated to ship this fall, Panasonic has not yet determined the pricing for the HMC150. I’m going to put on my speculator hat and guess it’ll go for about $6,000.

Panasonic AG-HMC70

A less glamorous but equally important model targeting the institutional and event videography set will also debut at NAB. The AG-HMC70 is an SD card-based AVCHD shoulder-mount model which incorporates 3 1/4-inch CCDs and a 38.5mm-to-462mm-equivalent 12X zoom optically stabilized Leica lens to record 1080i video. It will support still capture and supply pro audio connectors as well as BNC outputs. Panasonic expects to ship it in April for $2,495.

For those of you with AG-DVX200s or other P2 HD-supporting models, the company plans to ship a 64GB version this fall, at an as-yet undetermined price.

Sanyo has launched its newest camcorder Xacti DMX-HD1000. The special characteristic about the new camcorder is being up do date with the latest technologies, meaning that it is Full HD compatible.

Besides the ergonomic design that makes it easy to use, it has an adjustable grip that can be rotated 135 degrees. The camera measures 90.0×112.6×54.5mm and can be considered lightweight – only 286 grams.

It supports SDHC memory cards with storage capacities up to 8GB, and can record 1 hour and 25 minutes of video content on full HD. The final format is MPEG-4 AVC codec, and the videos have a 1,920×1,080 resolution.