Hasta La Gadget!

Well now, leave it to Panasonic to dump a pile of camcorders at once, ensuring every domestic niche is covered. We have five separate models, so bear with us as we break out some bullets:

• HM-TA20 – This is a Flip-style upright design with a lens on one side and, on the other, an LCD with a big red button beneath it. But, it’s durable, offering three meters of waterproof protection and a durable, dust-proof case. It’ll do 1080p footage, offers no optical zooming, but does have a night mode that drops it down to 15fps to help it perform well when the lights go out. It can be used as a webcam, too.
• HM-TA2 – This is basically the TA20 minus the heavy-duty bits. Best to keep it dry. Comes with a tripod for self-portraits. Perfect for your new MySpace profile pic!
• HX-WA10 – Another durable one, waterproof to three meters, dust and shockproof, captures 16 megapixel stills and records 1080p footage, too. It offers a pistol-style grip and a flip-out, three-inch touchscreen. It’s pictured after the break.
• HX-DC10 – This is basically a WA10 that doesn’t like the water, or the dust, or being dropped.
• HX-DC1 – Another step down the cost ladder, this one backing down to 14 megapixel stills and losing some of the high-tech trickery of the others. Its three-inch LCD isn’t touchable.

Panasonic didn’t grace us with prices for any of these, nor release dates. But, hey, who needs details like that?

Continue reading Panasonic unveils a suite of camcorders of all shapes, sizes, and depths

Panasonic unveils a suite of camcorders of all shapes, sizes, and depths originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Feb 2011 08:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is it spring already? Nikon has just assaulted us with no less than nine new Coolpix models, freshening up its consumer offering with a litany of hot new shades, touchscreens and hardware updates. We’ll let you dig into the press releases after the break for the full details, but the two new Performance range cameras, the P500 and P300, are worth discussing in more detail. The P500 improves on Nikon’s P100 by a few orders of magnification, touting a voyeur-friendly 36x optical zoom, while also offering a 12.1 megapixel CMOS sensor, 1080 / 30p video plus stereo sound recording, max ISO of 3200, and an 1100mAh battery. The back is also adorned with a tiltable display, sized at 3 inches diagonally and fitting 920k dots. Yours on March 3rd for $400, €464 or £400, depending on your local currency.

The P300 is cheaper at $330 / €348 / £300, however it might well be the more appealing option for image quality obsessives as it boasts a lens with an aggressive F1.8 aperture and 4.2x optical zoom. It shares the same backside-illuminated sensor as you’ll find in the P500, but benevolently permits its user full manual control to let him or her capture that perfect shot. Rapid-fire shooting at 8fps for up to seven frames is available, but we’re loving the fact it can also do 1080 / 30p with continuous autofocus and the ability to both capture images and use its optical zoom while recording. If Nikon is to be believed, the P300 is basically the P7000 that came out last year, but shrunken down to the size of a compact. It really is a very diminutive and attractive — it has that intentionally understated matte black finish that huskily whispers the word “prosumer” in your ear — compact camera. It lands on March 17th.

Continue reading Nikon crams 36x zoom in P500, full manual controls in P300, refreshes Coolpix range with tons of color

Nikon crams 36x zoom in P500, full manual controls in P300, refreshes Coolpix range with tons of color originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Feb 2011 20:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The wonders you can find on YouTube, eh? LG’s G-Slate (to be known as the Optimus Pad outside the US) has made yet another appearance on Google’s video repository, this time giving us a whirl to show off its slender body and port and speaker arrangement. The integrated 3D cameras also get a demo, as you can see above, though we’re much more excited to be able to churn out 1080p video with this device thanks to the Tegra 2 SOC it’s built around. Its smartphone buddy the Optimus 2X delivered some very smooth output and we can’t see any reason why the G-Slate should do any worse. Make your way past the break for all the intimate video action.

[Thanks, KC]

Continue reading LG G-Slate handled on video, looks like a giant Optimus 2X

LG G-Slate handled on video, looks like a giant Optimus 2X originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Feb 2011 03:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Panny dumped a truckload of camcorders on us at CES this year, and now that we’ve finally dug ourselves out the company just piled on the MSRP and release information for the lot. It’s okay, we can deal, and here are the highlights:

• The new 1MOS full HD models, the HDC-HS80, HDC-TM90, HDC-SD90, HDC-TM80, HDC-SD80, HDC-TM40, and HDC-SD40 (phew) are priced between $350 and $600, all offering 1920 x 1080 recording, but only the HDC-TM90 and HDC-SD90 will do 1080p60. All write to SDXC and the HDC-TM40 and HDC-SD40 are the lightest full HD models the company offers, weighing just .39lbs.
• The company’s new 3MOS models, the HDC-SD800, HDC-TM900, and HDC-HS900 are priced at $850, $1,100, and $1,400, all managing 1080p60 and, if you add the $350 VW-CLT1 conversion lens, will shoot in 3D as well. All write to SDXC, while the TM900 has 32GB of storage internally, and only the top two models offer a 20x zoom lens with manual focus for “increased creativity.”

There are a few SD shooters as well, the $250 SDR-S70, $270 SDR-T70, and $350 SDR-H100, all also sporting SDXC support. Full pricing in the PR after the break, and lots more details in the earlier announce post from CES.

Continue reading Panasonic prices its 2011 HD and 3D camcorders, options for budgets great and small

Panasonic prices its 2011 HD and 3D camcorders, options for budgets great and small originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Feb 2011 11:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Two new additions to the Cyber-shot line have apparently leaked, and while they’re perhaps not as titillating as some other consumer electronics the company has managed to let slip ahead of their announcement, we’ll bring them to you just the same. First is the HX100V, a 30x zoom (27 – 810mm) compact that borrows some features and styling from the Alpha line. It has a 16.2 megapixel backside-illuminated sensor with BIONZ processing capable of recording 1080p video and, supposedly, has GPS in there somewhere too. Next up is the HX9V, pictured below, a rather more compact compact offering what looks to be the same 16 megapixel sensor but tucked behind a smaller, 16x optical zoom lens. It too is said to do 1080p video but, alas, we don’t have any clue about price or availability for either.

Continue reading Sony Cyber-shot HX100V and HX9V models leaked, superzoomers in large and small sizes

Sony Cyber-shot HX100V and HX9V models leaked, superzoomers in large and small sizes originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 13:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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