Panasonic produces one of the hottest lines of consumer-grade high definition digital camcorders
on the market today.
These bad boys are compact and easy to use for newbies, but are loaded with enough high-end
features that they’ll also go a long way towards satisfying the Spike Jonze-wannabes out there.
The current Panasonic lineup offers several recording format and data storage options. The SD9
records to an SD memory card, while the HS9 is a hybrid model that lets you record to both an
SD card and a built-in hard disk drive. The HDC, on the other hand, records to an SD card and an
8cm DVD disc. All of the Panasonic HD camcorders sport broadcast-quality 3CCD image
sensors, which feature separate CCDs for the reds, greens, and blues in an image, respectively.
These 3CCD sensors — yup, the same ones used in professional Panasonic camcorders — are
quite simply the way to go for videos with colors that jump off the screen and scream, “I shot this
in HD.”
No matter which Panasonic camcorder you grab, you’ll also get super-high-quality Leica®
Lenses, specially engineered to produce incredibly clear, detailed images and true-to-life colors.
This ain’t your granddaddy’s Super-8 camera after all — when you’re shooting in HD, you want to
be able to focus in on the tiniest details of every scene. With the extreme clarity of Leica Lenses,
you’ll be able to take complete advantage of the optimal image resolution afforded by high-definition video.
Panasonic also includes its proprietary MEGA O.I.S. optical image stabilization feature on each of
its HD camcorder models. This exclusive Panasonic technology corrects for one of the most
common causes of blurry, out of focus videos — simple, unavoidable hand movements. You may
think you’ve got the control of a Zen master when you’re behind the lens, but even the slightest
camera shake can result in blurry images, particularly for zoomed-in shots. With Mega OIS, the camcorder automatically detects and compensates for almost any hand movement,
helping to make sure your videos stay crisp and clear in most normal shooting situations.
It’s truly awesome that consumers can shoot in HD now, just like the pros. But let’s be honest —
this is a relatively useless improvement if it’s ridiculously difficult to get HD videos off your camera
and into a format you can actually use. Unfortunately, this has been the case with many of the HD
camcorders on the market in the recent past. Thankfully, Panasonic makes it much easier for you
to shoot and show off your HD videos. Your camcorder’s SD memory card can be quickly and
conveniently slipped into Panasonic VIERA flat-panel HDTV’s SD card slot. And a simple HDMI
cable connection also allows you to connect your camcorder directly to a VIERA HDTV. With
VIERA Link technology, you can even control your video’s playback with the TV’s remote control!
