Camcorder News

February 12, 2010 – Today, Panasonic Broadcast introduced a bevy of new products in advance of the upcoming NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) show. In the realm of camcorders, however, the big announcement is that Panasonic is allowing customers to reserve orders on its new Full HD 3D camcorder by placing a non-refundable $1,000 deposit.

Panasonic is clearly establishing the fact that NAB will be used to showcase its $21,000 3D-capable camcorder, announced earlier this year at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). This unit—expected to be available this fall—features separate recording for left and right channels and is compatible with SD/SDHC memory cards. It will be very similar to Panasonic's regular handheld prosumer models, with one key difference: a convergence control to synchronize the lenses for 3D recording. The convergence control will be on the lens, near the iris, focus, and zoom controls. There are not yet official plans for an auto convergence option or a 3D viewfinder.

In addition to providing more information about the 3D camcorder, Panasonic also announced a portable P2 media storage unit (model AG-MSU10) and a P2 memory card drive that connects to a computer via USB cables (model AJ-PCD2). The card drive features a single P2 slot and requires no separate power supply for a file transfer via USB. The AG-MSU10 media storage unit is a more complex item that allows the user to copy data from a P2 card to a connected solid state drive (via USB or eSATA connectors).

The AG-MSU10 media storage device will be available in October with an MSRP of $2500, while the AJ-PCD2 P2 card drive should be available in April for $350.

Panasonic also unveiled a pan-tilt-zoom camcorder, the AW-HE50, that can record either HD or SD video. The model is designed for video conferencing or broadcast production and it  boasts a 18x optical zoom lens. The AW-HE50 will be available this summer, but Panasonic has yet to announce a price for the new product.