Panasonic Japan Announces VDR-M20 DVD-R Camcorder

Panasonic Japan just announced the VDR-M20, DVD-R / DVD-RAM recording camcorder. The VDR-M20 is based on Hitachi's DZ-MV250, with some upgraded features. It is common for camcorder companies to use all or some of another company's product and rebrand it for sale under their name. The VDR-M20 is Panasonic's second DVD camcorder, replacing the VDR-M10.

The camcorder records the video onto DVD cassettes. The cassettes are square and hold a DVD-R or DVD-RAM disc. Each cassette is 8 cm square. The camcorder has a 12 x optical zoom, and can record digital stills at 1280 x 960 pixel resolution. This stills are saved to the DVD disc.

The camcorder records MPEG2 video to the DVD disc. The camcorder can record 30, 60, 90 or 120 minutes of video to one cassette, depending on quality setting. You can delete, divide or connect different scene within the recording. You can also apply effects to video which you have already shot, allowing the camcorder to act like a mini video editor.

The camcorder can connect to the computer via USB. The VDR-M20 will be available in Japan on August 20th.