Panasonic announces pricing for compact HD and SD camcorders, on sale in March

By Paul Fang/Feb. 9, 2010 11:11 pm EST

The two high-end HD camcorders that shoot full 1080p with a 3MOS sensor system too much even for you? Panasonic gives us the pricing scheme for its (expected to be much more affordable) compact HD and full-featured SD camcorder models.

We first saw the variety of models back at CES of this year, and Panasonic has confirmed that all six models will all be available by mid-March 2010.

PANASONIC ANNOUNCES PRICING FOR 2010 STANDARD DEFINITION CAMCORDERS AND COMPACT-SIZED HD MODELS

SECAUCUS, NJ (February 9, 2010) – Panasonic today announces pricing for its compact High Definition models, the HDC-TM55, HDC-HS60 and HDC-SD60, and its full-featured standard definition camcorders, the SDR-H85, SDR-T50, SDR-S50. All six models will be available in mid-March 2010.

The Panasonic full-HD camcorders will be available for suggested retail prices (SRP) of $529.95 for the HDC-TM55; $699.95 for the HDC-HS60 and $499.95 for the HDC-SD60. The three Panasonic HD camcorders feature a 35.7mm wide-angle lens and a powerful 25x optical zoom. And with Panasonic's new Intelligent Zoom feature, the new HD camcorders can extend to a 35x zoom. Intelligent Zoom corrects image degradation in ordinary digital zooming to deliver stunningly clear HD quality, even with the zoom fully extended. All camcorders record to SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory Cards, while the HDC-TM55 also has 8 GB* of internal memory and the HDC-HS60 has a Hard Disk Drive that holds up to 120 GB.

Panasonic's standard definition camcorders will have SRPs of $349.95 for the SDR-H85; $269.95 for the SDR-T50; and $249.95 for the SDR-S50. These camcorders may be small in size, but they have impressive features: a 33mm wide-angle and a long, powerful 78x ultra zoom – giving them remarkable range for capturing video both far and wide. Panasonic's new camcorder models are packed with enhanced features to help make shooting quality video easy, including the new Active mode for the Advanced O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer), helping to suppress blur even if the user is moving and when the long zooms are extended. Like the HD camcorder models, these models all record to SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory Cards. Additionally, the SDR-H85 has an 80 GB hard disk drive, and the SDR-T50 has 4 GB of built-in memory.

For more information on all Panasonic LUMIX digital camera models, please visit www.panasonic.com/dvc.

* GB = 1,073,741,824 bytes.