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Showing posts with label panasonic. Show all posts
 
At long last, the Lumix DMC-GF2. Hitting the scene just a few weeks after the GH2, this here Micro Four Thirds rig is Panasonic's smallest and lightest interchangeable lens system camera, and it's packin' quite the specs list. From the top, you're looking at a 12.1 megapixel Live MOS sensor, compatibility with the company's own 3D interchangeable lens (the LUMIX G 12.5mm / F12) and an enclosure that's seven percent lighter (not to mention 19 percent smaller) than the GF1. You'll also find a three-inch touchpanel on the rear, contrast AF system, a freshly designed Touch Q user interface, internal dust reduction system and the ability to record video at 1920 x 1080/60i or 1280 x 720/60p in AVCHD. Better still, lower resolution options are available with Motion JPEG recording, and the 23-area focusing system shouldn't have a difficult time nailing your subject. We should point out that the ISO only ranges from 100 to 6400, but the included hot shoe accessory definitely allows for a flash. Of course, there's no optical viewfinder here, but hey, you can't have it all when you're looking to save space. The GF2 will ship in January with three color choices (silver, red and black) and two bundle options: a 14mm F2.5 pancake kit and a 14-42mm zoom lens kit. Unfortunately for you, pricing won't be announced until mid-to-late December. Bah, humbug!
 

Right on schedule, Panasonic's 13.2 megapixel Lumix Phone made its physical debut buried within NTT DoCoMo's CEATEC booth. And by buried, we mean locked behind plexiglass and out of reach of our own hands. That didn't stop the light-capturing mechanics of our cameras, however. We're not sure where the "folding mechanism" mentioned in the press release comes from, but it looks to be a slider phone that keeps a numpad / text entry box out of view. Color options include black, pink, blue, and gold (though frankly, it looked more silver to us). Alas, that also means no chance to provide sample shots from the devices itself, but we do have a smattering of product photos from which you might derive glee -- and that aforementioned video after the break.

  






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The splicing of video and stills cameras continues unabated today, as Panasonic has just outed a serious-looking piece of photographic hardware. The AF105 (AF100 in Europe) is the world's first camcorder to offer a Four Thirds-sized sensor and provides 1080/60i or 1080/30p AVCHD video recording skills, while matching up to the growing selection of glassware for the company's Micro Four Thirds mount. SDHC and SDXC storage cards are accepted and there's a note that "cinema" lenses can also be fitted on via an extra adapter. The price is set at ¥837,900 (about $9,960) and launch is expected this December.

 

THREEE DEEE. Sorry, just had to get that out of our system. We just played with Panasonic's HDC-SDT750 THREEE DEEE, er, 3D camcorder, and it certainly works as billed. The lens is designed for close-up depth perception in the 3 to 15 foot range, and doesn't have any zoom capability. Luckily, it isn't too hard to pop the screw-on lens off, giving yourself a regular zoomtastic 2D camcorder. When you do pop the 3D lens back on there's a quick set of setup menus, which let you adjust the dual lenses within the 3D add-on with a few knobs hidden under a door on top of the assembly.

We didn't get to do any free roaming with the camera, but that's none too thrilling anyway: your preview image is a slightly fuzzy 2D on the built-in LCD. What we did do was watch the camera feed its 3D capture live to a Panny 3D TV (in one of the hilarious outfits provide for us by Panasonic, as pictured above), and while the 3D effect is certainly for-reals and non-janky, the actual image quality takes an obvious hit from the fact that a 1080p sensor is being cut in half to capture the dual images. It almost took us back to the early days of HD cameras, or your friendly neighborhood "HD" webcam, where the output resolution is clearly higher than the sensor is physically capturing. Similarly, we doubt the early adoption of cameras like this is going to be dramatic at first, and even after the tech is perfect we're unsure how big of a consumer need there is for something like this, but with easy options like Panasonic's own Micro Four Thirds 3D lens, the barriers to adoption are quickly disappearing. Er, we merely mean to say, THREEE DEEE.



 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Let's just put it out on the table: the Flip-inspired HM-TA1 ($169, left) and the ultra traditional (though delightfully mini) HDC-SDX1 ($499) are very different cameras. But are they $330 different? You be the judge. The 1080p-shooting TA1 is nothing surprising if you've seen any recent portrait-style pocket camcorders from Flip or Kodak, though it has a quality build and friendly interface. It also records to Apple's 960 x 540 iFrame format, and can double as a USB webcam. As an added bonus, it's rather small for its category, a distinction shared by the flip-out-LCD ultra zoom HDC-SDX1, which Panasonic calls the world's lightest full HD AVCHD camcorder. Outside of that fancy codec and the 2.7-inch flip-out LCD, the SDX1 actually sounds a lot like the TA1 on paper, with the same webcam and iFrame features -- both cameras also are bring-your-own-SD-card for storage. Obviously the image quality should be a decent step up, and the 23x zoom (paired with optical image stabilization) bests the TA1's 4x digital zoom easily, but we're wondering how consumers will feel about these widely disparate price tags when the TA1 lands in August and the SDX1 follows in September. PR is after the break.











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Never mind the extensive leaks, Panasonic, you've got a right to be proud about the HDC-SDT750. After crowing about its end-to-end 3D experience, Panasonic has finally made its HDC-SDT750 camcorder official, which looks like it will be the first of its kind to hit the market. Sure, this is just a baby step: the 3D mode is enabled by snapping on an included 3D conversion lens that splits the image in twain to be recorded as right and left images by the standard 1080p sensor. That means each side will only be 960 x 1080, so you can't quite shoot Avatar in your backyard just yet, but it should look fine on standard 3D televisions. Unfortunately, you can't do much more with the 3D video right now other than pump it out over HDMI straight from the camera -- at least with the 3D stills that you can snap you can load them onto an SD card and play them off of AVCHD-compatible Blu-ray players. Still, these are exciting times to be alive, and you can always shoot in 2D with the no-doubt great 3MOS camcorder underneath (which seems to be very similar to the HDC-HS700) while you wait for the rest of the planet to catch up. The SDT750 will be out in October for a hefty $1,399 asking price. PR is after the break.

 
 
 
 
 


Like Panasonic's new 3D-capable HDC-SDT750 camcorder but don't want to shell out $1,400 for a brand-new kit? Get a load of this Micro Four Thirds lens. That's right, Panny's just announced a interchangeable 3D lens that affixes to the standard Lumix G-series mount, meaning any of the company's new sub-DSLR shooters could see in stereo with a firmware hack update. Sadly, compatible models are still "to be announced" and even the lens pictured above is just a prototype, but we won't have too long to wait for the real deal -- the Japanese manufacturer says it'll be on sale by the end of the year. Press release after the break.


 We'd heard Panasonic was planning a more affordable stereoscopic 3D camcorder, but it looks like we won't have to wait until a mysterious July 28th Tokyo unveiling to find out for sure -- it's called the HDC-SDT750, and Panny's advertising it as the "World's first 3D Shooting Camcorder." Leaks at all the seams of the company's website afforded us the above picture, and the surprising revelation that the product may not be a brand-new camcorder, but rather an existing high-end 3MOS model (we'd guess the HDC-HS700) with a "3D conversion lens" attached. If the yet-to-be-activated product page's source code can be believed, the SDT750 will shoot in 1080p AVCHD at 60fps, feature Panny's proprietary Hybrid O.I.S. image stabilization technology, and come in a lovely shade of Henry Ford black. That's all we have for now (save a second tiny picture after the break) but rest assured we'll be keeping tabs on this one.


You ready to get Lumix'd to the max? Panasonic has five new point-and-shooters prepped for this fall, headlined by the well-leaked LX5. That camera aims to keep what was good about the stylish, high-end LX3 while pushing image quality up a notch, with better image processing and a better lens in front of the same 10.1 megapixel CCD resulting in better low light performance. There's also HD recording in AVCHD Lite at 720p. The FZ40 and FZ100 super zoomers are very similar in their 24x zoom lenses and 14.1 megapixels, but the latter can record 1080p and pull off some high speed burst shooting, while the former is constrained to 720p. The FX700 fulfills the stereotypical role of a "safe" 5x zoom point and shoot, though it scores 1080p recording in addition to the needlessly high-res, looks-good-on-a-Costco-placard 14.1 megapixel stills. Finally, the TS10 brings up the low-end, with a rugged design and that good old 14.1 megapixel resolution. Its 4x zoom and 720p motion JPEG recording make it the oddball of the bunch, but it's waterproof down to 10 feet, shock and dust proof, and a good bit cheaper to boot. The TS10 will be out in September for $249, while the LX5, FZ40, FZ100, and FX700 will be out in August for $499, $399, $499, and $399, respectively. Press releases are after the break.



 
 
 
 
 
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