The AG-AF100, delivering in December, is the first professional 4/3" large imager video camcorder optimized for high-definition video recording. Targeted at the video and film production communities, the AF100 delivers the shallow depth of field and wider field of view of a large imager, with the flexibility and cost advantages of a handheld camcorder. The AF100 has the ability to use virtually any professional quality lens with the addition of an easily obtainable adapter.

The design of the AF100's 4/3-inch sensor affords depth of field and field of view similar to that of 35mm movie cameras in a less expensive camera body. Equipped with an interchangeable lens micro 4/3" mount, the AF100 can utilize an array of low-cost, widely-available still camera lenses as well as film-style lenses with fixed focal lengths, prime lenses, and zoom lenses.

The AG-HMC150 handheld is Panasonic's exciting new introduction to the AVCCAM series. Representing a major step forward in affordable HD video capture, the HMC150 utilizes highly efficient AVCHD recording, the industry's new long GOP standard based on MPEG-4, to provide stunning image quality and longer record time.

The new handheld incorporates three 1/3-inch progressive CCD imagers to produce stunning 1920 x 1080 resolution picture quality far exceeding older Long GOP formats like HDV. It's equipped with a high-performance wide-angle* Leica Dicomar™ 13x zoom lens and 24- and 30-frame progressive capture in a full range of HD formats, making it well suited for all types of projects. With an exciting range of professional video and audio features and a compact, well-balanced design, the HMC150 is a "must have" for video professionals and enthusiasts looking for the best in affordable HD.

Extra-Long Solid-State Recording

Forget minutes! With AVCHD technology and high-capacity SD memory cards, the HMC150 provides hours of beautiful high definition recordings at professional bitrates up to 21Mbps. And it's as easy to use as a digital still camera, with simple playback on many consumer devices and players, from computers and video game consoles to Blu-ray players and flat panel displays with SD card slots.

AVCHD is currently supported by variety of editing solutions including: Apple iMovie, Apple Final Cut Pro 6.0.1, Adobe Premier Pro CS3, Grass Valley Edius PRO v4.5, Pinnacle Studio Plus 11, Nero7 Premium Reloaded, Ulead Video Studio 11 plus and DVD Movie Factory 6 Plus.

• Stunning, full pixel HD resolution with these professional bitrate recording modes
  
• PH - 21 Mpbs (1920x1080) -- Highest Quality Setting
  
• HA - 17 Mpbs (1920x1080)
  
• HG - 13 Mpbs (1920x1080)
  
• HE - 6 Mpbs (1440x1280) - Perfect for Long-form Recording

Panasonic's latest introduction to its popular AVCCAM line, the AG-HMC40 handheld, combines full HD AVCHD video recording with high-resolution 10.6-megapixel still photo capture, giving you the benefits of two professional cameras in one affordable package.

Compact and lightweight at 2.16-pounds, the HMC40 is a versatile HD camcorder offering high-quality AVCHD recordings, high-resolution still photo capture, an easy-to-use SD card workflow, and professional audio capabilities for a wide range of applications and markets including schools, government agencies, event videographers, web designers and more.

With a full resolution 3-megapixel, 1/4-inch 3MOS imager, the HMC40 produces stunning 1920x1080 video in AVCHD, delivering images far superior to HDV. When used for digital still photography, the camera captures photos with 10.6-megapixel resolution directly onto the SD card as a JPEG image. The camera can also be connected directly to a PictBridge photo printer (no PC required). And unlike HDV tapes, video and photos can be accessed randomly and immediately from the SD cards and played back on a number of consumer devices.

The camcorder's advanced Leica Dicomar lens system offers 12X optical zoom, wide-angle setting (40.8mm) and an optical image stabilizer (O.I.S.) feature for precise shooting. The compact camera is also packed with professional video and audio features (HDMI out, date/time stamp, remote zoom, XLR option, etc.)

Using high-capacity SD memory cards, the HMC40 provides hours of beautiful high definition recordings at professional level bit rates. It records in a range of 1080 and 720 formats with all four professional AVCCAM recording modes: PH mode (average 21 Mbps/Max 24Mbps), the HA mode (approx.17 Mbps), the HG mode (approx.13 Mbps), HE mode (approx. 6 Mbps). AVCCAM offers the benefit of a fast, file-based workflow using widely available and reasonably priced SD memory cards.

A professional AVCCAM HD shoulder-mount camcorder that features solid state DV as well as HD recording capabilities, making it ideal for customers who desire both formats. The HMC80 with its high-resolution 3-megapixel imager offers multiple AVCCAM recording formats and enhanced professional functions for stable, shoulder-mount shooting.

The HMC80 uses MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 high profile encoding – which provides a doubling of bandwidth efficiency and improved video performance over the older MPEG-2 compression based formats (e.g. HDV) – so recordings look clean and crisp, even during fast motion, without image degradation or dropouts. The camera offers useful solid-state recording functions including pre-record, interval recording, shot marker and metadata capture. Additional features include waveform monitor display, focus assists such as focus bar display and enlarged display, auto focus with face detection, white balance, mode display, zebra display, color bars, tally lamps, slow smooth zoom and soft landing, slow shutter and synchro-scan shutter functions, and three programmable user buttons. A wireless remote is also included.

It can also take 10.6-megapixel still images and store them as standard JPEGs on the solid state card. AVCHD recordings and stills can be directly played back from the SD card on a wide range of low-cost players including Panasonic Blu-ray players, laptop PCs and advanced game consoles. Using just one 32GB SDHC memory card, a user can record three hours of full resolution 1920x1080 video and audio in PH mode, four hours at HA mode and 5.3 hours at HG mode. In the HE mode, the camera can record up to 12 hours of 1440 x 1080 HD content on a 32GB SDHC card. Up to 2 hours of DV content can be recorded on a single 32GB SDHC card.

The ultra-compact, mountable AG-HCK10 HD camera head (POVCAM) teams with the AG-HMR10 AVCCAM handheld recorder to offer a low-cost Full HD camera recording system for a wide range of applications. Connected to the HMR10 recorder with a detachable cable, the HCK10 captures 1920 x 1080 high definition video using three 1/4.1" 3.05 megapixel 3-MOS imagers for recording by the HMR10 recorder in the AVCHD format, which provides double the recording time and higher quality than older MPEG-2 compression used in HDV formats.

The camera head features a 12X optical zoom lens with 10X digital zoom,(up to 120X), optical image stabilizer (O.I.S.), a built-in 2-channel microphone and a range of advanced tuning functions, including matrix, knee point, adjustable detail and chroma, white balance and zebra settings. Iris, focus and zoom are remotely controlled by the HMR10 recorder. It is powered by the HMR10 recorder.

The AG-HMR10 handheld AVCCAM HD solid-state recorder puts the flexibility of recording and viewing high quality 1080 and 720 AVCHD content directly in the palm of your hand. AVCHD recording is superior to HDV, providing double the recording time and higher quality than older MPEG-2 compression used in HDV formats.

The battery-powered HMR10 can be teamed with the optional ultra-compact AK-HCK10 Full HD camera head (POVCAM) to form a versatile, point-of-view camera/recorder system. And because its equipped with an HD-SDI in/out, the HMR10 can also serve as standalone recorder for any HD-SDI-capable camera, switcher and deck.

The HMR10 records stunning full HD 1920x1080 resolution images onto low-cost SD memory cards in three recording modes - the highest quality PH mode (average 21 Mbps/max. 24 Mbps), HA mode (approx.17 Mbps) and HG mode (approx.13 Mbps). The fourth recording mode, HE (approx. 6 Mbps), records at 1440x1080. On a single 32GB SD card, the HMR10 can record for up to 3 hours in PH mode and up to 12 hours in HE mode.

The handheld unit records in HD formats including 1080/60i, 1080/50i, 720/60p and 720/50p. With input from the AG-HCK10 camera head, the HMR10 will also record 1080/30p, 1080/25p and 1080/24p. The handheld unit gives users instant access to content in thumbnail clips and offers a variety of playback functions and solid-state recording modes. It features a built-in 3.5" LCD screen, flexible operation controls, and offers professional interfaces including HD-SDI input/output, HDMI output and USB 2.0.

When teamed with the HCK10, the HMR10 is ideal for a wide range of applications fin nature observation, video production, newsgathering, law enforcement, surveillance, sports, healthcare, education and much more.