Panasonic Pro AG-HMC150

The cooler than cool Panasonic Pro AG-HMC150 drew big crowds at the 2008 NAB Show. Why? Simply because it offers an unheard of Bang for the Buck, in a 1/3 inch three chip hand held tapeless HD camcorder, while retaining the core versatility of the DVX100B. Panasonic Pro AG-HMC150 sports a 28mm lens right out of the box and a new PH Record mode (21 Mbps) which offers higher resolution with a host of recording formats including 24p.

Add to that, amazing low light performance, long record and battery time and professional Audio capabilities at a price that will make it an instant hit with a wide range of AV Shooters, Indie creators and Event video professionals. Panasonic Pro AG-HMC150 represents a major step forward in the introduction of a next generation solid state HD camera that extends the six year successful track record of the popular DVX100 plus a lot more.

Panasonic Pro AG-HMC150’s lightweight (lightest 1/3 inch 3CCD available), well balanced professional design features a high performance wide angle Leica 13X zoom lens, 24 and 30 frame progressive capture, both in 720 and 1080 formats, making it perfect for even high level projects. Designed from a clean sheet of paper with much customer input to Panasonic's product development engineers, Panasonic Pro AG-HMC150 sports a Die Cast Alloy chassis and a Three year warranty (upon customer registration) that further endorses its reliability.

Using the latest in compression technology (AVC High Profile) and widely available SD memory cards as the recording media, Panasonic Pro AG-HMC150 is as easy to use as a digital still camera. The content recorded on the SD card can be directly played on a growing number of affordable consumer players, including select models of Playstation 3, Blu-ray players, plasma screens and PC’s. With most NLE systems now supporting AVCHD, content can be edited and rendered to play in any type of SD or HD playback system.

Dynamic Range Stretch
With DRS ON your customer can capture better Video quality when shooting bright, halftone and dark objects in the same frame. (Bride’s white gown details and the Groom’s shades of tuxedo black.) This clever circuit estimates the gamma curve and knee slope of each pixel’s brightness and applies the estimate on a real time basis. The result is more accurate Video with a visually wider dynamic range.

Features

• Full range of HD formats : 1080/60i, 1080/30p, 1080/24p (Native); 720/60p, 720/30p, 720/24p (Native)
• Higher bit-rate recording than consumer models (21 Mbps PH Mode)
• Three latest design 1/3 inch CCD Progressive Imagers
• 13X Wide angle 28mm lens out of the box (35mm equiv.), MOD .6 M, 72mm Ø (Shoot in confined spaces with no need to buy an accessory lens)
• Time Date Stamp for Legal Depositions or surveillance
• Waveform Monitor, Vectorscope plus two Focus displays for accurate, quick focus
• Professional XLR audio input connections
• Time code (DF, NDF, REC RUN, FREE RUN) and USER BIT
• HDMI out, Component Out (mini D terminal), Composite Video Out and RCA Audio Out jacks
• External Time Code Link (Slave & Master Preset) uses the Composite Video Out terminal
• USB 2.0 for file transfer (no need for a VTR)
• 3.5 inch LCD monitor displays thumbnails for quick non-linear access to clips
• Remote control connection for Zoom, Focus, Iris, and start and stop functions
• 14 bit A to D converter and 19 bit Image processing
• Cinelike Gamma &, DRS Dynamic Range Stretch (Filmaker requested features)
• Three Neutral Density Filters 1/4, 1/16, 1/64
• Pre-Record (3 Seconds), Digital Zoom 2X / 5X / 10X (in 1080/60i & 720/60p only)
• Three User Set Buttons with 11 choices for customizing Camera to Shooter

Panasonic Professional AG-HMC40 AVCHD

Panasonic Professional AG-HMC40 AVCHD 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, Panasonic Professional AG-HMC40 AVCHD 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, Panasonic Professional AG-HMC40 AVCHD produces stunning 1920 x 1080 video in AVCHD (MPEG-4 AVC/H.264), 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. With a full resolution 3 megapixel, 1/4 inch 3MOS imager, Panasonic Professional AG-HMC40 AVCHD produces stunning 1920x1080 video in AVCHD (MPEG-4 AVC/H.264), 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 or time stamp, remote zoom, XLR option, etc.).

Using high capacity SD memory cards, Panasonic Professional AG-HMC40 AVCHD 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 or 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.

Technical Details

• HD formats : 1080/60i, 1080/30p, 1080/24p (Native) 720/60p, 720/30p, 720/24p (Native)
• Three latest design 1/4.1 Progressive 3MOS Imagers for full HD resolution
• Long record time : 3 hours with included battery (7 hours continuous with 5.800mAh Battery)
• Touch Panel 2.7 inch Widescreen LCD displays Thumbnails & Audio Metering
• HDMI out, Component Out (mini D terminal), Composite Video and Stereo Audio Out with included cable

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1

With the G1 specifically, and the Micro Four Thirds standard in general, Panasonic (and Olympus) hope to attract those users who want the advantages of interchangeable lenses and the flexibility of a dSLR, but in a more compact design. And to a certain extent, the G1's specifications read like those of an entry level dSLR, including a 12 megapixel Live MOS chip (with the same expanded photo site design of the sensor in the Lumix DMC-LX3) and rated continuous shooting speed of 3 frames per second for an unlimited number of JPEGs and 7 raw.

But the G1 finds itself in an odd competitive situation. On one side of it are relatively compact enthusiast models such as the Canon PowerShot G10, Nikon Coolpix P6000, and Panasonic's own Lumix DMC-LX3: small enough to fit in a jacket pocket, with full manual feature sets and high quality photos, but with no pretensions at acting like dSLRs and commonly available for less than $500.

On the other side of the G1 sit less expensive entry level dSLRs such as the Nikon D80 and Canon Rebel XSi. While they're about as much bigger than the just under a pound G1 as the G1 is over its compact competitors, the G1 still can't fit into a large jacket pocket. (I don't think it would even if equipped with one of the pancake prime lenses promised for the future.)

And while the G1 and future models will be able to use standard Four Thirds lenses via an adapter not all will support the MFT contrast focus AF systems, though with the exception of pancake primes such as the Olympus f2.8 25mm lens, they're all awkwardly big relatively to the size of the G1. Unlike dSLRs, though, the G1 comes in three colors: two-tone black and blue, black and red, and sedate solid black.

The camera ships with a Lumix G Vario f3.5-5.6 14-45mm (28-90mm equivalent) lens, and currently there's one other lens available, the Lumix G Vario f4-5.6 45-200mm (90-400mm equivalent). Though Leica lenses are likely in the Micro Four Thirds future, these are Panasonic lenses. Panasonic also offers a converter which allows you to mount standard Four Thirds lenses on the G1, but AF will only function if the lenses support contrast AF.

The body is made of sturdy plastic with some metal on the inside and on the mounts, with a nice feeling rubberized coating over everything. It's also got a large, comfortable grip. It offers a considerable number of direct access button and dial shooting controls, and, overall, I like their layout and operation. (Click through the slide show for details and commentary on them.) There are two exceptions, however.

First, the front jog dial. You press it to toggle exposure compensation adjustment. Nice in theory, but in practice I found myself accidentally pressing it way too often. It needs to be further from the grip indentation. And second, the EVF. As far as EVFs go, the G1's is pretty good 1.4 million dots with 100 percent scene coverage, bright and easy to see, with a relatively speedy refresh. But it's still an EVF. (Read about my issues with EVFs.) If it weren't for that, I'd have really enjoyed shooting with the G1.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5

Extremely similar to its less expensive sibling, the DMC-TZ4, the TZ5 offers higher 9 megapixel resolution (compared with 8 megapixels for the TZ4), a 1280x720 pixel resolution movie capture mode and a larger LCD (2.5 inches for the TZ4). Because of the higher resolution, the TZ5's performance is also rated a bit slower, with fewer photos fitting in its memory buffer, than the TZ4. Finally, it's about 0.01 inch fatter and at 8.4 ounces, 2 ounces heavier.

Because it lacks manual and semi manual exposure capabilities, the mode dial is fairly sparse. The Easy Zoom button makes a nice shortcut for getting from one end of the zoom range to the other.

A dial lets you switch among camera and movie modes, as well as two slots for program exposure (scene) modes these have the same choices, but allow the camera to remember two of your last selections.

Intelligent Auto and an odd Clipboard mode that captures low resolution photos to internal memory for fast display.

The four navigation buttons toggle among the exposure compensation, flash, macro, and self timer options. Depending upon your current zoom, it automatically chooses standard or telemacro. One of my few complaints about the design of the TZ5 is the placement of the microphone on the top left of the camera.

Given that Panasonic states "do not block the microphone with fingers" five times in the manual, the company must be aware that there's a problem with its location. And despite the many warnings, my fingers still tend to wander over there while recording movies. The Q(uick) menu button brings up a subset of options that are also available in the full menus.

LCD brightness, picture size, aspect ratio, intelligent exposure, ISO sensitivity, white balance, AF mode spot, face detect, 9 area, 3 area high speed, 1 area high speed, and 1 area burst shooting and optical stabilization. The full menu adds more shooting settings picture quality, Intelligent ISO, metering, continuous AF, intelligent exposure, color effects, digital zoom, minimum shutter speed, audio recording, AF assist, and clock set as well as setup screens.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS80

An optically stabilized lens stands out as the LS80's most prominent feature. The camera includes a 33mm to 100mm equivalent, f/2.8 to f/5.1, 3x optical zoom lens with Panasonic's Mega Optical Image Stabilization system that shifts lens elements to compensate for camera shake.

While many budget cameras offer some form of "image stabilization," those modes are usually software based and rely primarily on increasing camera sensitivity and quickening the shutter. Most companies reserve their mechanical (aka sensor shift), or optical stabilization systems for more expensive models, and seldom in budget lines.

However, we are seeing optical stabilization begin to trickle down into budget models, as evidenced here. Besides the optically stabilized lens, the LS80 presents a lackluster feature set, including a 2.5 inch LCD screen, a WVGA (848x480) 30 frames per second movie mode, and a standard compliment of scene preset modes.

The LS80 performed slowly in our lab tests, lagging behind similar cameras in nearly every category. After a 3.2 second wait from power on to first shot, the camera could take another picture every 2.2 seconds with the on board flash disabled. With the flash turned on, that time doubled to 4.4 seconds.

Its shutter lagged 0.7 seconds with our high contrast target and 1.2 seconds with our low contrast target, which mimic bright and dim shooting conditions, respectively. In burst mode, the LS80 captured four full resolution pictures in 2.7 seconds for a rate of 1.5fps.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18

The FZ18 incorporates a wide aperture, wide angle lens, specifically f/2.8 to f/4.2 28mm to 504mm, and like the S8000fd, incorporates an 8 megapixel sensor. Its design looks quite similar to its 7 megapixel, 12x zoom line mate, the FZ8Sony Cybershot DSC-H3, the FZ18 retains an EVF (electronic viewfinder).

That's a good thing even with the optical image stabilizer, when shooting that long you really want the additional steadiness conferred by an eye level grip type of stance. Panasonic doesn't skimp on shooting options here. In addition to a full set of manual, semi manual, automatic, and scene program exposure modes, and the standard three metering choices spot, center and multiple the FZ18 includes six auto focus algorithm options.

Face, 1 point, 1 point high speed, 3 point high speed, Multi point, and Spot. It also offers automatic scene detection, rather sluggish face detection, and Intelligent Auto mode, which enables the image stabilizer, uses Intelligent ISO (automatic up to the user set cap), face detection, automatic scene mode detection, and continuous AF.

The three shot self timer provides a retro photo booth experience. And not only does the FZ18 offer raw mode, it also supplies a raw plus JPEG option, which we generally see only in midrange and higher dSLRs.