Camcorder News

Following in the footsteps of the flash memory HDC-TM350, announced in May, Panasonic has announced a new hard drive sibling, the HDC-HS350. It features 240GB storage for over 30 hours of video in the highest quality. Like the TM350, the new HS350 has a three 1/4.1-inch CMOS sensors, each with a gross pixel count of 305,000, a 12x optical zoom, and optical image stabilization.

Panasonic is not the first to hit the 240GB mark. Sony announced the HDR-XR520 and HDR-XR520V in January of this year, both with the same capacity. But the net effect of ever-increasing on-camera storage space may lead people to wonder when they have too much. The danger lies in the possibility that a seemingly infinite amount of storage may cause people to lapse in backing up their footage. Weary travelers may put off the chore for months, all the while adding birthdays, baseball games, and holidays to the roll. After a year or two, all your memories are bound to a single, delicate mechanism wrapped in a thin, plastic shell. One bad drop or splash of water and it's over.

Manufacturers seem to be aware of the danger, and have managed to turn it into another sales opportunity. Most offer standalone DVD burners that simplify the archiving process. Unfortunately, most of these are limited to standard definition video, even when backing up from a high definition camcorder. Panasonic offers the VW-BN1 for just such a task. Sony, JVC, and Canon offer several more.

The Panasonic HDC-HS350 records in full 1920 x 1080 in the AVCHD format, and can shoot up to 10-megapixel still photos. It features a f/1.8 lens with a 43mm filter diameter. Unlike so many camcorders, the HS350 retains a viewfinder. The camcorder has several software-based features, including the recently-added Follow Focus, which tracks user-selected people or objects and maintains focus as they move.

The Panasonic HDC-HS350 has been announced for Japan only, so far. No pricing has been announced, but Panasonic has confirmed a release date of July 25th.

This is an US announcement!