Panasonic’s just made official two new consumer high-def cams to join their already boss prosumer collection.
The HDC-SD1 uses SDHC cards and is being touted as the “world’s smallest and lightest 3CCD High Definition video camcorder,” while the HDC-DX1 (when will these guys learn about model names!) throws your vids onto DVD.
They’re both pretty tiny, so the built-in image stabilization is a must. The neatest feature, however, seems to be this:
The HDC-SD1 and HDC-DX1 feature the world’s first 5.1-channel surround sound system with 5 microphones2. When recordings made with these models are played on a 5.1-channel home theater system, viewers are surrounded by a clear, detailed sound that makes them feel as if they are right in the middle of the action. A Zoom Mic function links the microphone’s action to the camera’s action. When zooming in on a subject in the distance, for example, the microphones also zoom in and record the sounds specific to that subject.
If I read that right, that means you can totally use this thing to spy on people at parties. Just zoom in on them and the mic does the rest. Neat!
They both hit in March. The SD1 will be $1,500 and the DX1 will go for $1,400.
Above the fold is the DX1, click the jump to see the shiny shiny SD1.
