To help drive sales for the Hitachi DZ-BD10HA Blu-ray camcorder, Hitachi has announced a new direct sales website at www.hitachibd.com. Launched today, the website will allow consumers to purchase the camcorder which sells for $1099. The website also features information to help educate consumers about Blu-ray as well as interactive guides that demo the features of the Hitachi DZ-BD10HA.

The Full 1080p capable DZ-BD10HA was launched back in September and features a 7 megapixel CMOS image sensor, optical image stabilization technologies, face detection technology, a built-in 30GB hard drive, and support for recording HD video to three separate formats (Blu-ray Disc, Hard Drive, and SDHC cards).

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Technorati Tags: Hitachi DZ-BD10HA Blu-ray camcorder

Canon USA introduces two new professional HD camcorders today – the XH A1S and XH G1S HD camcorders. These new camcorders build on the XH A1 and XH G1 camcorders and offer improved operations, greater image control, and improved audio capabilities. Some of the common features found in these new camcorders include the following:

• Canon 20x HD video lens offers manual zoom and focus. It can operate simultaneously in manual or autofocus mode
• Three independent manual adjustment rings – focus, zoom, and iris – have been redesigned for easy access and comfortable operation
• Three sensitivity settings for manual focus ring
• Normal, fast, and slow zoom speeds
• Canon SuperRange Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) system
• Customizable “operational feeling” of the camcorder
• Video can be captured and output in multiple frame rates including 60i for mainstream production; 30F for perfect frame grabs or Web delivery; and 24F for emulating the look of motion-picture film - The camcorders can be switched in all frame rates between 1080-line 16:9 aspect ratio HD video and 480-line 4:3 aspect ratio SD video (or 576 lines in 50i or 25F mode).
• Total Image Control for customizing image and color settings – with a total of 23 custom presets available
• Wide array of camera functions and operational settings available to user
• Audio refinements include: two-channel audio performance; two built-in XLR terminals with separate audio-input sensitivity settings; the ability to simultaneously record sound from the supplied internal microphone and an external microphone; line output level switching; an audio (manual) limiter and a new metal headphone jack for reliable connectivity

Features exclusive to the XH G1S HD camcorder include:

• HD-SDI/SD-SDI Output, SMPTE Timecode Input/Output, and Genlock Input
• The model adds flags when in 24F frame rate mode which allow compatible hardware or software to locate the frames needed for removal during professional editing, resulting in native 24F video.

Other features of the XH G1S include:

• Three 1/3 inch native 16:9 CCD image sensors with 1.67 megapixels
• DIGIC DV II HD Image Processor
• SuperRange Optical Image Stabilizer

The Canon XH A1S and XH G1S HD camcorders are scheduled to be available in late December for an estimated retail price of $3,999 and $6,999, respectively.

Here is the Canon XH A1S

Here is the Canon XH G1S

Technorati Tags: Canon XH A1S, XH G1S HD Camcorders

Hitachi Home Electronics has introduced a new next-generation Blu-ray Disc Hybrid Camcorder called the DZ-BD10HA which seemingly has all the different storage options covered. First off, the DZ-BD10HA has a built-in 30GB HDD which allows you to record up to 4 hours, 20 minutes of full HD video or 8 hours, 40 minutes of 1440 x 1080 video. If you run out of disk space, you can also record videos or still images directly to SD/SDHC flash memory cards via the built-in SDHC card slot. Nice huh? But wait.. there’s more. Hitachi offers yet a third solution - the ability to transfer full HD video recordings from the hard drive or SDHC card to the built-in BD drive - and all this without the need for a computer. The DZ-BD10HA includes editing functions such as splitting, splicing, deleting, merging, and transitions. There’s even a transcoding feature which coverts full HD videos to DVD quality videos. Very Nice.

Other features of the Hitachi DZ-BD10HA include:

• 7 megapixel CMOS image sensor
• Capture videos and image stills at Full HD (1920 x 1080)
• Face detection technology
• Hitachi developed compact, low power consuming, quiet, and reliable 8cm BD/DVD drive
• One-touch dubbing - transfer HD videos from SDHC or HDD to BD drive at one push of a button
• Optical Image Stabilization

The Hitach DZ-BD10HA will have an MSRP of $999 and is available in Japan now and will be hitting the US shores in Sept.

Technorati Tags: Hitachi, DZ-BD10HA Blu-ray Disc Hybrid Camcorder

Samsung is launching the SC-MX20 digital memory camcorder this month - the first camcorder to use the H.264 codec on standard definition video capture. The camcorder has a Schneider lens with 34x optical zoom, image stabilization and face detection technologies, and a three hour battery life. The MX20 is capable of recording up to 16 hours of video on a 32 GB memory card.

The Samsung MX20 has the following specs:

• Supports SD/SDHC memory cards
• 680K image sensor
• 34x optical zoom, 1200x digital zoom Schneider lens
• 2.7 inch color LCD
• Video recording in H.264 BP with a resolution of 720 x 480/60i
• Auto and manual focus support
• Back light compensation
• 3 LUX
• Hyper D.I.S. image stabilizer
• 2 channel audio recording
• Speaker
• Microphone
• USB 2.0 support
• Composite video connector
• Measures 4.9 x 2.6 x 2.4 inches and weighs 0.6 lbs

The MX20 will be available in three colors - red, blue, and white.

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Canon introduces three new VIXIA HD camcorders today - the VIXIA HF11 Dual Flash Memory Camcorder, the VIXIA HG21 Hard Disk Drive Camcorder, and the VIXIA HG20 Hard Disk Camcorder. These three camcorders provide consumers with more storage options, better optics and image processing, and higher video recording bit rates at 24 Mbps. The HF11 Dual Flash memory camcorder has a 32GB internal flash drive capable of storing up to 12 hours of HD video while also recording to a removable SDHC card. The HG21 has a 120GB hard drive for 45 hours of HD video recording and the HG20 has a 60GB hard drive for roughly 22 hours of HD video recording,

Here are pictures of the VIXIA HF11:

Here are pictures of the VIXIA HG21:

And finally, here are pictures of the VIXIA HG20:

All three VIXIA camcorders feature the following:

• Canon HD Video Lens
• Canon HD CMOS Image Sensor for Full HD (1920 x 1080)
• DIGIC DV II Image Processor
• Instant AutoFocus
• SuperRange Optical Image Stabilization to handle camcorder vibration and image shake

All three HD camcorders will be available in September with the VIXIA HF11 having an MSRP of $1199, the VIXIA HG21 an MSRP of $1299, and the VIXIA HG20 an MSRP of $949. All the camcorders come with Pixela ImageMixer 3SE video editing software which has the ability to create Blu-ray discs.

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Technorati Tags: Canon, VIXIA HF11 Dual Flash Memory Camcorder, VIXIA HG21 Hard Disk Drive Camcorder, VIXIA HG20 Hard Disk Camcorder, HD Camcorders

Toshiba has a new 720p HD camcorder coming out called the Camileo H10. The camcorder is designed to store captured video on SDHC cards (with support for up to 8GB cards) as the device only has 64MB of internal memory. Other features include 5x optical zoom lens, 4x digital zoom, 10 megapixel CCD sensor, a 2.7 inch TFT LCD display, a Night Mode for shooting in low light conditions, image stabilization technologies, and an HDMI connector. The Camileo H10 will supposedly be available at the end of the month for around $359 (which seems like an awfully low price to me so don’t kill me if the price is actually higher than this).

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Technorati Tags: Toshiba Camileo H10 HD Camcorder

Sanyo introduced a new high definition Xacti camcorder this week called the DMX-HD800. The DMX-HD800 captures both video and digital still shots and saves data directly to SD/SDHC memory cards. Enhancements include a new three dimensional digital noise reduction (3DDNR) filter and a new “Face Chaser” which works for both stills and videos.

Key features of the new Sanyo DMX-HD800 include:

• Lightweight design
• Records in 720p (1280 x 720) for video
• 8 megapixel still capture
• Take stills at anytime - even when recording video
• Preview photos while recording video with “Photo View” button
• Utilizes AVC/H.264 codec

The folks at Akihabara also state that the DMX-HD800 will be available in Gold, Pink, and Black.

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Technorati Tags: Sanyo Xacti DMX-HD800

Samsung introduced the successor to the SC-MX10 compact digital camcorder in the form of the SC-MX20. The SC-MX20 features a high performance 680K pixel CCD sensor as well as a customized recording mode optimized for YouTube or multimedia devices. Here’s the feature rundown for the Samsung SC-MX20:

• Records at 720 x 480
• Schneider lens with 34x optical zoom
• Advanced noise reduction (3D noise reduction) technology
• Samsung’s Advanced Image Stabilization
• Face Detection technology
• SD/SDHC and MMC+ slot
• H.264 video compression
• Four hours of video with 8GB card, eight hours of video on 16GB card, and 16 hours of video on 32GB card
• Three hour battery life
• Swivel hand-grip
• 2.7 inch LCD display
• iCheck mode allows user to check remaining battery life and memory capacity at touch of a button
• iScene mode allows a user to select up to 10 automatic scene modes

Definitely a nice feature set but the notable new feature is the ability to record videos optimized for multimedia devices and YouTube. Labeled the “Web and Mobile mode”, the SC-MX20 can adjust the resolution to 640 x 480 which is ideal for YouTube and many portable media devices.

The Samsung SC-MX20 will be available in four colors (black, red, white, and blue) and should be out in August for an MSRP of $279.99.

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Technorati Tags: Samsung SC-MX20

Panasonic’s HD camcorder lineup just got a little deeper as they announced two new full HD camcorders in the form of the HDC-SD100 and the HDC-HS100. Both of these units are the world’s first AVCHD camcorders with a 3MOS system designed to deliver superb video image quality. Panasonic’s 3MOS technology is based on the company’s 3CCD technology and feature three MOS sensors to process the red, blue, and green components of incoming light separately. According to Panasonic, the 3MOS system “captures more vibrant, true-to-life colors, greater detail and richer gradation.”

Features of both of these new camcorders include:

• Manual functions for zoom, focus, iris, shutter speed and white balance
• Intelligent Auto mode
• HD Advanced Pure Color Engine
• Leica Dicomar lens
• Advanced Optical Image Stabilization
• Face Detection
• Intelligent Contrast Control
• Intelligent Scene Selection
• Comes with HD Writer 2.6 software for Windows
• Compatible with VIERA Link
• Quick Power-on in 1.9 seconds
• Digital Cinema Color mode
• 5 microphone, 5.1 channel surround sound system
• Microphone input and headphone jack
• High speed burst shooting
• Pre-Rec enables camcorder to continuously record three seconds of video content before the actual video begins
• Wide-viewing angle LCD display

So what’s the difference between the two models? The HDC-SD100 records content directly to an SD memory card while the HDC-HS100 is a hybrid system - recording to either an SD card or an internal 60GB HDD.

Both Panasonic models will be available in September with the HDC-SD100 having a retail price of $1299.95 and the HDC-HS100 a retail price of $1099.95.

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Technorati Tags: Panasonic HD camcorder, HDC-SD100, HDC-HS100

JVC added three new high definition camcorders today to their HD Everio product lineup - the 120GB GZ-HD40, the 80GB GZ-HD30 and the 40GB GZ-HD10. Two of the new models, the GZ-HD40 and the GZ-HD30, are the world’s first AVCHD/MPEG-2 dual format camcorders - giving the user a choice between the superior compression of AVCHD and the superior editing capabilities of MPEG-2.  Both of these models deliver full 1920 x 1080 HD recording capabilities and large drives (120GB and 80GB respectively). The third model provides AVCHD support at 1440 x 1080.

The GZ-HD40 features:

• Record in Full HD 1920 x 1080 in both AVCHD and MPEG-2 Transport Stream (TS) video with MPEG-1 Layer 2 audio.
• AVCHD - XP mode - 15 hours, SP mode - 21 hours, EP mode - 50 hours
• MPEG-2 FHD (1920 x 1080) - 10 hours, 1440 CBR (1440 x 1080) - 10 hours
• Available in August for $1299.95

The GZ-HD30 features:

• Record in Full HD 1920 x 1080 in both AVCHD and MPEG-2 Transport Stream (TS) video with MPEG-1 Layer 2 audio.
• AVCHD - XP mode - 10 hours, SP mode - 14 hours, EP mode - 33 hours
• MPEG-2 FHD (1920 x 1080) - 6 hours, 1440 CBR (1440 x 1080) - 6 hours
• Available in August for $999.95

The GZ-HD10 features:

• Record in 1440 x 1080 AVCHD format
• AVCHD - XP mode - 5 hours, SP mode - 7 hours, EP mode - 16 hours
• Available in August for $799.95

Other common features include:

• New CMOS chips with interpolation technology
• HD Gigabrid Duo Engine
• 1080p 60 frame per second progressive output function
• HDMI v. 1.3 with x.v.Color support
• Quick response
• Hybrid HDD and microSD recording
• Auto Light
• Focus Assist and Manual Settings
• Simultaneous to video progressive still shooting
• Quick power off
• 2.8 ” (2.7″ for the GZ-HD10) clear wide LCD with auto backlit brightness
• Mic input and accessory shoe
• Direct backup utton
• In camera file editing (AVCHD)
• USB 2.0

All three models can connect to the optional CU-VD50 Everio SHARE Station with standalone playback. They can also connect to the JVC CU-VD3 SHARE Station for cost-efficient archiving and playback.

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Technorati Tags: JVC, Everio, GZ-HD40, GZ-HD30, GZ-HD10