Photo enthusiasts can now capture their precious moments with a low-cost professional handheld from Panasonic. Dubbed as the AG-HMC40, this product is the latest addition to the company’s AVCCAM line of camcorders. The new device weighs 2.2 pounds and is packed with an array of features such as high-resolution 10.6 megapixel still photo capture and 12x optical zoom.
This AVCHD format based camcorder uses MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 high profile encoding resulting in double the bandwidth performance. Also improved video performance over the older versions of MPEG-2 compression formats like HDV and DVD is achieved. Users still get clear AVCHD high definition recordings under different circumstances such as fast motion or reducing the image degradation.
Another feature of this camcorder is a full resolution 2 megapixel, ¼.1 inch 3MOS imager. Beautiful 1920 x 1080 HD images with high sensitivity are acquired with this feature. Still images can be stored on the SD card as a JPEG image. The AVCCAM has a 12x optical zoom including 2x, 5x and 10x. Professional image functions such as Dynamic Range Stretch and Cine-Like Gamma mode are also present in this camcorder.
Four professional AVCCAM recording modes are included in the AG-HMC40 to capture those moments professional style. These include high-quality PH, the HA, HG and extended recording HE modes. These modes support 1080/59.94i (in all modes), 1080/29.97p, 1080/23.98p native, 720/59.94p, 720/20.97p, and 720/23.98p native (in PH mode only).
Three hours of full resolution 1920 x 1080 video and audio in PH mode can be recorded on a 32GB SDHC memory card. On a card with the same value, users can record four hours at HA mode and 5.3 hours at HG mode. 12 hours of 1440 x 1080 HD content can be recorded at HE mode on a 32GB card.
The AG-HMC40 includes USB 2.0, analog component, composite output, detachable XLR audio input, audio Rec level adjustment dials and HDMI outputs. Customers can further expand the audio capability with optional accessories such as 2 channel input, mic/line switchable and +48V options. The camcorder sports a 2.7 inch LCD monitor with easy touch-panel operation. Different recording functions like interval recording, pre-record, metadata capture and shot marker can also be accessed through the screen.
This camcorder supports a load of professional features which consumers can choose from according to the need of the hour. These features include focus assists such as focus bar display and enlarged display, waveform monitor display, user assignable focus ring, time date stamp, zebra display, synchro-scan shutter function and auto focus with face detection. Other functions like time code/UB recording, remote control terminal and three programmable user buttons are also found in this camcorder.
The content recorded and saved on the HMC40 device can be viewed on Blu-ray players, HD players, laptop computers, widescreen plasma displays with SD card slots and game machines. Customers can edit or playback their recordings by transferring them from the SD card to a PC or MAC computers. Users can also directly attach the camcorder to these devices through its USB 2.0 interface.
An array of editing options is offered with the AVCHD such as Adobe Premier Pro CS4, Apple Final Cut Pro 6.0.5, EDIUS Pro 5 and EDIUS Neo 2. A free transcoder can be downloaded which converts AVCHD files to DVCPRO HD P2 and downconverts DV files. This makes the content compatible with most existing professional editing packages.
The HMC40 camcorder from Panasonic can be acquired for a price of $3,195 (approx. Rs.160,195) and is expected to be available in August 2009.
