NEW PANASONIC HDC-HS9 60GB HDD/SD CAMCORDER -3 CCD-

Leica Dicomar Lens Leica AG of Germany is the manufacturer of fine cameras and lenses favored by photographers everywhere. The Leica Dicomar lens featured in the HDC-HS9 was developed specifically for full-HD camcorders, these lens systems are made using a multi-coating process that prevents light reflection and glare, which can make colors bleed and images appear washed out. It also prevents rings of light, or "ghosts". 

HD Crystal Engine Panasonic took the advanced imaging circuitry used in our professional equipment and adapted it for home use in the HD Crystal Engine. The result is a high-speed processing unit that can handle the huge volumes of data captured in high-definition video recordings. The HD Crystal Engine also incorporates a new system that improves resolution and reduces noise while achieving a more compact size and lowering power consumption.

5.1 Channel Surround Sound and Zoom Microphone and Focus Microphone Each of the five built-in microphones of the HS9 works individually to record sounds from the front, sides, and back. When viewed on a system with Dolby Digital 5.1-channel sound, the real-life acoustic field brings even greater power to images such as festival parades, concerts, or birds in nature.

• Zoom Mode In Zoom mode the microphones are linked to the lens action. When you zoom in on a subject, the microphones focus on the sound in that same direction, minimizing the capture of incidental sounds.

• Focus Mode Regardless of whether the lens is zooming or not, the microphones pick up only the sound of the subject in front of the camera, minimizing all surrounding sounds.

10x Optical Zoom Distant subjects can be enlarged so they appear to be right up close. This allows dynamic shots of both motion and still 

Tele Macro Using the zoom at full magnification, you can shoot macro close-ups while maintaining a distance of 50 cm from your subject. This makes it much easier to capture extreme close-ups without your body or camera casting a shadow on the subject and while keeping the background in soft focus. pictures.

High Picture Quality (16:9, 2.7-inch LCD Screen This model offers the high quality wide images that make for beautiful, dramatic viewing on a wide-screen TV. The image is processed on 16:9 area of the CCD. Because the image decoded has the same proportions as your wide-screen TV, there is virtually no picture quality degradation. You get beautiful images and all the excitement and dynamism on either a wide 16:9 screen TV or a conventional 4:3 TV. This model also features a high-density, 300,000-dot, wide 2.7-inch LCD, making it easier to frame shots when you're shooting in 16:9 mode. You can enjoy shooting wide, and viewing wide. 

Focus Assist This function enlarges the center of the image, making it easier for you to get a clear, sharp shot when focusing manually. 

Composition Guide Lines With wide LCD monitors, it's hard to keep images perfectly level. The HDC-HS9 solves this by displaying horizontal and vertical Composition Guide Lines that make it easy to keep the subject straight and level. 

Shooting Functions

Face Detection The HS9 introduces face detection functionality for recording moving pictures with a camcorder. It's difficult to shoot scenes with deep shadows or large differences between light and dark areas. The subject often looks too dark, and faces can be hard to see. Panasonic solves this problem with Face Detection, a function that automatically adjusts the exposure according to the ambient brightness, so faces are bright and easy to see. When the camcorder detects a face in the scene, a square frame appears around it in the LCD monitor and the exposure is adjusted to correct the brightness level. The skin tone is also smoothed. Face Detection can detect up to five faces at once. With Face Detection - offered for the first time for recording moving pictures with a camcorder - Panasonic makes it easy capture beautiful faces even in dim or backlit scenes. 

Intelligent Shooting Guide The HS9 features the Intelligent Shooting Guide. This function detects when shooting conditions are poor--such as when the camcorder is panning too quickly or tilted, the user's hand is swinging, the subject is backlit, or the lighting is too low-and displays operating advice in the LCD. Users become aware of a potential problem before they shoot, rather than later when reviewing or playing back the recording. This gives them a chance to correct the settings and get good, error-free results every time.

Intelligent Shooting Selection Playback While the Intelligent Shooting Guide helps prevent recording errors, this playback function makes recordings more enjoyable to view. It automatically skips over any shots that have serious errors, such as hand swing, fast panning, out-of-focus images or shots of the ground taken when the user forgot to turn the camcorder off. You see only the good, error-free shots.

Pre-Rec Function This clever new function records three seconds of images even before you actually begin shooting. The images are held temporarily in the camcorder's internal memory, before recording onto the SDHC/SD Memory Card begins. This helps ensure that you won't miss the start of a moment you want to record, such as when an event begins all of a sudden. For example, if you're waiting to snap a shot of a jumping dolphin, you can press the REC button after you've made sure that the dolphin has cleared the surface of the water. The camcorder will record the entire scene, from the instant of the dolphin's jump until it disappears again into the sea.

Intelligent Contrast Control By detecting the intensity of the ambient light and adjusting the exposure accordingly, Intelligent Contrast Control prevents blown highlights and blocked shadows. This helps render natural-looking, highly nuanced images with proper contrast. Even when you're shooting directly toward the light source--a very challenging situation in photography--Intelligent Contrast Control lets you capture clear images with enhanced depth. 

Power LCD Extra lets you adjust the LCD brightness in two steps by simply pressing the Power LCD button. Plus 1 mode increases brightness by 80% for easy outdoor viewing, and Plus 2 mode emphasizes contrast when shooting in strong sunlight conditions such as when skiing or at the beach.

Wide Viewing Angle The new LCD has a highly detailed, 300,000-dot display, which places it in the top class of the industry, and a viewing angle of 170-degrees, both vertically and horizontally. Images are clear and bright even when viewed from an angle, so everyone can gather around the LCD to enjoy on-the-spot recordings. The wide viewing angle is also great for taking high- or low-angle shots. 

Easy On/Off Easy On / Off reduces the time required for operating the camera. When you open the LCD, the power turns on. Shut it and the power turns off. 

Quick Start This Quick Start mode helps shoot videos on the spur of the moment. This mode lets you shoot those not-to-be-missed scenes just 0.6 sec from the time the power is turned on. 
 

25 FPS High Speed Burst Shooting This function lets the camcorder snap up to 25 consecutive 2.1-MB-resolution still images in a second, or up to 72 consecutive shots in 3 seconds. You can use it to analyze a golf swing, tennis stroke or other motion. You also can use it to get good shots of subjects in fast motion. Just fire off a number of shots without stopping, then keep the best ones and delete the rest. 

One Touch Navigation and Joystick Control The joystick makes the camera much easier to use, letting you control all basic operations. Just watch the image in the monitor and follow the instruction guide. You can handle a number of operations quickly and easily.

• Direct Mode Switch Just switch the button with your fingertip to select the icon that corresponds to the mode you want.

• Simple Joystick Operation Press the center of the joystick to display icons on the screen.

Quick Search and Access with Thumbnail View The camera's LCD screen displays a list of the recorded scenes for quick and easy searching. An index tab lets you switch between motion and still image thumbnails for fast retrieval of specific scenes. You can also do some polished editing using only the camera. 

Anti Ground Shooting The O.I.S. linear motor system can detect when the camera is in an unusual shooting position - such as when you've inadvertently left it on in recording mode. In these cases, the camera automatically stops recording, saving both battery power and disc space. 

Color Night View / High 5 Lux Sensitivity

• Color Night View for shooting in dim light Color Night View gives you smoothly flowing pictures even in dark places, where it's normally difficult to capture good shots.

• High 5 Lux Sensitivity for sharp, clear images even in dim lighting. The new digital signal processor reduces noise to allow shooting all the way down to 5 lux illumination. You get natural-looking shots even in dim rooms or at dusk.