Panasonic prepping their first AVCHD cam

Not a lot of info yet, but Akihabara just got wind of Panasonic's first camcorder to support the AVCHD codec they co-developed with Sony. The 3CCD camera will include a 4GB SDHC card, for 85 minutes of 6Mbps video, or 55 minutes with 9Mbps compression. Otherwise we're in the dark, and this picture we've got looks like a prototype or concept version of the cam at best. Still, we're guessing Panasonic can't be too far off from release, since Sony has been parading around their own AVCHD offerings for quite some time now.

[otakucode @ Sep 25th 2006 4:16PM]

DVD bitrates... with HD resolution... man, I hope that's a good codec! h264 at those bitrates would probably look pretty good, but I don't know if the picture quality would rival DVD at a lower resolution but lower compression ratio.

[Rick Lyon @ Sep 25th 2006 4:50PM]

Let's see. You can't burn this to disc, you therefore can't play this on any DVD player, so I don't see how this sells to the average Joe. Unless you connect the camera to your TV and use it as a player. Another Sony trick to trap consumers into buying only their products.

I'll keep waiting for a better HD camcorder option.

[scott @ Sep 25th 2006 8:42PM]

i like the pistol-grip one's that panasonic is tossing out, they seem thin enough to toss in a pocket....

[Mauswe @ Sep 26th 2006 4:21AM]

I want one!