Toshiba's 100GB gigashot A100F: world's smallest "Full HD" camcorder

Toshiba just announced their gigashot A and K series of video recorders in Japan. The A100F brings a shock-mounted, 1.8-inch 100GB disk with 1/3-inch CMOS sensor 2 megapixel stills or 1,920 x 1,080 recordings at 60fps with 16bit/48kHz Dolby digital stereo audio at a 384kbps bit rate. That equates to about 12 hours of MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 formatted video at the highest quality setting or about 23 hours in standard mode. It also features SDHC expansion, a big 3-inch LCD, 10x optical zoom, HDMI and component out, and USB linkup with your PC. According to Toshiba, its 78.1 x 135.4 x 79.0-mm measurements also give it claim to the title as the world's smallest "Full HD" camcorder with built-in hard disk drive. The gigashot K series rolls things back to 720p video and 0.92 megapixel stills stored in a maximum 80GB disk. The top of the line gigashot A100F starts shipping in mid November for ¥188,000 (about $1,628) while the lowest of the low 40GB K-series model starts shipping in late October for ¥108,000 or right around $935 -- you know, if the dollar holds steady which it won't.

Gallery: Toshiba's 100GB gigashot A100F: world's smallest "Full HD" camcorder

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[Via Impress]

[Dylan @ Sep 25th 2007 5:09AM]

"which is won't"?

Posting late is no excuse..

[Daniel D @ Sep 25th 2007 5:13AM]

Heh was about to make the same correction.

[Reasonable @ Sep 25th 2007 8:44AM]

Awesome! I want one. I've been looking for a full HD that can hold a lot of video and isn't crazy expensive.

[Rick @ Sep 25th 2007 10:00AM]

Can't wait to read reviews on this. Nice to see other $1000 options, prices should come down more I hope.

[Danny D'Amours @ Sep 25th 2007 11:23AM]

Can anybody confirm if this is 1080i or 1080p? Also is the sensor the same in the A and K series?
Certainly looks like a nice little camera.

[ELQ @ Sep 25th 2007 1:09PM]

Too bad it doesn't do 24p/cinemode like Canon's offerings.

[Dan @ Sep 25th 2007 1:17PM]

Canon's offerings are three times the size!

[Dan @ Sep 25th 2007 1:15PM]

If it's 1920x1080 60fps then it's 1080p but that seems highly unlikely. Are you sure about this one Engadget? 'Full HD' usually means 1920x1080 at 50 or 60 fields per second - the equivalent of 25 or 30fps.

[Scott @ Sep 25th 2007 1:37PM]

Per the Japanese translation of the 'impress' link:
A series:
"As for animated picture record type with MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, as for resolution as for 1,920×1,080i/1,440×1,080i and frame rate 60fps."

K series:
"As for lens optical 10 time zoom (F3.5) with, as for focal length of 35mm conversion 46.2~503.6mm. As for record resolution 1,280×720 [dotsudo] being progressive, as for frame rate 60fps. As for sound with AAC of 16bit/48kHz, as for bit rate 128kbps."

http://www.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.watch.impress.co.jp%2Fav%2Fdocs%2F20070925%2Ftoshiba.htm&langpair=ja%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF8

[Dan @ Sep 25th 2007 1:45PM]

I'm still saying typo, mistranslation or another case of dumb PR people writing technology press releases. There are no consumer level 1080p camcorders and certainly none this small. Full HD on any other cam means 1920x1080 at 1080i. I suspect it may be capable of 720p (1280x720 at 60fps) but not 1080p.

[mathew @ Sep 25th 2007 5:22PM]

If it's MPEG-4, I'm interested. I'll be looking out for reviews.

(If it's AVCHD, I'm not interested.)

[J. Evans Turner @ Sep 25th 2007 6:10PM]

"Full HD" and "1080p" go hand-in-hand. Yes. The A100F *does* do 1080p.

[J. Evans Turner @ Sep 25th 2007 6:13PM]

Danny:
"Full HD" and "1080p" go hand-in-hand. Yes. The A100F *does* do 1080p. No. The "A" and "K" series use different sensors.

[Asterra @ Sep 25th 2007 9:59PM]

Yeah. Every AVCHD solution out there has inexplicably provided poor results. Close-up comparisons (with the HV20, for example) can be found on review sites. It's really pathetic. The HV20 remains king. Doesn't matter that tapes are a nuisance.