High picture quality

78x Optical zoom with Advanced O.I.S.
The new enhanced optical 78x zoom has been added to the compact body of standard definition camcorders. By taking maximum advantage of the effective CCD area, the camera makes it easy to capture a wide range of dynamic images, from sweeping landscapes with the 33mm wide angle scope to close-ups of distant subjects with the 78x zoom, without having to worry about image degradation. However, with long-distance zoom shots, even a tiny bit of hand-shake has a huge effect on picture quality. That's where Advanced O.I.S. (Optical image stabilization) comes in. It shifts a corrective lens as you shoot to help eliminate the effects of hand-shake, so you get clear, sharp shots even at high zoom levels. It's an essential feature for getting the most out of this incredible zoom lens.

High-quality wide mode (16:9) and 2.7” LCD
Advanced wide mode produces images that make for beautiful, dramatic viewing on a wide-screen TV. The CCD also feature a wide 2.7” LCD, making it easier to frame shots when shooting in 16:9 mode. You can enjoy shooting and viewing in wide (16:9) mode.

Pure colour engine
The Pure Colour Engine LSI converts the CCD output signal from a complementary colour filter into an RGB signal (containing the three primary colours in light) at an early stage and extracts the low-frequency luminance component from the RGB signal. This innovative engine also achieves truly superb colour reproduction for high-zoomed pictures.

Intelligent auto mode (iA)

Intelligent auto mode (iA)
Sometimes a scene is backlit or too dark, or it's difficult to get a good focus on the subject. Adjusting the settings every time is not only a hassle, it can be very tricky. That's where iA comes in. This powerful function senses the shooting conditions and automatically activates functions that will deliver optimal results. With both motion and still images, iA lets you forget about bothersome settings and makes it easy to capture beautiful, well-focused images.

* The functions included in iA may not be applied when conditions do not call for them.

 Advanced O.I.S.
Panasonic’s advanced O.I.S. helps suppress the effects of hand-shake as you shoot. You get all the beauty of the shot, even at high zoom levels.

 AF/AE tracking
Touch the LCD screen to indicate the subject, such as a person or an animal, that you want to focus on, and let AF/ AE tracking do the rest. The camera locks on the subject and follows it around, keeping it in sharp focus and properly exposed. It keeps tracking even if the subject turns to the side. This advanced function makes it easy to get a continually clear, beautiful shot of the subject in the scene you care most about.

 Face detection
This mode captures faces beautifully. Face detection automatically senses the ambient lighting and adjusts the exposure accordingly, so faces are bright and easy-to-see. The focus also prioritizes the faces, and skin tones are smoothed. Faces in the center of the frame serve as the reference for adjustments, but the function can detect up to 15 faces in all.

 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.

 Intelligent scene selector
The Intelligent Scene Selector function analyzes the shooting situation and automatically switches the camcorder to the Scene Mode that will give you optimal results.

 Low light
In dim lighting, the camcorder automatically switches to a slower shutter speed so that images across the entire frame are bright and easy to see.

 Portrait
This mode captures faces beautifully. With Soft skin mode, complexions are automatically enhanced to make faces attractive.

 Scenery
This mode is ideal for shooting wide landscapes and sweeping vistas, such as at the ocean or in the mountains. It balances the exposure over the entire frame to prevent brighter parts of the image, such as the sky, from being washed out or having blown highlights.

 Spotlight
The camcorder automatically uses this mode for scenes with particularly strong contrast, such as when you're shooting a spotlight area on a darkened stage. It captures the well-lit subject perfectly and prevents washed-out areas.

iA Mode for still images
The iA function is active even when the camera is in Still image mode. When the Intelligent scene selector detects the shooting situation, it automatically switches to one of the five Scene modes (Portrait, Scenery, Night scenery, Night portrait and Macro), for still image shooting, and optimizes the settings for the still image.

Recording functions

Auto power LCD
The Auto power LCD function increases the backlight brightness in 16 steps according to the ambient light intensity/surroundings. When shooting outdoors on a sunny day, make the LCD brighter. When shooting indoors, lower it. This makes the LCD easier to see and it’s also easier on your eyes.

Easy editing
You can do some polished editing using just the camera itself. For example, you can delete scenes right on the spot or change the scene sequence to create your own scenarios.

Playlist edit
It is easy to change the sequence of the scenes you've recorded, and then play them back. (You can record up to 99 sequencing patterns on each side of the disc for easy playback.)

Easy deleting
This function makes it easy to delete the scenes you don't want and to save the ones you do. You can also split up motion pictures and delete only parts of them.

Hard disk drive (SDR-H85)
The internal hard disk lets you record continuously for up to 74 hours (in LP) mode without changing a disc, tape or other recording media.

Anti-shock shield
Helps to protect recorded video data from damage due to jolts and impact. The drop detect function senses if the camera is falling and moves the head away from the hard disk and the floating structure protects the hard disk, should the camera fall or be dropped. Also, the buffer memory automatically backs up data, while the camera is falling.

Help mode
Not sure what a certain icon means? Just switch on the Help mode and select the icon. It's explained for you on the LCD monitor. This makes it easier to learn the icons, and you spend less time reading the operating manual.

Colour night recording
Night recording gives you smoothly flowing pictures even in dark places, where it's normally difficult to capture good shots.

One-touch navigation and joystick control
The joystick makes the camcorder very easy to use. As you shoot, just watch the image in the monitor and follow the navigation icon. You can handle a number of operations quickly and easily without taking your eyes off the subject.

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.

Editing functions

These HDD models record in VBR format. VBR (variable bit rate) recording automatically varies the bit rate (amount of data in a fixed time) depending on the subject being recorded. This means if a subject with sharp movements is recorded, the recording time is reduced.

Moving image recording time (approx.)

Capacity / Image quality	HDD	SDXC / SDHC/SD memory card
	80GB*	64GB*	48GB*	32GB*	16GB*	8GB*	4GB*
XP (10Mbps)	18 h 30 min	15 h	11 h	7 h 30 min	3 h 30 min	1 h 40 min	50 min
SP (5Mbps)	37 h	30 h	22 h 10 min	15 h	7 h	3 h 30 min	1 h 40 min
LP (2.5Mbps)	74 h 30 min	60 h 30 min	44 h 50 min	30 h	14 h	7 h	3 h 20 min

* Usable capacity will be less.

Note: These figures vary depending on the pictures being recorded.

One-touch DVD copying
The HDD camcorder's USB Host function lets you connect directly to a DVD burner via a USB cable. You can then copy recordings from the hard disk to a DVD disc by simply pressing a button.

VideoCam suite 3.0
Transfer data
You can transfer the moving image data from the SDHC/SD memory card or HDD directly to your PC.

Edit
It’s easy to put scenes in a different order and delete the ones you don’t want.

Save the results
When you are finished with your video production, you can save the edited version onto an SD memory card or a DVD disc.