Panasonic announced Three New Camcorders, the SDR-H80, SDR-H90 and SDR-S26

Although not HD, these camcorders are worth a post here. According to the Panasonic press release, they all have the world's most powerful 70X zoom lens dubbed "ultra-zoom", plus the optical image stabilizing (O.I.S.) you are familiar with. The HDR-S90 and HDR-S80 (pictured above) camcorders also have HDD storage, while the S26 has only SD/SDHC.

From the press release:

Panasonic today expanded its 2009 camcorder line with the addition of two Hard Disk Drive (HDD) models, the SDR-H80 and SDR-H90; and one SD Card model, the SDR-S26 – all of which feature the world’s first and most powerful 70x optical ultra-zoom lens*. All three models also include an advanced Optical Image Stabilization (O.I.S.) system which helps reduce blur caused by a shaky hand and Panasonic’s proprietary Intelligent Auto (iA) technologies, making the camcorders easy to use.

The powerful 70x optical ultra-zoom lens is supported by Panasonic’s advanced O.I.S. system which reduces the effect of hand-shake even when subjects are zoomed to maximum magnification. Gyrosensors detect hand shake, and the advanced O.I.S. shifts the lens to correct the optical axis and repeats this detection and correction process about 4,000 times per second. This superb correction performance, which produces sharp, clear motion images far better than electronic image stabilization systems, is critical for a camcorder with such a long and powerful zoom.

Other features of the SDR-H80, SDR-H90 and SDR-S26 include:

- Easy YouTube Upload – this convenient function makes it fast and easy to upload video clips to YouTube.com for easy sharing. Simply install VideoCam Suite software that comes with the model and connect to a PC using the USB interface. ***

- Quick Start Mode – Takes just 0.8 seconds for the camcorders to start up in quick start mode, ensuring that sudden shooting opportunities are not missed.

- Easy Copy to DVD – Most people use their camcorders for three main purposes: to shoot, play, and archive video recordings. They want each of these functions to be as easy as possible. This feature lets the user save data onto DVDs without all the fuss. By connecting the camcorder to the VW-BN1 DVD Burner (optional) using a USB cable, video recordings can easily be copied to a 12-cm DVD (DVD-RAM/-RW/-R/-R DL). The disc can then be played back on DVD players.

The SDR-H80 has a suggested retail price (SRP) of $449.95 and will come in four colors, silver, black, red and blue models; while the SDR-90 has an SRP of $499.95 and will come in black only. The SDR-S26 has an SRP of $329.95 and will come in champagne, black, blue and red models. All three camcorders will be available in April 2009.