Panasonic grows its Lumix and Camcorder line, we go hands-on

Point and shoots live on, so do dedicated camcorders, and Panasonic has just outed a bunch. We headed on over to its booth at CES to give them all a once over, and there's quite a few to get through so let's take a deep breath. First up for the camcorders is the HC-V210 with 72x zoom, power OIS and full HD, all in a small, discreet form -- ideal for light casual use. The HC-V720 however has a 28mm high sensitivity lens with 50x zoom plus real time broadcasting over WiFi in full HD. The body is bigger than the V210, with stylish metal accents, and a solid weighty feel. The HC-V520 also makes an appearance with its 50x optical zoom full HD and 5-axis OIS. If you want some 3MOS action with manual ring, EVF and level gauge action then the HC-X920 is the one for you. A much larger device with more subtle, stylish black finish with red accents housing that flagship 20.4-megapixel optics.

First up in the point and shoot category is the Lumix DMC-ZS30 with a 20x optical zoom, 24mm ultra-wide angle lens plus WiFi and NFC, a medium-sized cam with a soft touch hand grip. Further up the range, the DMC-LZ30 is a bigger beast, about the size of some small DSLRs, and brings 35x optical zoom, manual exposure control as well as some onboard creative / retouching tools. The DMC-XS1, however, sits right at the other end of the spectrum, being just 14mm at its slimmest part. Despite its size you still get 16 megapixels, HD video, 5x optical zoom and a creative panorama feature. Mostly though, it just looks pretty, and feels solid. Probably not as solid as the rugged all -action DMC-TS5 (that which you see up above). Inside that orange casing you'll find the mechanics to get 1080p video at 60fps plus WiFi and NFC. All of that is waterproof to a pretty decent 43ft, too, so it should stay safe under the most extreme conditions.

Gallery: Panasonic grows its Lumix and Camcorder line, we go hands on

Sean Cooper contributed to this report

Filed under: Cameras

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