Panasonic SDR-H18 30GB Hard Disk Drive Camcorder with 32x Optical Zoom, 1000x Digital Zoom, and 2.7" LCD Screen

The Panasonic SDR-H18 camcorder's O.I.S. minimizes the hand-shake that can be such a problem with handheld shots. When you're shooting a still picture, the MEGA O.I.S. system automatically activates, doubling the corrective power. With O.I.S. and MEGA O.I.S., the camcorder is equipped for clear, beautiful shooting of both motion and still pictures. The 32x zoom of the camcorder can fill the screen with even a distant subject. This lens is not only the powerful zoom offered in a home-use digital camcorder, it also features low distortion. And because it's optical, there is no quality loss - you get the images in all their natural beauty.

The Pure Color Engine converts the CCD output signal from a complementary color signal into an RGB signal at an early stage, and extracts the low-frequency luminance component from the RGB signal. The Panasonic camcorder's MPEG2 engine is a wide-range, high-precision search engine that produces smooth, beautiful motion pictures. The MPEG2 engine also uses Variable Bit Rate technology that Panasonic developed for the high-end DIGA DVD recorder. This camcorder offers the High-Picture-Quality Wide Mode, which produces images that make for beautiful, dramatic viewing on a wide-screen TV. The image is processed on 16:9 area of the CCD.

It features a wide 2.7-inch LCD, making it easier to frame shots when you're shooting in 16:9 mode. This camcorder has a 30 GB hard disk. Holding as much data as 22 DVD discs, the internal hard drive lets you record continuously for up to 27 hours without changing a disc, memory card or other recording media. The One touch navigation joystick makes the camera much easier to use, letting you control all basic operations with one hand. It also features a Help Mode. This makes it easier to learn the icons, and you spend less time reading the operating manual. The camcorder LCD screen displays a list of the recorded scenes for quick and easy searching.

The Edit function of the camcorder 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. Easy On / Off feature reduces the time required for operating the camera. When you open the LCD, the power turns on. Shut it and the power turns off. The MagicPix Images gives you smoothly flowing pictures even in dark places, where it's normally difficult to capture good shots. The USB 2.0 compatibility lets you upload a motion picture data to a PC at high speed over a single USB cable.