Camera and Camcorder AVCHD Video

Well it looks like Panasonic has finally dusted off the blueprints for its Flip killer and put its pocket-sized web-friendly model in motion. Say hello to the Panasonic HM-TA1, the company’s pint-sized Full HD pocket camcorder. It’s fairly odd to be debuting a camcorder like this at this point in the game though because the Flip camcorder has been on the market for close to half a decade. Then Sony followed the Flip with its Webbie line of camcorders while Kodak and a few other obscure manufacturers joined in as well. Panasonic is the first major manufacturer to release a pocket-sized web-friendly HD camcorder with retractable USB arm since Sony, and we can only imagine what Canon has waiting in the wings.

“The new Panasonic TA1 is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, extremely easy and intuitive to use, and yet it is still powerful enough to shoot full-HD video and high-quality photos,” said Chris Rice, Senior Product Manager, Imaging, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company. “Designed to integrate easily with popular online social networks to quickly share videos, the TA1 can also be used as a Web camera, allowing users to make video chat calls – making this extremely portable video camera a truly versatile gadget.” So we’ve got a portable webcam too.

Panasonic HM-TA1 Specifications

The Panasonic HM-TA1 has a single 1/4.1-inch CMOS sensor with 2.93 effective megapixels in Video and Still mode. The camcorder will offer an f/2.8 aperture, most likely to soak up as much light as it can, though the camcorder’s minimum luminance tolerance is 12 lux. We’re not expecting groundbreaking image quality on a pocket web camcorder, but it’s a Panasonic, so our hopes are high. The Panasonic HM-TA1 records 1080/30p, 720/30p, 540/30p, and 480/30p high-definition video in the MPEG-4 format. At 540/30p, the Panasonic HM-TA1 records iFrame for Macs, which offers a 24Mbps bitrate at small sizes while the max bitrate in all other recording modes is capped at 12Mbps.

On the downside, we have Electronic Image Stabilization and there’s no word on an optical zoom, but we know the Panasonic HM-TA1 has a 4x digital zoom. Our monitor in back consists of a 2-inch LCD with a 153,000-pixel display and the microphone is mono. The Panasonic HM-TA1 is capable of recording video to SD/SDHC/SDXC cards, which offers a decent amount of flexibility and will allow shooters to employ those dusty old SD cards.

Our still image recording is limited to 2.1-megapixel JPEG stills, and that’s because of the camcorder’s smaller sensor. For ports, we just have an AV terminal and pop-out USB arm that makes it easy to connect to a computer for quick uploading. The battery pack is removable and rechargeable and the Panasonic HM-TA1 ships with a USB extension cord. One bonus is an added video light which should help out in low light environments.

On the style end of the spectrum, the Panasonic HM-TA1 resembles the Flip camcorder and measures 2.09 wide x 4.09 high x 0.70 thick. Not only is the Panasonic HM-TA1 highly portable, but it ships in Red, Purple, or Black. In back, the Panasonic HM-TA1 has a fairly basic control panel, consisting of a four-way directional pad with Menu button embedded in the middle, Video Record button, Camera mode button, Playback button, Light, and Delete buttons. For a super compact camcorder, this is actually a plentiful control spread, considering the HM-TA1’s limited architecture. We have no idea what Panasonic will employ for a menu navigation system, but hopefully the company will stick with their tried and true straightforward, intuitive menu system.