Panasonic today announces the new HM-TA20, full-High Definition1 mobile camera, which has a rugged design that is waterproof to approximately 10 feet, shockproof to approximately 5 feet and dustproof*2, and with the Night View Mode – it shoots exceptional video and photos, even in low-lighting. The Panasonic HM-TA20’s small and compact size, combined with tough exterior, make this the ultimate video camera when it comes to portability. Plus, with a large, 3.0-inch Touch LCD, the HM-TA20 is easy and intuitive to use.

“Panasonic is excited to bring some versatility to the shoot-and-share category of mobile camera cameras, and with the HM-TA20, we’re adding rugged features, allowing consumers to take this compact camera underwater to ten feet, or even for everyday use without the fear of dropping or exposing it to dust,” said Chris Rice, Senior Product Manager, Imaging, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company. “Plus with the new 3.0-inch touch-screen, it’s incredibly intuitive to use to shoot full-High Definition videos and extremely crisp still photos.”

The Panasonic HM-TA20 shoots in full-HD 1920 x 1080 videos, and records in the MPEG-4 AVC file format (MP4), which is convenient for editing images with a computer and uploading files to the Internet. The HM-TA20 includes an integrated USB terminal in its compact body and after editing images within the camera, the user simply connects the camera to a computer and the built-in software, which must be installed first, will then always launch automatically upon connection. The HM-TA20 can also be used as a web camera, for online video chatting. Additionally, extended voice recording is also possible, for recording and storing sounds.

The HM-TA20 will automatically prompt the new Nigh Video Mode feature when it recognize dark shooting conditions and enable shooting at a frame rate of 1/15 with, which helps shoot high-quality video and still photos, even in dimly lit conditions.

Other features of the Panasonic HM-TA20, include:

* An included tripod stand, making it easy to take self-portraits
* 4x digital zoom
* Capability of 8-megapixel still photos
* E.I.S (Electrical Image Stabilizer) during video recording
* Panasonic’s iA model for automatic settings
* Face Detection
* One-touch button for easy recording 1-button simple operation for easy recording
* Simultaneous Voice recording (Linear PCM) with still pictures
* The ability to cut a photo from a video*3
* Three recording effects: sepia/monochrome/soft skin
* Voice recording with stereo microphones
* Direct connection to high-definition TVs with an HDMI cable

Panasonic also announces today the HM-TA2, which is also a compact and mobile camera with the same features, except it is not waterproof, dustproof and shockproof. Like the HM-TA20, the HM-TA2 features the Night View Mode, a large 3.0-inch LCD for easy and intuitive Touch Operation for controls such as, play, record, stop, zoom, and also settings such as edit and – all accessible with the touch of a finger.

The Panasonic HM-TA20 and HM-TA2 will be available in June 2011 and pricing will be announced approximately 30 days prior to shipping. The HM-TA20 will be available in orange, while the HM-TA2 will be available in red, white and dark grey. For more information on Panasonic camcorders, please visit: www.panasonic.com/dvc.