Those of you disappointed that you might not see the just announced Panasonic SDR-S200 in the U.S. anytime soon can come out of your corners and wipe the tears off your faces. Panasonic has announced the U.S. version of their new SDHC compatible camcorder, the SDR-S150.

The stats are the same: three 1/6″ CCDs, 10x optical zoom, 2.8″ widescreen LCD, etc. Recording can be set at 2.5 Mbps, 5 Mbps, or 10 Mbps, allowing between 52 minutes and 3.3 hours of recording time. The Panasonic SDR-S150 can also be used as a webcam, albeit a very expensive webcam.

A 2GB SD card will be included with the S150, but no price has been set. The Japan release date has been set at July 8th, so hopefully we will be seeing it in the U.S. soon after 

Can’t say that JVC has had any very impressive digital camcorder offerings this year, especially as word of the quality of their Everio line becomes more clear. JVC’s MiniDV line is still cranking away, and CNET has just posted their JVC GR-D650 review. 

The GR-D650 features a large f/1.2 aperture lens, 15x optical zoom, and 1.3 megapixel still shots. The conclusion sums it up quite nicely:

"This no-frills, easy-to-use MiniDV camcorder delivers solid video at a rock-bottom price. If you’re looking for a good value on a tight budget, the JVC GR-D650 will do the job." 

CNET has an editor review on the JVC Everio GZ-MG77 Camcorder and has a rating of 6 out of 10. and writes: “The JVC Everio GZ-MG77 offers the convenience of shooting as much as 37 hours of footage without having to swap a tape or DVD. By storing videos on its 30GB hard disk, JVC has created a camcorder that’s extremely lightweight and compact, but unfortunately, the video quality simply doesn’t stack up against that of most MiniDV or DVD camcorders. The GZ-MG77 is the high-end model of JVC’s Everio line of hard-drive camcorders, with the largest CCD (2.2 megapixels) and hard drive (30GB) of its crew. Perplexingly, though, the GZ-MG77 lacks several features that the lower-end Everio camcorders have, such as a video light and a 32X optical zoom."

Canon has released their first line up of HDV camcorders, the XH G1 and XH A1 and many feel that Canon took its own sweet time on this. Well as they say, better late than never! The imaging system of the these new camcorders is similar to the Canon' XL H1 and has the same three 1/3-inch 16:9 CCDs. The new camcorders have the ability to record 1080i video in both 60 interlaced and 24 frame rate modes. However unlike the XL-H1, the new camcorders are cheaper and sleeker.The new HDV camcorders are almost identical and the only thing that sets the camcorders apart is the I/O ports and $3000 price difference! These entry level prosumer camcorders will appeal to the independent film makers who couldn’t afford the exorbitant XL H1 and Canon hopes to capture this growing demographic. The new XH G1 and XH A1 do not support interchangeable lenses and the three 1/3-inch CCD sensors offer native 16:9 with a resolution of 1440 x 1080. The camcorders feature 24 fields per second shooting mode and the frame rates are available in either 2:3 or 2:3:3:2 pull-down apart from the standard scan rates of 30f and 60i.

Canon today can give it self a pat on the back as it was able to successfully launch its first compact seize HD video camera. This new video camera is pretty unique and will surely get a lot of takers because of its HD CMOS sensor with its impressive resolution of 1920x1080. The HV10 has a 1/2.7 type cmos with 2.96Mpix, which will assure superb picture quality according to Canon.The Canon HV10 also has what Canon calls Instant Auto Focus which is much superior to the plain old AF systems according to Canon. Canon claims that this is one much faster and accurate and there is a Super-Range Optical Image Stabilization too! It can also take still images in 3.1-megapixel resolution which can be stored on a Mini-SD card. No word on availability but the iVIS HV100 should around 1000.00 EUR.