Panasonic PV-L850 Camcorder

Supreme Video + Electronics

PV-L850

Panasonic PV-L850 VHS-C Camcorder
$579

The top-of-the-line PV-L850 includes all of the features of the PV-L750 plus it adds a 480,000 pixel CCD and 5-head recording as well as slow-motion playback and TV tuner. With the supplied TV tuner, the remarkable PV-L850 lets you watch a TV program on its 4-inch LCD without the need of an AC outlet. Also features PhotoShot function and supplied 8MB CompactFlash Card, 26x high-definition optical zoom lens, 4-inch color LCD monitor, Picture-in-Picture, Digital Filter, Digital Wipes, headphone jack and external mic input.

A high-quality VHS-C camcorder, the PV-L850 records tapes that are able to play back in any VHS VCR with the supplied VHS playpak adapter. Incorporating the convenient VHS-C tape format, there is are no cables to connect--just pop the tape into the VHS playpak adapter, insert into the VCR and hit PLAY--that’s all there is to it.

High Picture Quality:

The PV-L850 utilizes four Hi-Tech video heads plus a flying erase head for exceptional performance. By dedicating two heads for recording and playback in the SP speed, and two heads for the SLP speed, picture quality in both speeds is greatly enhanced. And the flying erase head offers distortion-free scene transitions. Also equipped with 480,000 pixel CCD, allowing you to record even higher resolution images (Step-up feature from the PV-L750)
Full-size (62mm) VHS head cylinder-- the same as used in Panasonic's VHS VCRs affords more tape-to-tape contact, resulting in a steadier picture. Also ensures complete playback compatibility in VHS VCRs with crisp, clear pictures.
26x four-speed optical and 300x digital zoom (longest zoom in it’s class) brings unprecedented detail to distant subjects. Go from the widest angle to telephoto in 2 to 16 seconds.
Digital Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) system compensates for unintentional hand and camcorder movement--even while walking or recording from a moving car.

High Performance:

1/2 speed slow-motion playback turns a fast-action recording into a slow instant replay on the large 4-inch LCD screen. The full-size dedicated 5-head system in the PV-L850 is capable of playing back smooth images in half the speed of the actual recording. It even allows you to still a field image to examine them more thoroughly. (Step-up feature from the PV-L750)
Digital Wipe, Still and Strobe for more creativity. Digital wipes (horizontal, vertical, or square) can also be frozen at any point, allowing for exciting transitions between scenes. Digital Still digitally "freezes" an image, while Digital Strobe digitally "freezes" a series of images.
4-inch high-resolution LCD color monitor (112,000 pixels) provides 156% more viewing area than a 2.5-inch LCD for excellent viewing from almost any angle. The monitor can also rotate 270 degrees, letting you hold the camcorder at many different angles whle recording. A speaker is also built-in, so you can check your finished recordings "on location" by playing them back on the spot.
Superb low-light sensitivity allows recording down to 0.8 lux
In addition to just fade to black, the camera offers seven fade variations in your choice of eight colors for creative transitions. Fade variations include soft or sharp diamond and square patterns.
The camcorder can be programmed to start and stop recording for 10, 20, or 30 minutes, or until the tape ends. In addition, interval recording function lets you program the camcorder to record 5 seconds or 10 seconds for each minute of actual time that passes.
Motion Sensor function for unattended recording. When set in the Motion Sensor mode, the PV-L850 starts recording within seconds of the infrared beam’s detection of movement, and stops 30 seconds after motion ceases. Date and time are automatically recorded on the tape. Ideal for simple home security applications.

Built-in Digital Still Camera:

Unlike traditional film cameras, still pictures taken with the PV-L850 can be viewed in advance on the camcorder’s LCD monitor and deleted if desired to free up memory for new shots. An 8MB CompactFlash Memory Card lets you save captured digital still images - up to 240 photos in the Normal mode - to view on a TV or to download to a PC. Once downloaded, images can be manipulated in a variety of ways. For example, they can be added to e-mail messages or Web Sites, or be combined with video to craft truly creative family "home movies." Includes PC connection driver software for Windows 95/98.
Picture-in-Picture (PIP) lets you merge still shots with video while recording. PIP allows you to insert images, taken using the PhotoShot feature, onto the LCD screen of the camcorder. The miniaturized digital still image appears to the right of the video that you’re recording, and is visible during playback.

Conveniences:

Now you can watch TV on the LCD monitor simply by connecting the supplied TV tuner. Incredibly, the tuner turns your camcorder into a total and completely portable entertainment center. (Step-up feature from the PV-L750)
Built-in color digital filter gives you the duo-tone effect of a color filter without having to attach one to the lens. The filter lets add your choice of sepia, red, yellow, blue or green to the overall picture.
Includes a credit-card sized wireless remote control
B&W viewfinder for those times when you can’t use the LCD monitorr
Built-in auto light, working according to brightness levels, delivers radically improved picture quality in facial color when shooting in low-light conditions. And because it is powered by the camcorder battery, there is no need to carry an extra battery.
Auto Titler / Phrase Title--on each of 10 specific holidays, the camcorder will automatically display a related title from it’s built-in list. You can also manually choose and insert a title of your choice for a birthday, anniversary, or other special occasion.
Preset Date/Time with Time Zone Select, so you don’t have to manually set the time and date. The camcorder also automatically adjusts for daylight savings time.
Includes a 2-hour battery and multi-voltage (110-220v 50/60 Hz) AC adapter/charger. The charger has a refresh function to prevent battery memory loss and keep batteries at their full capacity.