It’s a new year, and everyone’s launching new model or refreshing old ones. Panasonic unveiled its Lumix point-and-shoot lineup in January for the year 2011, but they never really gave any price point. But now the wait is over as the DMC-ZS10, DMC-ZS8, DMC-TS3 and DMC-FX78 are all being officially priced this week. All but the ZS8 supports the company’s new 3D Photo mode, which produces a realistic 3D photo by taking 20 consecutive photos and overlaying the two best images to provide a 3D image that can then be played on a Panasonic VIERA 3D HDTV. The format of the 3D image is compatible with MPO, and can also be played back on other MPO-compatible equipment such as a televisions, digital photo frames and printers.

The LUMIX ZS10 will have a suggested retail price (SRP) of $399.99 and is an extremely versatile digital camera with a 24mm ultra-wide-angle, a powerful 16x optical zoom LEICA DC VARIO-ELMAR lens, full-High Definition 1920×1080 video recording capability, plus a newly-adopted large 3.0-inch, 460,000-dot Smart Touch Intelligent LCD. The new touchscreen LCD allows for Touch Zoom, Touch Auto Focus (AF), Touch Shutter, and Touch Playback. The LUMIX ZS10 also features a built-in GPS (Global Positioning System) function allowing geotagged images to be pinpointed via online maps and easily shared with friends and families. The LUMIX ZS10 will be available in black, red, blue, silver and brown models.

The LUMIX DMC-ZS8, with an SRP of $299.99, maintains the versatile 24mm ultra-wide angle and powerful 16x optical zoom LEICA DC VARIO-ELMAR lens and includes a large 3-inch LCD and a manual exposure mode. The LUMIX ZS8 will be available in black and silver models.

The LUMIX DMC-TS3 (SRP: $399.99) is specifically designed for active users who want to capture high-quality photos and 1920 x 1080 full-High Definition videos, incorporating a powerful rugged design and new outdoor-friendly features, such as a built-in GPS function, a compass, altimeter and barometer. The 12.1-megapixel LUMIX TS3 further steps up its toughness, when compared to its LUMIX TS2 predecessor, and is now waterproof to approximately 40 feet (12m)*1; shockproof to approximately 6.6 feet (2m) *2; freezeproof to 14ºF (-10 degrees C); and dustproof*1. The LUMIX TS3 will be available in red, orange, silver, and blue models.

The LUMIX FX78, with an SRP of $349.99, features a new Smart Touch operation on the large 3.5-inch 16:9 aspect LCD that allows for intuitive touch operation, including Touch AF, Touch Zoom, Touch Shutter, and Touch Playback. The LUMIX FX78 also incorporates a new LEICA DC VARIO-SUMMARIT, 24mm ultra-wide angle lens that has a 5x optical zoom with F2.5 aperture. The 24mm wide-angle lens offers approximately 213% larger viewing space when compared to a traditional 35mm camera. This high-performing lens has been designed to fit the slim body while still offering exceptional photo and video quality. With its wide and bright lens, the LUMIX FX78 excels when shooting dynamic landscapes and in low-light situations.

The LUMIX FX78′s Smart Touch Screen allows for the Auto Focus (AF) to be set by simply touching the subject on the LCD and a touch can even release the shutter. Once locked on the subject, the LUMIX FX78 tracks the subject with the AF tracking function even if it moves. With the Intelligent Scene Selector in the iA mode, the FX78 automatically switches to the appropriate mode according to the subject touched. The touch-screen operation excels not only for shooting, but also in playback, allowing the user to drag the images across the screen with a finger and browse the collection of photos as though flipping the pages of the book. The LUMIX FX78 will be available in black, gold and white models.

SOURCE via Panasonic