Panasonic FZ70 officially announced with 60x optical zoom lens

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ70 has been officially announced as the world’s first 60x zoom bridge camera, becoming a leader in its category.

Panasonic FZ70 is the replacement of the FZ60, which features a 24x zoom lens. Doubling the focal length capabilities would have been an impressive achievement, but the Japan-based company has decided to go beyond that with the help of a 60x optical zoom.

Panasonic FZ70 camera features a 60x optical zoom lens, providing a 35mm equivalent of 20-1200mm.

Panasonic FZ70 becomes official with awe-inspiring 20-1200mm 60x optical zoom lens

The brand new Panasonic FZ70 comes packed with a 20-1200mm f/2.8-5.9 lens (35mm equivalent), as well as built-in optical image stabilization, in order to keep videos as steady as possible even at the longer end of the focal length.

Other important specs of the new zoom bridge camera include a 16.1-megapixel MOS sensor with Venus image processing engine. The device is capable of capturing up to 9 frames per second in high-speed burst mode, while Light Speed AF provides very fast autofocus.

Panasonic FZ70 bridge camera also features a special microphone capable of zooming in on the subject, just like the lens.

Panasonic says FZ70’s microphone can zoom in along with the camera

One of the features that will help the Panasonic FZ70 stand out from the crowd is a noise-cancelling microphone. It is coupled with Dolby Digital Stereo Creator and Wind Shield Zoom technologies, allowing the microphone to perform some amazing feats.

The microphone is capable of zooming in on the subject, Panasonic says, though giving little explanation. It will be able to “gather” sound only from the subject, even if the photographer is using the camera at 1200mm focal length.

Full HD video recording is supported, while a Creative Video Mode will allow users to set both the aperture and the shutter speed of the camera for more control over the footage.

Panasonic FZ70 specs list also includes a 3-inch LCD screen, electronic viewfinder, and full HD video recording among others.

Panasonic FZ70 to be released this August for $399

The Panasonic FZ70 also employs an ISO range between 100 and 6400, RAW support, 23-point AF system, AF assist lamp, fixed 3-inch 460K-dot LCD screen, electronic viewfinder with 100% coverage, shutter speeds between 1/2000 and 8 seconds, and a built-in flash.

The new camera packs a hot shoe, which could be useful for attaching external accessories. Meanwhile, storage solution is provided by a SD / SDHC / SDXC card. The connectivity department is rather scarce, since there is no built-in WiFi, nor a GPS.

Panasonic FZ70 release date is August 2013 for a price of $399. The shooter can be pre-ordered at B&H Photo Video for the aforementioned sum, while Amazon is selling the current FZ60 model for $279.99.