Panasonic reveals DMC-FZ35 superzoom for September release.

I could really have used this camera during my vacation to Orlando last week. My traveling camera is a Panasonic LX3 which is great for wide angle group shots, but was really hurting during my safari at Animal Kingdom.

The DMC-FZ35 is the long-awaited replacement to the DMC-FZ28. It still has an 18X zoom, but adds improved image stabilization, HD movie recording, a new image processor, and more.

• 12.1 Megapixel CCD
• F2.8-4.4, 18X optical zoom lens, equivalent to 27 - 486 mm
• New Power Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) promises double the shake reduction of the “Mega” OIS on previous models; it is also supposed to help with camera shake caused by pressing the shutter release button
• Venus Engine HD processor
• 2.7” LCD display (230k pixels) plus electronic viewfinder (0.2”, 201k pixels)
• Full manual controls, with a shutter speed range of 60 - 1/2000 sec
• RAW format supported
• Intelligent Auto Mode offers auto scene selection, face detection/recognition, and Intelligent Exposure (shadow brightening)
• New High Dynamic (range) mode
• HD movie mode records at 1280 x 720 (60 fps, sort of) until memory card is full (except in Europe, where you’re limited to under 30 mins)
• Uses AVCHD Lite codec, though M-JPEG is also available (with a 2GB file size limit)
• Digital sound is recorded using Dolby Digital Stereo Creator
• Optical zoom is available while you’re recording
• Aperture and shutter speed can be adjusted; shutter speed range is 1/30 - 1/20,000 sec (!)
• Dedicated movie recording button
• HDMI port
• Support for conversion lenses
• 40MB onboard memory + SD/SDHC card slot
• Can take 470 shots per charge using included lithium-ion battery
• Ships in September for $399