Panasonic has released the AJ-SDC615, a new DVCPRO camcorder.

The 11-pound camcorder offers 520,000 pixel, 0.75-inch 3-CCDs and a built-in IEEE 1394 interface for transferring digital data to a laptop NLE. AJ-SDC615 operators can switch between 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratios. The camcorder also has a 63dB signal-to-noise ratio.

Incorporating the same 16:9 chip set as the AJ-SDX900, the AJ-SDC615 is engineered for broadcast news and mid-level production, and all recordings are captured on the DVCPRO format, according to Jan Crittenden, product link business manager, Panasonic Broadcast.

The AJ-SDC615 has a recording time of 66 minutes and incorporates two channels of 48kHz/16-bit digital audio. Other features include shockless white balance, a built-in, two-second "news pre-record," mode and a re-take function. Shooting functions include a four-position optical filter wheel, four built-in user scene files and three buttons that users can customize.