Panasonic HX-WA2 Review

Camcorder  8/10


Panasonic HX-WA2 Product Page: Waterproof camcorder designed for active use
On January 9, 2012, Panasonic announced its upcoming HX-WA2 waterproof camcorder, which is designed to withstand active use and water submersion up to 9 feet, 8 inches. The durable camcorder, available in blue and orange, shoots HD video and takes 14 MP photo stills. With the HD Writer VE2.0 software, users can edit their videos and stills by adding music, transitions, and retouches. One creative effect is the Short Movie Story feature, which converts a series of stills into a short movie with background music. To access the 15x zoom, users must press the Double Range Zoom button; the camcorder zooms only 12x when the Electrical Image Stabilizer is activated. Price and availability will be announced later this year.

Strengths

Editing tools include adding songs to the background

Panorama Mode works by panning up/down or left/right

Short Movie Story feature converts stills to a short movie with music and a theme

Built for durability and active use

Supports WAV, MP3 and WMA formats

Photo retouch options and video transitions

Computer wizard is easy to follow

Weaknesses

Maximum zoom for photo stills is 5x