Panasonic is announcing several new cameras this week. Among the new cams is the TS1, which is a 10.1-megapixel camera that records HD movies in AVCHD Lite format and is perfect for the outdoors. The camera is the first to record in the AVCHD Lite format and offer resistance to water, dust, and shock.

Optical zoom is 4.6 times and the lens starts at 28mm wide angle and zooms to 128mm telephoto. The camera can be used to take underwater images and video in up to ten feet of water. In addition to underwater shooting, the TS1 can survive falls from five feet and has rubber padding and reinforced glass.

Other features include Face Recognition that remembers faces from other shots and allows face registration. The shutter in the camera is fast with a lag of 0.005 seconds. ISO sensitivity is up to ISO 6400 and the battery can shoot 340 shots on a single charge. Availability is set for April 2009 at $399.95.

Via Panasonic