Panasonic has announced a new compact digital camera called the ZS-series that includes the DMC-ZS3 and the DMC-ZS1. The ZS3 is the first digital camera in the world to feature HD video recording in AVCHD Lite rather than motion Jpeg like many cameras use.

The camera also features advanced facial recognition that allows users to register a face once it has been pictured several times. When registered the camera will show the name of the person and prioritize exposure and flash to be sure the subject is well lit in group shots. The ZS3 includes many features like a burst mode with 10 shots per second and more. Optical Zoom is 12x for both cameras and the ZS2 and ZS1 are 10.1 megapixel cameras.

The difference between the two cameras is that the ZS1 lacks some of the advanced ZS3 features like face detection, not AVCHD recording, and offers less automatic scene modes among other things. The ZS3 will retail for $399.95 and the ZS1 will sell for $299.95.

Via Panasonic