Those wondering what to do with their stash of cash after all the Chinese New Year celebrations should have a look at the smorgasbord of new offerings from Panasonic.

The company has announced the addition of 13 new Lumix digital camera models, eight new camcorder models and two larger capacity 48GB and 64GB SDXC memory cards to fit all your data.

Central to the showcase was the concept of the "Fashion Movie Camera" — stylish cameras which offer users both high quality photos and high definition video recordings in one compact package.

"Whenever we go for a holiday, we want to take the best pictures and movies for our memories. Imagine if we can do so minus the weight and luggage space for two gadgets?

"The 2010 Panasonic Lumix lineup of digital cameras pack advanced functions into smaller, more compact bodies without compromising the ability to take high quality photos and videos. You can travel light and travel smart with Lumix Fashion Movie Camera," said Panasonic Malaysia managing director, Tony Endoh who was speaking to members of the media during the launch last week.

Flagship models from the new range of cameras include the ZR3, which features a 2.7-inch LCD screen, 14.1-megapixels that zooms extremely well and it comes in a slim and compact body.

The 8x optical zoom lens can be increased to 10x with the Intelligent Zoom function and sports Intelligent Resolution technology to maintain the picture quality.

There's also a newly added component which is an AVCHD Lite movie recording function,which offers twice the recording time as the commonly used Motion JPEG. There is also a new addition to the FT series — a unique hybrid tough model — the FT2 which is meant for active outdoor use.

The 14.1-megapixel FT2 also features AVCHD Lite HD movie recording and it's waterproof to 10m, shockproof to 2m, freezeproof to -10 degrees C and dustproof. The TZ series also has a new model — the TZ10.

This 12.1-megapixel powerhouse packs a punch with AVCHD Lite HD movie recording, 25mm ultra-wide-angle and powerful 12x optical zoom lens along with a built-in GPS (Global Positioning System) unit and manual exposure options.

Panasonic also announced their name for an emerging segment in the camera market — single lens cameras featuring mirror less technology (SL segment).

"We believe this new segment with mirror less technology will soon take over the DSLR segment because the camera comes with a slim and compact body.

" Without the mirror, chance of mechanical failures such as mirror slap or dust seeping in, can virtually be eliminated," explained Endoh, noting that Panasonic will be heavily promoting this new market segment with their GF1 model.

At Press time, prices for Panasonic’s new range have yet to be released but the company confirmed that the price range would be from RM399 to RM1,599.

As for the new larger capacity SDXC cards, it will come with a recommended retail price of RM1,999 for the 48GB card and RM2,599 for the 64GB card.

For more information, visit http://panasonic.com.my/lumix/.