The Panasonic PV-GS19 is the successor of the PV-GS9 and PVGS2 - one of its major features is its 24x optical zoom. Here's a snip from the review:

This increase in optical zoom is definitely a drastic change from last year, when the highest-priced one-chip camcorder offered by Panasonic topped off at 24x optical. Panasonic has also changed the menu and navigational systems on these new camcorders, the PV-GS19 included. The PV-GS19 is available for a nice US$349.



Link: Camcorderinfo