Gizmodo: panasonic hdc-sd1

Hardcore Testing Reveals Canon HV20 Is Best Consumer High-Def Camcorder

Wilson Rothman — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 21:07:30 EDT

I feel a little bit guilty. The guys at Camcorderinfo.com, namely David Kender and John Neely, went to extreme measures to benchmark the four HD camcorders fighting for dominance in the very new consumer HD market. They wrote, like, over 10,000 words, and spent hours or possibly even days recording footage of the dude shown at right. And here I come along and blurt out the results in the freaking headline. The Canon HV20 ($1,000 to $1,100) beat out the Sony HDR-HC7 ($1,060 to $1,170), the Panasonic HDC-SD1 ($1,070 to $1,160), and the newcomer, JVC's Everio GZ-HD7 ($1,520 to $1,700). It didn't win hands-down, exactly, but in most cases it handily nudged out the competition.

Do you want to know how?

I'm not going to try to translate every little nuance of the showdown. All you really need to know going in, if you don't already, is that the Sony and the Canon record to tape, and use HDV MPEG-2 compression. The Panasonic relies strictly on AVCHD, an MPEG-4 based option, and stores video only on SD cards. The Everio records to at 60GB hard drive with both AVCHD and "a new flavor of MPEG-2".

[The Canon HV20] shares an advantage over the Panasonic HDC-SD1 and JVC GZ-HD7 because it uses tried and true HDV MPEG-2 compression, and our tests show that HDV remains the best consumer HD format. Both the Canon and Sony HDR-HC7—the other HDV camcorder in this shootout—scored higher than the others in our video performance tests. In the lab, the Canon and Sony raced to a virtual dead heat, both displaying sharper images with less noise than the Panasonic and JVC.
The crispness of the HV20's image was most notable in close-up shots of our model, where we could literally count every hair on our model's face. [Remember him?] The Sony was visibly less crisp (though still quite sharp), followed by the Panasonic. The JVC GZ-HD7 trailed the pack, with the lowest tested video resolution, and the softest images of the field. The Canon also turned in a stellar low light score, thanks to a 24p mode that more than doubles the light gathering ability of its imager. In low light, it beat out the others in the same order as above. The 24p capability in and of itself is a great extra feature on the HV20, yet another reason to consider it.

In the manual control arena, Sony edged forward with a wide range of options, but fell short of a win because it did not have a "focus assist option" unlike its more expensive predecessors. "Panasonic's SD1 has an assist that is good, but not good enough to compensate for the weakness of the joystick as a focus tool. Only Canon and JVC get the focus interface/focus assist equation right, and the HD7 gets extra points for its terrific focus ring and highly effective peaking function."

The bottom line went something like this:

The Sony HDR-HC7 was most feature-packed but absence of a focus assist feature was a liability. Cam Control multifunction dial was not as easy to use as its predecessors Cam Control rings.

The Panasonic HDC-SD1 is too specialized, though it is good for close quarters shooting, situations that demand silent operation, or a rock-solid optical image stabilizer. There's no headphone jack and no accessory shoe. It also records AVCHD video which does not yet pose a threat to HDV.

The JVC GZ-HD7 had great handling with nice prosumer traits like a focus ring and dedicated buttons for image control. lack of a headphone jack or any means of monitoring and adjusting audio levels. The biggest disappointment with the HD7, however, was video performance: again, it doesn't stand up to the quality of HDV video.

The Canon HV20 had cheap-feeling construction and an awful zoom lever, but delivered best bang for the buck.

From the sound of it, the boys are still looking for that perfect camcorder:

We'd love to see a camcorder that really brings it all together: the handling of the HD7, the functionality of the HC7, the OIS and compactness of the SD1, and the performance of the HV20. Until that happens, smart buyers would be advised to consider the strengths and weaknesses of all of these camcorders, and choose the one that is the best overall match for their shooting style and goals.

If you want to consider all of that, as recommended, you had better check out the full story. I will say that the layout over at Camcorderinfo.com is a bit Byzantine for my taste (okay, so really smack in the middle of downtown Constantinople Byzantine), but you will never find better info about camcorders. And you get to see more of cool sunglasses guy. Respect. – Wilson Rothman

The Great HD Shoot-Out - Canon HV20, Sony HDR-HC7, Panasonic HDC-SD1, JVC GZ-HD7 [Camcorderinfo.com]

Hands On the (Now Cheaper) Panasonic HDC-SD1 HD Camcorder

Matt Buchanan — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 20:09:08 EDT

We've already given you some numbers and a rundown of this tapeless, SD card-based HD wunderkind—but now we can tell you how it feels. And it feels pretty damn nice.

Everything's easily accessible using one hand (just your thumb, really) and the interface is pretty neatly arranged. The compact size and hand grip make you feel like you've got a really solid grasp on it. But the one gripe I have is that the four-way navigation joystick is a smidge too far to the right, so when you manipulate it with your thumb, you kind of lose your grip and all of the weight shifts to the strap. And with a camera that costs as much as the SD1 does, it's not a comfortable feeling.

Speaking of cost, Panasonic has cut the price by $200, so it and its DVD-based counterpart, the HDC-DX1 now both run $1299. Not cheap, but hey, we'll take what we can get, especially with video as sharp as it was. Picture and number overload after the jump.

Weight(w/o Battery): 430g Dimensions (W x H x D): 74 x 69 x 142 mm Image Sensor: 1/4-inch 3CCD image sensor Total pixels: approx. 560 K x 3 Effective pixels: Motion Picture: approx.520 K x 3(16:9) Lens: Auto iris, 12X power zoom; F 1.8 to 2.8 (f = 3.0 to 30.0mm); 35mm equivalent Motion picture: 38.5 to 462 mm (16:9) Still picture: 38.5 to 462mm (16:9) Filter diameter: 43 mm Zoom: 12X optical zoom, 30/120X digital zoom Compression: MPEG4-AVC / H.264 (AVCHD standard compliant) Transfer rate: HF : Approx. 13 Mbps (CBR); HN: Approx. 9 Mbps (VBR); HE: Approx. 6 Mbps (VBR) Audio compression: Dolby Digital (Dolby AC3), 5.1ch or 2ch

– Matt Buchanan

Panasonic HDC-SD1 [Gizmodo]

Panasonic HDC-SD1: The Porsche of Consumer HD Camcorders?

Louis Ramirez — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 17:23:37 EST

Buying a high-def camcorder is still considered a luxury splurge, but that hasn't stopped some hardcore tech geeks from taking the plunge. The newest kid on the HD block is Panasonic's HDC-SD1. Unlike other high-def shooters, the SD1 is tapeless so it stores your footage onto SD and SDHC memory cards. Because it's tapeless, it's also smaller than other camcorders out there. But is it worth your $1,499? Hell yeah.

For starters, it's one of the few camcorders out there that lets you record 5.1 surround sound audio. It's got a 3-inch widescreen LCD and HDMI output. Ok, so Panny doesn't give you an HDMI cable, but they make up for it cause they start you off with a bundled 4GB SDHC card, which lets you record about 40 minutes of 1080i video. But here's where it matters the most. Performance. Although the SD1 suffered from a case of the blurries when shooting moving objects in dark scenes, everything else looked flawless. No noise, no jaggies, nothing.

As an added bonus, the SD1 can take 2.1MP stills when shooting video, a nice feature to have. About the only downside the folks at Digital Trends could find was the lack of an accessory shoe. Otherwise, it's a nice way to spend $1,499, though we suggest newbies hold off till Sanyo's HD2 comes out—you wouldn't wanna spend $1,499 on a HD camcorder if you're only gonna use it once. – Louis Ramirez

Panasonic HDC-SD1 [Digital Trends]

Panasonic Bumps its Consumer Camcorders to High Def

Louis Ramirez — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 10:40:27 EST

They won't guarantee you admittance into the Cannes Film Fest, but at least Panasonic's new HD camcorders will make your videos look good on the big screen. Joining the likes of Sony, Canon, and JVC are the company's first consumer HD camcorders, the HDC-SD1 ($1,499) and HDC-DX1 ($1,399). The HDC-SD1 records onto SD memory cards giving you about an hour's worth of HD footage using a 4GB SD card, whereas the bigger HDC-DX1, which records straight to DVDs, will give you about 40 minutes worth of footage using a dual-layer DVD-R disc. Both camcorders use the AVCHD format and will feature an optical image stabilizer which should put a halt to the shaky footage that often results from quaky hands. They'll also have...

a 12x optical zoom and be capable of recording 5-channel surround sound (as other HD camcorders do). Both will be able to take stills and the HDC-SD1 (shown above) will even come with a 4GB SD card, which is a nice touch considering the price. Hopefully the extra competition will help drive HD camcorder prices further south when these two models make their debut in March 2007.

– Louis Ramirez
Panasonic [Press Release]

Panasonic Shoots for High-Def with HDC-SD1

Louis Ramirez — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 09:03:50 EST

Panasonic is going high-def with its HDC-SD1 video camera. The cam uses a 3CCD sensor to record video in 1080i. Its packed with a 12x optical zoom Leica lens and records straight to its 4GB card (which will let you record roughly 40 minutes of video). The cam has everything you'd expect from an HD cam like HDMI, support for Dolby 5.1 recording, and a nice 3-inch LCD. We've yet to see the Panny in action, so we'll stick to our Sony SDR-HR1 for now, which may be chunkier, but has already proven itself capable. Like the Sony, the Panasonic can take high-quality stills while recording. It'll sell for about $1,500 bucks in December. More pics after the jump.

– Louis Ramirez
Panasonic HDC-SD1 Smallest AVCHD Camcorder [via New Launches]