As regular visitors to SimplyDV will know, we've been playing around with the very latest AVCHD high definition camcorders here at SimplyDV towers for some time now. The problem is that while we've been having fun with all these new goodies, the camcorder makers now feel that others should have the opportunity to see them and even write reviews about them too. Life just isn't fair.
In the case of the Panasonic HDC-SD100 and its sister product, the HDC-HS100, we were first in the UK to tell you about two new models that appear to be the result of a company having been listening to its critics and improving design and all-round functionality in some considerable measure.
And so it was with these two new HD camcorders from Panasonic. Both the new Autumn 2008 models are noteworthy in that they include not only a colour viewfinder but also an external microphone input, switchable AV/headphone output, a manual focus ring along with other manual controls in addition to many features found on other popular models such as the HDC-SD9.
That's not all. Panasonic - a long-time manufacturer of the CCD imaging chips used to convert light from the lens into electronic impulses - has now switched to using three MOS image sensors ("3MOS") to generate full resolution 1920 x 1080 high definition video and stills images in these models. Whether they'll extend this to all new HD models in the future is anybody's guess, even if it's a fair bet they will.
With this new camcorder you'll get Panasonic's own superb Advanced Optical Image Stabilisation, Pre-rec recording, Face Detection and great all-round digital connectivity. You also get really good handling and ergonomics. Basically, it feels like a proper camcorder.
So, is this quite simply the best Panasonic camcorder SimplyDV has ever come into contact with? That's too early to say, but it does have one or two little niggles. However, you can read the review for yourself right now and don't forget that you can discuss this and any other matters of a camcordery nature over on our free and fabulous SimplyDV Forums right this minute!
More: SimplyDV review of the Panasonic HDC-SD100 3MOS AVCHD camcorder
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Panasonic's HDC-SD100 AVCHD camcorder reviewed - all the features you could want in an HD camcorder? Well, maybe.
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2 comments:
Great article. I really enjoyed ! I recently bought a Panasonic HDC SD 100 Camcorder while I was on holidays in Japan and i certainly had a blast shooting. My only problem is i'm having a bit of trouble logging the MTS files into Final Cut Pro Studio 6.04 on my MAC, a G5 Quad-Core Intel Xeon that runs Mac OS 10.5.4. You said on the article that you had no trouble. Could it be because I don't have Leopard? How did you imported the files into FCP? using the Log & Transfer window ? When I use I get a warning saying : the file contains unsupported media or has an invalid directory structure. If you could please spare a few moments to illuminate me with your expertise on the matter I would be immensely thankful.
Cheers,
Carolina Rincon
Hi - you have Leopard already (OS10.5) so there shouldn't relly be a problem. Try doing this with iMovie 08 first - if this works OK (as it should) then check settings in FCP again.
Note: Discussion on this topic running on our forums now.
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