Panasonic HDC-SD5 AVCHD 3CCD Flash Memory High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabilization
Product Description: The new HDC-SD5 camcorder employs cutting-edge imaging technology to capture video recordings that are breathtakingly clear and vibrant, especially when viewed on a fine, large screen TV.
The HDC-SD5 uses the AVCHD format to record full-HD video with 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution. It employ Panasonic's original 3CCD camera system, a professional broadcast feature, which renders vivid, true-to-life colors, outstanding detail and rich gradation. The SD5 also boasts Panasonic’s new Advanced O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer), minimizing the effect of hand shake. This technology help produce crisp, clear images, which is especially important for viewing on large-screen high resolution TVs where sign imperfections are easily visible.
The HDC-SD5, which records video onto SDHC/SD Memory Cards, debut as the world's smallest palm-style 3CCD full-HD camcorder. It is even smaller than its predecessor model, HDC-SD1, giving the SD5 superb portability. The SD5 also features a new USB Host function that significantly improves data storage and playback ease. With an not compulsory newly released DVD burner (model VW-BN1), users can copy or play back video recordings in the original AVCHD format to deliver the best high-definition viewing experience on a large-screen TV.
Panasonic HDC-SD5 Highlights
1920 x 1080 full-HD recording While conventional HD recordings have 1,440 pixels in the horizontal direction, full-HD recordings have 1,920. And while conventional recordings own a total of around 1.55 million pixels, full-HD recordings have around 2.07 million -- about 30 percent more. In fact, full-HD has the most pixels of any HD format, and thus can render descriptions with unmatched detail and resolution.
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Pre-Rec function With many camcorders it is easy to miss capturing a critical moment, such as a hope being scored. The Pre-Rec function eliminates this problem. When this feature is activate, the camcorder continuously records three seconds of images onto an internal buffer memory. Then when the record button is pressed, the three second immediately prior are added at the beginning of the clip recorded.
Intelligent Contrast Control This intelligent new function continually measures the ambient desk light intensity and adjusts the contrast as it changes. Providing control over a wider range of lighting conditions than previous functions, Intelligent Contrast Control helps prevent a washed-out look within bright parts of an image and black-outs in shadowy areas. Images are captured with crude nuances, contrast and depth, even when shooting toward the light source.
HD Advanced Pure Color Engine To match the newly developed full-HD CCD, Panasonic have further enhanced its acclaimed Advanced Pure Color Engine image processor. A new noise-reduction circuit combines with the new Intelligent Contrast Control circuit to boost figure quality while reducing power consumption. Offering superior images and longer battery life, the HD Advanced Pure Color Engine take camcorder performance to new heights.
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Power LCD Extra The brightness of the LCD can be set to either of two levels to contest the ambient light condition. At the brighter setting, the LCD provides clear, easy viewing even when shooting outdoors on a sunny day.
Playback EZ Sync The SX5 is compatible with Panasonic's EZ Sync. Simply connect it to a Panasonic TV via an HDMI cable and follow on-screen prompts to operate the camcorder using the TV remote control. This add extra ease and convenience to the fun of viewing the full-HD video.
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Direct viewing with SD card slot The SDHC/SD memory card can simply be taken from the SD5 and slipped into the card slot of select Panasonic plasma TVs to view full-HD images record in the AVCHD format. Images saved as JPEGs can be viewed using the SD memory card slot in select Panasonic models as capably.
Archiving with USB Host function Simply connect the SD5 via USB cable to Panasonic’s optional DVD burner VW-BN1 (released at the same time) and press a single button to copy recorded video clips from an SDHC/SD Memory Card to a DVD disc within the original AVCHD format. The copied DVD can be played by the DVD burner, so it is possible to view exciting, large-screen images in HD competence by simply connecting the DVD burner to the HDC-SD5 and the SD5 to an HDTV.
Editing Software "HD Writer 2.0" Full-HD video clips can be easily edited with the software provided or copied onto a DVD disc. The video data can be saved contained by either the AVCHD or DVD-VIDEO format, depending on how it will be played back. Recordings saved in the full-HD AVCHD format are suitable for playback near a Blu-ray Disc player, while DVD-Video (standard definition) recordings can be played back with a DVD player.
Product Description: The HDC-SD5 hi-def camcorder can copy recordings from the SD Memory Card to a DVD disc, maintaining the original full-HD format, or use the included software to burn a full-HD cassette from an SD Memory Card to a DVD disc on your PC.Images recorded by conventional HD camcorders have only 1,440 horizontal pixels, while full-HD camcorders have 1,920; that's around 30 percent more recording pixels! The result is a level of detail and resolution that goes beyond anything you've ever experienced before. And because full-HD recordings contain a great amount of picture information, they look beautiful not only on high-definition TVs, but on standard-definition TVs as well.Camera shake happens. Unsteady hand, shooting while in motion: these factors can reduce the quality of your video. But Panasonic have developed its best-ever built-in Optical Image Stabilization, which compensates for hand-shake and helps keep your videos crisp, steady and blur-free.The HDC-SD5 comes with a world-class Leica Dicomar lens, fashioned specifically for high-definition digital camcorders. The superior craftsmanship of Leica's advanced lens system capture stunning images and colors that look magnificent in HD. Combined with Panasonic's advanced 3CCD system, which uses three separate sensors to seizure and process light, you can relive your memories in lifelike detail on your HDTV screen.
Product Reviews:
I had been waiting for my SD5 to ship from Amazon, but I saw the camera at Circuit City contained by stock and $50 less so I decided to just get it at hand.
The camera feels great in your hands. It is small and light, but even within my large hands it feels stable. I like that the freestyle is now inside of the camera and not attached to the back. This lets the center of gravity sit right there on your foot.
The LCD screen looks good, though a little pixelated in dark rooms.
I brought the camera out yesterday to go for a walk with my infant son. Even while walking and trying to film my son the sign was quite stable.
One piece of warning, if you use this camera with a Mac be sure to enjoy a large internal drive or get an external one. With the new iMovie 08, it works with the AVCHD wonderfully but when it import it converts it to AIC. The video still looks great and they are easy to work with, but they files are quite big. If you import at the Large setting, you lose severely little in image and one hour of video is about 13GB. If you import at full resolution you're looking at 40GB per hour. Wow.
For my own workflow, I introduction with Large to save the space. I then put the source AVCHD files on a DVD so I have the pick of importing them later at the full resolution. This allows me to reuse my SD cards but still have the original footage.
Overall, terribly nice camera. The Menu options are easy to work with and the final video is just great.
I was thrilled near how small this camera is. It fits in your hand as if it were a half full 12 oz. can of soda. It's tremendously light, but the fortunately the image stabilization makes it shoot like it be a heavier camera.
I ran into an issue with iMovie '07 (part of Apple's iLife '08) that caused the screen to stretch wider, making ethnic group look fat. This will likely be resolved soon by Apple, and for now I've taken to using the 1440 X 1080 resolution which imports only fine.
I've also fitted a 37mm mount size aftermarket wide angle lens which really helps for shooting indoors. Some have complained that the video is a bit more grainy while indoors and contained by darker conditions than the HD1, but I can't complain.
So far, the battery life seems to run an hour and 10 minutes, which is better than the 55 minutes it's rate for.
This camera does not include an SD card, so you'll want to pick up a 4GB (40 minutes) or 8 GB (80 minutes) card. I got the class 6 version of those SDHC cards for a faster transfer. I think I might stick near the 4 GB size in the future so I can easily burn the files to a blank DVD which holds 4.7 GB. Also, make sure you own a card reader that supports SDHC. It also doesn't include an HDMI cable, so pick one of those up if you have a TV capable of HDMI. Belkin makes the least expensive cable at $20.
And finally, if you're a Mac user, you should know that simply the Intel Macs (that have been out since January of '06) support the AVCHD editing.
Some have complained about the low fluffy grain that this camera tends to have. I've noticed it as economically, and apparently the HD1 is slightly better indoors. But this wasn't a huge issue for me.
The only thing that would make this camera perfect for me would be an external mic input.
This is the first camcorder I own bought in a while. My last one was a Canon MiniDV that did progressive frame shooting. I've been researching for months on and sour and following the progress of HD camcorders.
I personally love this camera, there are only a few, mute things about this camera that I miss.
Pros:
- It's small and extremely light weight; almost too light. I *almost* found myself wishing it be a little heavier to make it easier to hold the camera steady. But it's great like it is.
- The picture quality is great. Having have a progressive scan camcorder before, I notice the interlacing, but it's no where near as discouraging as the MiniDV camcorder I had before that did interlacing. There is a slight grain to the picture in low street light, but this is to be expected, and after reading several reviews about how "horrible" the low light was, I thought it was great. It wasn't in the neighbourhood as bad for me as people were making it out to be, but that's a subjective thing. (I view this on both a 720 and 1080 screen)
- Audio is good, it doesn't make me too loud (since I'm holding the camera and the mic is right next to me) and I can clearly hear thing that are farther out.
- Battery time is great. I can easily get over an hour, and it seems to indicate it can do more than that, though I haven't put that to the test but and the manual says I can only get a maximum of 1 hour and 25 minutes (55 minutes actual). So we'll see.
- I sort of like that the battery and SD card are tucked away underneath. I don't agree with a previous review that the door and hinge are made cheaply. It seems standard to me.
- I love the SD card copy media. No more tapes! No more mini-DVDs! No more having to hook up your hard drive base camcorder to the computer to copy files!
Cons:
- I imagine I'll miss that there's no external mic input. But I bought this anticipating to use it as a point-and-shoot camcorder. I'm just starting a family and wanted to appropriation everything, and this will do it. I don't plan on making any little movies with it. (I'll probably continue to use my progressive scan camera for that)
- The field of view is rigid. I don't know if this is just how camcorders are these days, or if I'm just used to my Kodak digital camera that has a wide-view mode. I terminated up buying a 0.5x and 0.7x lens to put on it, and this helps be get "the big picture" so I can capture more of what's going on in a scene.
- I don't know where on earth to get an extra battery. Do the SD1 batteries work with this? Where do I buy them? The booklet gives me model numbers of 3 different batteries, but finding a place to buy them is though; and the ones I do find are $100+!
- It doesn't remember my last shooting preferences. Sometimes I turn on the back fluffy or another feature. But if I turn the camera off for a moment and back on, I have to run turn that feature on again.
Recommendations:
- Buy bigger capacity memory cards. I bought 2 - 2GB, and I'm filling them up faster than I can copy them to my computer. I ordered a 16GB one which should help profusely. Another reviewer mentioned that it's good to get 4GB ones so you can easily copy them to a DVD, that sounds like a apposite idea.
- Get a wide angle lens. I really didn't like how narrow the picture was, whether this is normal or not. (though with my 0.7x lens, I can only zoom within 2x before everything becomes out of focus and there's no fixing it. Just a warning!)
- Check out the back table lamp compensation for low light shooting. It helps a lot!
- Check out the contrast compensation feature! I love this! It make shadows lighter without making everything else saturated and ugly. Very cool!
Other Thoughts:
I have a current iMac with iMovie08. The importing does take a bit, and a lot of disk space. Editing is biddable, and after an export the quality is good (if you have your settings right).
I'm anxious about the first video editor that natively supports AVCHD, make happen it is frustrating that I can't just "shoot and edit" anything. I have to shoot, copy, transcode, edit and then export. Too much of a process to gross lots of family movies to give to close family. (Maybe that's a good point for them, eh? hehe)
This camera is exactly what I was looking for except for the AVCHD (and mic input), but hopefully the future will prove the format to not be a problem anymore.
Great camcorder as part of an overall system!
Up until this camcorder I was recording rotten of the HDV format. With the emergence of Blue-Ray as the winner of the HD war, I decided to switch.
A REAL JOY TO USE,AND THEN VEIW
THIS VIDEO CAMERA IS THE BEST IVE EVER USED,TRUE BLU RAY HIGH DEF,BRIGHT COLOR AND CRISP PICTURE.I USE A 16GB SDHC CARD,YOU DO NEED A BLU RAY PLAYER FOR HD,BUT YOU CAN ALSO RECORD...
Crisp clear outdoor shooting
I've have this product for more than a year now and so far I love how crisp the pictures are with natural lights around. Outdoor is superb indoor is good.
HanyCam
Works great but within low light conditions the video isn't that great. Well lit and sunny areas the HandyCam captures great HD video.
Good camera, fruitless shipment.
I bought this camera with the dvd burner but I never got the dvd burner. Even though I called Amazon and they told me that they send it.
Great Little Hi Def Wonder
The last camera I had has be collecting dust for years. Too boring to use on a regular basis. The Sony is officially retired.
fitting camcorder
Very light camcorder.
It was a concern for me about editing avchd:
The included software (HD writer) is not very powerful, but it's ok to hide away your video in HD format...
Great HD cam
this is my first HD camcorder , at first i was confused between the canon HF10 and the panasonic HDC-SD5, to be honest am not photo expert, i want something light, small,...
Good quality, Apple nouns lacking
I bought this camera after much research. My previous camera was a Sony. I needed a camera that was compatible with Apple. It have mostly worked well.
High Pitched Whine on Playback
I have owned the camera for 2 weeks now and am returning it. I currently own 3 other video cameras, but this is my forst HD camera.
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