Panasonic HDC-SD10 High Definition Flash Memory Camcorder With 16x Optical Zoom – Black
Posted by Notcot on Apr 23, 2010 in Photography |
5 CommentsReply |
MenuLatest GadetsRecent Reviews
Archives
|
First I’d like to say top job as usual Amazon on a great service. Received the camcorder very quick and well packed.
Also, whoever rated this camcorder a 2 because it only took 2MP stills and not 6 like the Sanyo, remember this is a CAMCORDER, NOT a CAMERA. I don’t care about the pictures it takes, I have a camera for that, the main thing being a camcorder is the video, which thankfully with all its features to help it is fantastic.
Now onto the important stuff. Well, I have to say, this is a fantastic camcorder. I chose the Panasonic SD10 over its similar sized/purpose camcorders mainly because of the 16x optical zoom which is what I need, and also mostly because unlike similar offerings including the Sony TG3 and Sanyo HD2000, the SD10 has an optical image stabiliser when filming and not a terrible electrical one, which when I saw a video of the HD2000 in action made me glad I didn’t choose electrical, as for what I use it for the footage would come out no better than falling down a flight of stairs.
The Panasonic SD10 is so lightweight and easy to carry around. It is so compact that its unbelievable you can easily carry something this small with such technology in it to get great footage. It fits in my hand well when filming and can even fit in my pocket, I say it like that as my pockets aren’t that loose! Although I’d advise you it would be better if you had slightly bigger pockets just to cover it better if you plan to put it in a pocket. You can easy fit it in a coat pocket or just a carry pouch or something.
Speaking of easy, the whole design and use is easy. It is very easy to use and the touch screen is easy to navigate after not much use. I barely read any of the instructions and got to grips very quick, mind you I do have a Panasonic DMC-TZ7 too so that helps, but either way, it is easy. It has a HDMI port and USB built in along with a few more common ports, so it is easy there too. Just connect it to a HD TV and watch. There is no spot for an external mic, but to be honest I don’t need one, although it is worth noting.
The 16x optical zoom is very handy to have, and thanks to the optical image stabiliser, even when filming at the highest zoom, with a good hand the footage still isn’t wobbly enough to the point where it becomes disturbing. Another thing I love about the filming is the 3 second pre-record function, its a fantastic idea, especially since I personaly enjoy filming concerts, it means that if you press the pre-record button on the side and something happens before you press rec, when you have stopped filming it adds the extra 3 seconds it memorized from the start using its buffer memory, so you get the clip! Great.
The video quality is also fantastic, the camcorder shoots in full 1080i HD in a number of different modes for if you don’t mind using a lot of memory for the best quality, or still having good quality but taking up less memory. I use the best quality mode though, combined with a 16GB Class 6 SDHC card it works for me. Now along with the quality looking great, the sound really surprised me, it is fantastic from its Dolby Stereo speaker positioned on the top. It proved this to me from the Status Quo concert I filmed a fair few songs with it, the sound was great in my view, and if any piece of recording equipment has great sound then it gets my approval. The intelligent auto (iA) function also works very well too with good focus, along with the touch screen face detection which is hugely helpful, captures people much better. However if you don’t want automatic there is a manual button/option on the side.
There are a few little issues, but in my view nothing serious, but worth a mention. Like with many a camera and camcorder, in low light there is some noticable graining, and even though it has a light for when it gets darker, don’t think that will kiss it all better, as it is not the best in lower light. However even though the Status Quo videos I filmed were when it got dark at the outdoor venue, since the stage where I was focusing on was light (obviously), it came out good.
The touch screen at first takes a bit of use to hit each option correctly with your fingers, there were times when I’d touch an option and end up selecting the one next to it.
The microphone being on top is also more prone to wind, so watch out for where you film, although it does at least have a wind cut option to minimise a load of it spoiling things.
The battery also if you plan to film quite a lot does not last massively long, you get just over an hour, for me I plan to buy another battery and then you’ll be sorted.
Finally, the AVCHD format at the moment is not hugely recognised, thankfully I don’t really edit or want to change format, I just want to watch my stuff mostly and preserve the quality, so no biggie. Even though my computer cannot play the footage I get well at the moment, I can play it on my PS3 on my HD widescreen TV fine which suits me. The HD Writer software while not really much use to me at the moment however is easy to use, you can even easily trim and divide videos from the camcorder and the software.
Overall though, a fantastic camcorder well worth the money, I’ve got no regrets buying it. If you are after a great quality HD camcorder then this is a great one to get and a worthy consideration at least.
Rating: 5 / 5
I bought this camera at the end of June to take on holiday to the Algarve.
It’s so small & light that you could feesibly put it in your pocket! I only used it on the automatice mode and the recordings were great outdoors. The image stablisation really works. The zoom & auto focus both work great as well. Indoors the quality suffers but I rarely use a camcorder indoors so this did not really bother me. I have also read that some are disappointed with the 2.1m still shooting mode, but again if you read the specs before you buy and are aware of it’s limitations as a still camera then again no problem. I continue to use my compact for these shots, I bought this camcorder for shooting video, which it is good at.
The only gripe I have is the picking up of wind noise (even with wind cut on) which you cannot control as it has no seperate mike input.
The video quality is outstanding on my 40″ Sony HD TV. I transferred the footage onto my computer using the sofware supplied no problem. I then transferred this to a DVD-R in AVCHD format (intention is to free up SD card for re-use) and played it through my Bluray player, fantastic, and I had not even been using the best recording resolution.
The software supplied does the basic necessary functions but if you want anything more then you will have to invest in a better video editing package (I am trialling Videostudio Pro at the moment -one of the few that can handle AVCHD video).
Overall I am very happy with my purchase although Panasonic could do better by bundling some more advanced video editing software, even if only allowed you to edit out some of that wind noise.
Rating: 4 / 5
I bought this super small HD Camcorder after it had been highly reviewed by some websites. I then saw it advertised on TV last week and it certainly doesnt dissapoint. Its really small and light and the touch screen tracking thing works brilliant. When i plug it into my 37inch tv the footage is brilliant and it came with a free 12GB SD card – perfect! As far as HD camcorders go I would definately recommend it
Rating: 5 / 5
I bought this camera on the back of the many favourable reviews.
Positive: The camcorder is small, light and very portable.
Negative: I was disappointed with the quality of the HD motion pictures. Faces were washed out, and my old DV Panasonic camcorder produces better quality pictures. There are also a couple of design flaws:
1. The battery is slotted in from the side – this means that any replacement batteries you buy must be of the same physical size, otherwise the screen does not fold shut! I bought a higher capacity battery (a must because the supplied battery is very limited in its duration) and only then did I find out how stupid this design is. You really do not want to store your camcorder or walk around with your screen opened up because of the large battery size. Compare this with the Panasonic HDC-SD200, where the battery is slotted from the back, and the screen can be closed normally – now we are talking!
2. The lens cover needs to be manually opened using a fiddly slider next to the lens. You will often find yourself switching the camcorder on, only to be told that condidtions are too dark. Again compare this to the Panasonic HDC-SD200, where flipping open the screen will power on the Camcorder and open the lens automatically. Again, now we are talking!
3. Beware the “quick start” function – great idea, but it uses 70% of the battery used in normal mode – with the low capacity of the supplied battery, your recording time will be drastically cut short if you use this function!
Conclusion: if you can afford the Panasonic HDC-SD200, go for this one instead of the SD10 – you will not regret it. The quality of output from the 3MOS sensors is outstanding, and this coupled with the significant design improvements over the SD10 makes the SD200 a much better buy, even if it is £200 dearer. My high capacity battery works beautifully and seems to last forever. Even the supplied battery for the SD200 is of higher capacity than that supplied with the SD10.
Rating: 2 / 5
I’ve had this camcorder for only a week but have used it quite a bit already and am very pleased with it. The features and ease of use are better than I expected. The picture quality is superb taken in normal light using the HDMI interface on an HD TV. It’s still very good using CVBS (phono plugs into an older TV). Downloading video and stills into a PC using the USB socket and supplied software worked first time. Stills taken during video recording and by themselves are very good despite being only 2MPixels and the flash is a bonus. The touch screen and menu system are very easy to use with Fade, Backlight & Macro being readily accessible; the camcorder software for once appears to have been very well thought through. Indoor video shots show a hint of noise so, as expected, the camera’s main weakness will be it’s insensitivity in low light, but it does have a built-in LED light. I’ve ordered the next size-up battery as experience with my Mini-DV camcorder tells me to have spare one for long trips; same for the SD card. So, for the price and features I would recommend this camcorder.
This updates the above earlier review. After 6 months use I am as pleased as ever with this superb product. Note, however, that the supplied HD Writer AE 1.5 software does not work with Windows 7 (it does with XP) despite Panasonic saying it does and it doesn’t even work in XP compatibility mode. Panasonic can’t offer an upgrade, but fortunately the Windows 7 built-in software does a good job with downloading from the camcorder so no problem in practice.
Rating: 5 / 5