Camcorder Panasonic HDC-SD

Panasonic HDC-HS300 Review

A video camera lives or dies by its optics. A poor-quality model (think: the Flip for about $100, or a no-name brand at Best Buy) is a real disappointment in terms of resolution and color depth, even though it makes YouTube uploading easy. Similarly, a low-quality camcorder introduces noise and artifacts to a movie – there’s a noticeable pixilated look. Alas, unless you want to fork over $2000 or more for a professional camera, there are almost certainly bound to be compromises with most models. But somehow, Panasonic has made the sensors in the HDC-HS300 video camera work overtime – color quality and resolution are exceptional. It’s not the device you’ll want for, say, shooting indie films or other artistic video work, but, against the odds, it’s a solid all-around performer.

Features and Design

There’s now a standard form factor for consumer video cameras – they are typically about the size of your hand, with a fold-out LCD screen and highly digitized options, such as focus and zoom. The Panasonic HDC-HS300 is no different: It has a fold-out 2.7-inch LCD touchscreen, weighs exactly one pound, and is small enough to carry around with your digital camera in the same bag. It’s a 1080p video camera that records onto an internal, non-removable 120GB hard disk. Video captures at 10.6 megapixels with a 17Mbps stream rate, and you can snap still photos at 8.6 megapixels to either the HDD or an SD card. There’s a 12x optical zoom, which you can control manually or with a zoom button.

Read more...