Product Reviews

Panasonic's SD100 is one of two new products to have been given not one but three MOS imaging sensors in place of the traditional three CCD pickups. Like its hybrid 60GB HDD/SDHC sibling, the HDC-HS100, Panasonic's new model generates full high-definition movies and digital stills with a 3MOS system - three 1/6in MOS, 610,000 pixel sensors generating HD image sequences that are then written to SDHC (high-capacity SD) card at data rates ranging from HE (6Mbits/sec, 1440 x 1080 pixels) to the maximum HA (17Mbits/sec, 1920 x 1080 pixels). By default, video is generated at 1080/50i (interlaced) frames, although a rummage through the well-designed and very user-friendly menu system will unearth in the 25p (progressive, full frame) mode.

The use of a 16GB SDHC Class 4 memory card in either model will give you an AVCHD recording capacity of approximately 2 hours at the HA setting. This increases to 2 hours 40 minutes at HG, 4 hours at HX and 6 hours at HE respectively. Insert a 32GB SDHC card (the maximum possible under the current AVCHD specification) into the SD100 and it's possible to record 4 hours at the highest-quality setting or 12 hours at the lowest. A 4GB card will provide for 30 minutes at the highest setting and 1 hour 30 minutes at the lowest. And in case you're wondering, Panasonic isn't bundling any cards with the product, although it's possible that resellers will bundle such items as sweeteners in due course.

The SD100 bears many of the visual characteristics of its stablemate, the HDC-SD9, which Panasonic claims is the UK's best-selling AVCHD camcorder so far. It's chunkier, due primarily to the addition of a 0.44in colour viewfinder as well as larger physical switches instead of menu-selectable functions.

The Li-ion battery

ADVERTISEMENT

pack slots into the back of the body and needs to be removed in order to connect to the AC mains and battery charger. The large, knurled focus ring around the lens is activated by a very handy switch near the front. This makes it much easier to quickly change from auto to manual in order to adjust focus and zoom. Below it, the SD100 provides quick access to menu functions, which means no more groping around trying to activate a menu to make a change to settings.

There are many other attractive features, including 'Pre-rec' recording, which provides a three-second rolling video cache; you only have to hit the record button when something unexpected occurs (for example, a lightning flash or cannon being fired) in order to commit it to the card and continue recording.

Panasonic's advanced optical image stabilisation (OIS) continues to be the best in the business, and the newly incorporated 'iA' (intelligent auto) mode provides additional assistance to users when shooting in auto mode.

As well as an impressively good 12x optical zoom, its digital zoom (the focus of much derision by critical users) is quite acceptable at its 40x setting.

Audio is acquired via an upward-facing 5.1 surround sound microphone that produces reasonably good separation. Its sensitivity is good when there's no wind noise - something that's partly helped by the fact that the microphone doesn't point forward, interestingly.

The SD100's 3MOS image sensors do a great job in producing images whose colour, contrast and general resolution are everything you might expect from a camcorder at this price point. Panasonic has proved capable of listening and - more importantly - responding to the needs of users who want more than a fully automatic method of operation, and the addition of a mic input, viewfinder and improved manual mode will attract many more serious users than would be the case with the SD9.

It would have been nice to see larger image sensors. For added ease of use, Panasonic might have placed controls on the side of the LCD frame - as its major competitors have done - but these are relatively minor niggles.

The Panasonic HDC-SD100 will find a welcome market among more serious users who are looking for improved functionality and control in addition to great solid-state HD recording at a reasonable price.