The Sunday Times votes for the Panasonic HDC-SD5

tom hardwick · Post by **tom hardwick** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 9:49 am

For £539 (Purelygadgets) you can buy the Sunday Times' best buy in HiDef camcorders, the palm-sized Panasonic HDC-SD5. This camera records full 1920 x 1080 hi-def video onto SD flash memory cards, so no tapes, HDDs, Mini DVD and whatnot.

Sounds good, but the downsize is the AVCHD compression that's used to make flash memory of such huge files possible. 8 gb cards can record for 3 hours but cost £60 - rather more than the £3 it will cost you to shoot the same thing onto MiniDV.

And let me quote from the paper: 'The footage is a swine to edit, mainly because the files are so big, but this is still the best consumer-level camcorder around this Christmas'.

tom.

stingman · Post by **stingman** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 10:36 am

Thanks Tom, for brinning it to our attension.
I will feel sorry for all the people who waste their money on this camera! Mr average doesn`t know about file sizes, and Hi-Def is BIG, REALLY BIG!
As for the camera, Cards are a stepping stone to real storage, namely the IC, or memory chip. I like the idea of hard-drives, but I didn`t like the compression used. OK for showing on your television, but not for blowing up onto the big screen.
People would be better off buying a HD Palm camcorder. A bit dearer, but more praticle, considering the MiniDV tapes are about £2.00!
I just hate seeing people being conned by wasteing there money.....

tom hardwick · Post by **tom hardwick** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 11:00 am

I'm thinking that people who spend £540 on a hi-def camcorder probably aren't too interested in editing anway, and are simply happy to plug it into their wall-mounted plasma / LCD and gasp in amazement at the picture quality.

The other 'feature' that will have them snatching this camcorder out of the salesman's hands is the 5.1 surround sound. Yes folks, this camera has 5 (zoom) mics on board that (to quote) 'record in 5.1 cannel surround so you get a truly lifelike sound'.

Oh come on! Capturing half-decent mono without wind and camera handling noise is tough enough, but 5 channels? I do not want to be in an big-speakered AC3 room when this camera is strutting its stuff.

tom.

billyfromConsett · Post by **billyfromConsett** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 2:26 pm

Dare I suggest many (not all) Sunday Times readers will love it

Ray Williamson · Post by **Ray Williamson** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 4:23 pm

MiniDV at £2 Ian?
Amazon had them around £1 when I last looked.

ned c · Post by **ned c** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 7:16 pm

AVCHD is now editable in a number of editing programs. Final Cut Express 4 and Final Cut Pro 6 will handle AVCHD as well as the regular CoDecs and will also handle mixed formats on the timeline. This is also true of Vegas 8 and the latest version of Vegas Platinum. I am sure the other major players software offers similar abilities. In my view FC Express is the most underrated edit program out there with most of the abilities of FCP for video editing. Watch the AVCHD CoDec as it migrates to the professional world with various mods. This happened with DV as it transmogrified into DVCAM and DVCPro25 and 50.

I suspect that most video camera owners, regardless of format, do not edit their material.

I believe that a light, limited feature miniDV camera in the right hands can produce material that will deliver shots for a film that can win major festivals. How about a Festival for films shot on a camera under GBP 200 and edited on software that must not cost more than GBP 69?!

ned c

Ray Williamson · Post by **Ray Williamson** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 10:12 am

We could be criticised on the grounds of social exclusion.
We would be discriminating against those with more money than sense!

stingman · Post by **stingman** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 11:21 am

Ray Williamson wrote:MiniDV at £2 Ian?
Amazon had them around £1 when I last looked.

I ALWAYS like to support my Video Camera Club where possible. I feel that £2.00 is a very good price to pay for a good quality video tape for my camera. It keeps just that little extra money keeps coming in to the club. If everyone did this then our clubs would be a bit better off. With members dieing all the time and no new members coming in. One has to do one`s bit to keep the club afloat. Even if it is a few quid here and there.