Customer Reviews

Panasonic HDC-SD100 Flash Memory High Definition Camcorder with 12x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was worried about having to convert the compressed files from the memory card into editable files for FCP. Using Voltaic, I was able to make the conversion easily. The camera is so light, you hardly know its in your hand. The deciding factor in chosing this camera is that it has a view finder - an important feature for close work. I love being able to shoot for long periods and not having to worry about changing tapes. It may not be the best (technically) HD camcorder out there, but for the price, it is great for most every situation.

This is a fantastic lightweight camera. I don't know the story behind current pricing but I paid $530 for my camera.

Pros: The camera makes high definition video and you can choose between 1920, 1080, or 720. Most video I take is at the highest resolution. The camera can take still images. You can choose between recording with the view finder or the LCD screen. The sound recording is incredible for little camera with no external mounted microphones. Choose between recording sound in front of you or in 5.1 surround sound. My discovery is that surround sound picks up too much background noise such as cheering parents at soccer games.

Cons: My photo graphs are at a lower resolution than I would like and it takes a long time for the camera to focus and set. The battery needs much more juice and I am currently shopping on Amazon for a new one. The camera has been used on the field during softball games where dust is an issue and now the automatic lens cap is sticking and I have been unable to fix it. Video management!!! Did I know what I was getting into? No. I have recorded hours of family vacations, softball, and soccer games. The purchase of this camera has led me to buying seven terrabytes of disk storage, a blue ray disk burner and different brands of DVD and Blue Ray media. My concern is long term storage of my newly recorded video. What to do? DVD's don't last and Blue Ray can be even less reliable over time. My goal is to not let my video disappear like the old Super 8 video from my youth and the VHS from recent history. How can I safely store video?

Video editing: Roxio was the most unstable program I have ever used. Period! Don't buy it. I have had great success using Cyberlink Power Director Ultra 8. I no long have Panasonic's video capture program installed. I believe Panasonic's video capture program was called HD Writer. I could not figure it out and it seemed cubersome to use. Two thumbs down.

Bottom line is Yes this is a great camera.

I own this and recorded music video using the panasonic and a sony ex1 you can see the results [...] (When sonny gets Blue) The ex1 is a [...] camera the hdc sd100 was not as good but for the 10xless price it held its own. I needed to tweek the final video with sony vegas but I was pleased. I love the manual settings. the color is very good, the only downside was low light performance so I purchased some sima 20xls.

Excellent camera... very compact with good image quality. Love the high definition and its perfect for home movies! I would recommend this camera to anyone, unless you have really big hands. It might be a little cumbersome to turn the recording on and off with your thumb if your hands are big.

Having shot a lot of footage with this camera, I'll just come right out and say up front that you really get what you pay for. In this instance, you're getting an incredible image -- as is -- and amazing sound without having to use an external sound kit. This camera sets the bar high for image and sound and as a straight-forward point-and-shoot video camera for a consumer or even the everyday beginner who has the money to drop. But several things kill this camera in its tracks and really drag it down potentially creating a lot of buyer's remorse because of the high cost.

Here's the problem:

1. This camera utilizes a USB cable/power pack/proprietary cable to connect the camera to the computer. Lose this proprietary cable -- and good luck getting the images off your camera, especially as time passes. People often lose things and a cable is usually one of the first, especially when you have so many laying around that look similar. The connection of these cables to the camera is also a bit tricky and awkward to make happen. It seems like it was a good idea when they designed it, but it's just not when using the camera.

2. The camera stores your footage on an SD card in a proprietary format so you can't just drag your footage off and start editing. NO. You must use their HD Writer software to pull it off first, which then allows you to save or convert the files. It's a drag on resources and also a waste of time. The risk of 'generation loss' with this method seems high.

3. After shooting for days and doing a lot of product close-ups, I was horrified to discover a very staccato and jerky zooming motion when utilizing the slowest pan out. What a shame.

4. The manual zoom lens that is advertised with this is a bit misleading as it's not very good and only works, if you can call it that, on this particular lens and not on all other lenses attached. It's a function of the lens and not the camera. Don't be mislead.

5. The remote needs to have more function and control over the camera instead of the very basic remote that comes with this. The camera is very sensitive (being HD) and a minor amount of touching the buttons like zoom and record cause problems with your image even with image stabilization on.

6. The overall user function of this camera is poorly designed. Most of the buttons are awkwardly placed, especially the on/off/file button. Horrible for shooting on the fly and doing more than one thing at a time difficult.

7. A definite lack of built in features which would make this a better camera. Overall personal programming of this camera beyond the basics is absent.

8. On-the-fly file deletion of bad takes would be a plus, too. Having to switch back and forth from File Mode to Shooting Mode, which turns the camera off every time, is a real pain. Being able to delete false starts and bad takes should've been considered and addded as a feature to the shooting mode.

9. A lot of money for what you're getting. Yes, the price has dropped on this, but even still, someone will pay that price somewhere.


I'm sure plenty of people will come out and say how wonderful this camera is, but when you start putting it through its paces, the camera starts to quickly fall short.

Overall, there's not much to this camera beyond the image and the sound. You can get much better these days for much less. The price-point and the very limited features with this camera really drag down the star rating.


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This handy flash camera does everything advertised. The video is smooth with vivid colors. Although not as small as the Canon SF200, this camera is large enough for the average sized hand to get a good grip and keep a steady shot. This Panasonic is one of the few camcorders in this price range with an EVF, a feature which I prefer to use. For those who like a bit of manual control, Panasonic's implementation is very intuitive. Like any other AVCHD camcorder, you will need good software to render the video. The HD writer software that came with the camera is adequate, but Apple's iMovie, or products from Pinnacle and Adobe are better.

This is my 3rd HD camera. I first had a JVC HD-7 which took very good video in high outdoor light only, indoors was utterly very poor. I do a lot of videos of my toddler indoors and even with all the lights on it was very poor quality so I went with the panasonic new 3MOS system for all the praise it got on low light conditions. That was the worst camera I've ever ever used. the video quality was like a camera phone. This camera is my favorite of the 3. IT's very very small but heavy and feels very well built. I love the fact that I can dock it on it's little cradle and no fiddling with usb and power cables. I love that it closes the lens cover automatically unlike the jvc. I love the touch screen. The video in high light is very good, probably as good as the more robust 26Mbps mpeg recording of the jvc. low light is still not everything I would hope but still better than the jvc and a million times better than the panasonic 3MOS chip. It's good enough to make me happy after two HD failures. on another note, bundled software is lacking power. This camera is capable of 60i but for some odd reason the bundled software is not. you can only use power director if you record in 30p mode. even premiere cs4 saw the 60i mp4 files as 15fps and would not convert them right. AVS video tools finally worked well for me and has an available lifetime upgrade option.

I had to return this item, because the format it records in is just too difficult. You can get a converter, but it's such a hassle. The main reason I purchased this item was the focus ring. If you are willing to spend a little more money for the focus ring, I suggest you purchse the JVC GZ HD7. It's the camera I have now. The focus ring is like butter, and it records in a format that my computer can recognize.