Panasonic SDR-S7 Flash Memory Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom (Black)

by Panasonic

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 4.5 x 1.2 x 2.5 inches ; 5.8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0011G0NKO
• Item model number: SDR-S7K
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,785 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 2, 2001

Product Description

Color: black

From the Manufacturer

The S7 is a camcorder you can take just about anywhere, as you would a small digital still camera. The S7 fits nicely in the palm of the hand. This outstanding mobility makes the S7 an ideal choice for business use. Just slip it in a suit pocket or handbag and carry it anywhere.

The power turns on or off as soon as the LCD is opened or closed, and Quick Start recording begins in only 0.6 seconds. This combines with the camera's handy compact size to help catch those sudden and immediate shooting opportunities.

If your TV has an SD card slot and can play MPEG-2 files, just slip your card into the slot and get ready to watch beautiful motion or still images on a large screen.

Panasonic SDR-S7 Highlights

Small enough to fit in a pocket or bag

Compact Size and Cool Styling The SDR-S7 is small enough to slip in a pocket or bag. Cool enough to take everywhere you go. This is one stylish camcorder you'll never want to be without.

Easy Shooting at High of Low Angles You can freely adjust the angle of the LCD monitor for comfortable viewing no matter how you're holding the camera. The SUB REC button on the side makes it easy to shoot when you're holding the camera low. The buttons are laid out simply and logically for easy one-hand operation.

High Picture Quality with a 2.7-inch Viewing Screen This model offers the High-Picture-Quality Wide Mode, which produces images that make for beautiful, dramatic viewing on a wide-screen TV. The image is processed on 16:9 area of the CCD. Because the image decoded has the same proportions as your wide-screen TV, there is virtually no picture quality degradation. You get beautiful images and all the excitement and dynamism on either a wide 16:9 screen TV or a conventional 4:3 TV. This model also features a wide 2.7-inch LCD, making it easier to frame shots when you're shooting in 16:9 mode. You can enjoy shooting wide, and viewing wide.

Pure Color Engine The Pure Color Engine converts the CCD output signal from a complementary color signal into an RGB signal at an early stage and extracts the low-frequency luminance component from the RGB signal. This innovative engine also achieves truly superb color reproduction for high-zoomed pictures.

High-quality MPEG 2 Engine Panasonic's MPEG2 engine is a wide-range, high-precision search engine that produces smooth, beautiful motion pictures. Because it precisely records the differences in each frame, it can render fast, complex motions - like those of athletes in the thick of the action - with exceptional precision. The MPEG2 engine also uses Variable Bit Rate technology that Panasonic developed for the high-end DIGA DVD recorder. Giving LP recordings nearly twice the resolution captured with previous Panasonic camcorders, this lets the camcorder record clear, smoothly flowing pictures.

10X Optical Zoom Distant subjects can be enlarged so they appear to be right up close. This allows dynamic shots of both motion and still pictures.

Shooting Functions

Pre-Record Function (Images are Recorded Before you Begin Shooting) This clever new function records three seconds of images even before you actually begin shooting. The images are held temporarily in the camcorder's internal memory, before recording onto the SDHC/SD Memory Card begins. This helps ensure that you won't miss the start of a moment you want to record, such as when an event begins all of a sudden. For example, if you're waiting to snap a shot of a jumping dolphin, you can press the REC button after you've made sure that the dolphin has cleared the surface of the water. The camcorder will record the entire scene, from the instant of the dolphin's jump until it disappears again into the sea.

Power LCD Simply press the Power LCD button and the LCD becomes brighter, making it easier to see outdoors or in other bright locations. Also, a new scanning technology allows the LCD to show diagonal lines more sharply.

Select the Recording Mode to Match your Needs This unit records in VBR. VBR is an abbreviation for Variable Bit Rate. VBR recording automatically varies the bit rate (amount of data in a fixed time) depending on the subject being recorded. This means if a subject with sharp movements is recorded, the recording time is reduced.

One Touch Navigation and Easy Operation The cursor makes the camera much easier to use. You can handle a number of operations quickly and easily.

• Easy to use Design You can do most operations with a single finger.
• Direct Mode Dial Just rotate the dial with your fingertip to select the icon that corresponds to the mode you want.
• Simple Cursor Operation Press the center of the cursor to display icons on the screen.

Quick Search and Access with Thumbnail View Unlike videotape, you don't need to rewind or fast-forward to search for specific scenes. The camcorder LCD screen displays a list of the recorded scenes for quick and easy searching.

Easy On/Off reduces the time required for operating the camera. When you open the LCD, the power turns on. Shut it and the power turns off.

Quick Start mode helps shoot videos on the spur of the moment. This mode lets you shoot those not-to-be-missed scenes by turning on the power just 0.6 seconds from the time the LCD is opened.

Color Night View gives you smoothly flowing pictures even in dark places, where it's normally difficult to capture good shots.

World Timer Handy for travelers, this function makes it easy to set the camcorder time when you cross time zones and again when you return home. Simply select your destination from the displayed map, and the camcorder is automatically set for that time zone. The time for two different places can be set -- such as home and destination -- and you can switch between the times by simply pressing a button.


Editing and Networking

Storing on a DIGA If you have an MPEG2-compatible DIGA DVD recorder with an internal hard disk and SDHC/SD memory card slot, saving your images on the hard disk is as easy as inserting an SDHC/SD memory card into the slot. This saves space you'd otherwise need for storing the recording media, and makes playback easier. And once the data is on the hard disk, it's easy to copy it to a DVD disc.

Easy DVD Copying Connect the S7 directly to a DVD burner via a USB cable. You can then copy recordings from the SDHC/SD Memory Card to a DVD disc with easy operation. The disc you make can be played on DVD players, so playback is easy too.

Copy from your memory card to DVD

Includes USB 2.0 and Editing Software
USB 2.0 compatibility lets you upload a motion picture data to a PC at high speed over a single USB cable.

You never have to finalize an SDHC or SD Memory Card, so you can transfer data to a PC right after you shoot. Just slip the card into the slot on the PC, and you're ready to upload and edit. The camera comes with MotionSD STUDIO software that lets you add music and words during editing or copy your recordings onto a DVD disc.

Optional Accessories and Products

• Panasonic DIGA DMR-EZ475VK - DVD recorder/ VCR combo - black
• Panasonic 16GB Memory Card
• Panasonic VW-BN1 DVD Burner

Product Description

The S7 is a camcorder you can take just about anywhere, as you would a small digital still camera. The S7 fits nicely in the palm of the hand. This outstanding mobility makes the S7 an ideal choice for business use. Just slip it in a suit pocket or handbag and carry it anywhere.

The power turns on or off as soon as the LCD is opened or closed, and Quick Start recording begins in only 0.6 seconds. This combines with the camera's handy compact size to help catch those sudden and immediate shooting opportunities.

If your TV has an SD card slot and can play MPEG-2 files, just slip your card into the slot and get ready to watch beautiful motion or still images on a large screen.

Panasonic SDR-S7 Highlights

Small enough to fit in a pocket or bag

Compact Size and Cool Styling The SDR-S7 is small enough to slip in a pocket or bag. Cool enough to take everywhere you go. This is one stylish camcorder you'll never want to be without.

Easy Shooting at High of Low Angles You can freely adjust the angle of the LCD monitor for comfortable viewing no matter how you're holding the camera. The SUB REC button on the side makes it easy to shoot when you're holding the camera low. The buttons are laid out simply and logically for easy one-hand operation.

High Picture Quality with a 2.7-inch Viewing Screen This model offers the High-Picture-Quality Wide Mode, which produces images that make for beautiful, dramatic viewing on a wide-screen TV. The image is processed on 16:9 area of the CCD. Because the image decoded has the same proportions as your wide-screen TV, there is virtually no picture quality degradation. You get beautiful images and all the excitement and dynamism on either a wide 16:9 screen TV or a conventional 4:3 TV. This model also features a wide 2.7-inch LCD, making it easier to frame shots when you're shooting in 16:9 mode. You can enjoy shooting wide, and viewing wide.

Pure Color Engine The Pure Color Engine converts the CCD output signal from a complementary color signal into an RGB signal at an early stage and extracts the low-frequency luminance component from the RGB signal. This innovative engine also achieves truly superb color reproduction for high-zoomed pictures.

High-quality MPEG 2 Engine Panasonic's MPEG2 engine is a wide-range, high-precision search engine that produces smooth, beautiful motion pictures. Because it precisely records the differences in each frame, it can render fast, complex motions - like those of athletes in the thick of the action - with exceptional precision. The MPEG2 engine also uses Variable Bit Rate technology that Panasonic developed for the high-end DIGA DVD recorder. Giving LP recordings nearly twice the resolution captured with previous Panasonic camcorders, this lets the camcorder record clear, smoothly flowing pictures.

10X Optical Zoom Distant subjects can be enlarged so they appear to be right up close. This allows dynamic shots of both motion and still pictures.

Shooting Functions

Pre-Record Function (Images are Recorded Before you Begin Shooting) This clever new function records three seconds of images even before you actually begin shooting. The images are held temporarily in the camcorder's internal memory, before recording onto the SDHC/SD Memory Card begins. This helps ensure that you won't miss the start of a moment you want to record, such as when an event begins all of a sudden. For example, if you're waiting to snap a shot of a jumping dolphin, you can press the REC button after you've made sure that the dolphin has cleared the surface of the water. The camcorder will record the entire scene, from the instant of the dolphin's jump until it disappears again into the sea.

Power LCD Simply press the Power LCD button and the LCD becomes brighter, making it easier to see outdoors or in other bright locations. Also, a new scanning technology allows the LCD to show diagonal lines more sharply.

Select the Recording Mode to Match your Needs This unit records in VBR. VBR is an abbreviation for Variable Bit Rate. VBR recording automatically varies the bit rate (amount of data in a fixed time) depending on the subject being recorded. This means if a subject with sharp movements is recorded, the recording time is reduced.

One Touch Navigation and Easy Operation The cursor makes the camera much easier to use. You can handle a number of operations quickly and easily.

• Easy to use Design You can do most operations with a single finger.
• Direct Mode Dial Just rotate the dial with your fingertip to select the icon that corresponds to the mode you want.
• Simple Cursor Operation Press the center of the cursor to display icons on the screen.

Quick Search and Access with Thumbnail View Unlike videotape, you don't need to rewind or fast-forward to search for specific scenes. The camcorder LCD screen displays a list of the recorded scenes for quick and easy searching.

Easy On/Off reduces the time required for operating the camera. When you open the LCD, the power turns on. Shut it and the power turns off.

Quick Start mode helps shoot videos on the spur of the moment. This mode lets you shoot those not-to-be-missed scenes by turning on the power just 0.6 seconds from the time the LCD is opened.

Color Night View gives you smoothly flowing pictures even in dark places, where it's normally difficult to capture good shots.

World Timer Handy for travelers, this function makes it easy to set the camcorder time when you cross time zones and again when you return home. Simply select your destination from the displayed map, and the camcorder is automatically set for that time zone. The time for two different places can be set -- such as home and destination -- and you can switch between the times by simply pressing a button.


Editing and Networking

Storing on a DIGA If you have an MPEG2-compatible DIGA DVD recorder with an internal hard disk and SDHC/SD memory card slot, saving your images on the hard disk is as easy as inserting an SDHC/SD memory card into the slot. This saves space you'd otherwise need for storing the recording media, and makes playback easier. And once the data is on the hard disk, it's easy to copy it to a DVD disc.

Easy DVD Copying Connect the S7 directly to a DVD burner via a USB cable. You can then copy recordings from the SDHC/SD Memory Card to a DVD disc with easy operation. The disc you make can be played on DVD players, so playback is easy too.

Copy from your memory card to DVD

Includes USB 2.0 and Editing Software
USB 2.0 compatibility lets you upload a motion picture data to a PC at high speed over a single USB cable.

You never have to finalize an SDHC or SD Memory Card, so you can transfer data to a PC right after you shoot. Just slip the card into the slot on the PC, and you're ready to upload and edit. The camera comes with MotionSD STUDIO software that lets you add music and words during editing or copy your recordings onto a DVD disc.

Optional Accessories and Products

• Panasonic DIGA DMR-EZ475VK - DVD recorder/ VCR combo - black
• Panasonic 16GB Memory Card
• Panasonic VW-BN1 DVD Burner

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just what I expected, May 15, 2008

By 

ringobob - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Panasonic SDR-S7 Flash Memory Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom (Black) (Electronics)

We're days away from the birth of our first child, and we wanted something to be able to capture some quick video... it's (of course) not an HD camera, but the quality is fine for viewing on the computer screen or a standard def TV. The size is great, the price is right.

As has been said, the battery life is listed at 40 minutes, though I haven't tested that, that's real world use (through starting and stopping, etc.), it should last longer than an hour of continuous shooting. I also bought an off brand replacement battery along with it for $12.

The 3 main requirements I had were small size, low price, and records to flash (Because I knew I'd never use the camera if I had to keep up with tapes, and I didn't trust the performance of DVDs or the longevity of hard drive). If you're willing to accept a slightly lower quality for those things, then this should fit the bill perfectly.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Insert catchy title., May 1, 2008

By 

C. Raff - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Panasonic SDR-S7 Flash Memory Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom (Black) (Electronics)

I bought this camera as an impulse buy at Best Buy, and I really like it. There are some pros and cons just like anything but so fat the experience is good, and the price was right.

Lets go over the cons first, as for some people the cons will break this camera. First the video quality, no way around it this camera is made for YouTube. You are not going to get great video quality out of this camera, very bad in low light but ok in sunlight. Second the battery life. To be honest it kinda sucks, 40 mins on a charge is a little lower than I wanted considering the size. I want to take this every where and use this all day, but that is not going to happen. The buttons on the camera are also a point of contention, as they have almost no tactile feedback. I would like it if they clicked a little or something, but that is a very small problem.

Now the Pros. The selling point of this camera was the size. It is really small! It fits in my pocket no problem, and I literally take it everywhere. I have even tied it to a kite , and the top of my car just to see if I could, and it was great. Then comes the price, for $299 you can barley beat it, There are some cameras like the Flip but they do not have the flip out LCD (very handy) or replaceable batteries and memory.

Bottom line is this camera is pushed to the YouTube crowd, short videos that you make at parties and stuff like that. Perfect for a Teen with limited cash to spend on their first camera, but wants a little more versatility than the Flip. Or the person like me who has a better camera, but needs something to take everywhere. The sound and video quality are just right for compressing way down and converting to flash, and to be honest if you want to get great video quality spend more money, nothing in this price range is going to be good enough for an HDTV or even many SDTVs.

The battery life issue can also be solved for around 25 bucks by searching the model number(vw-vbj10) of the battery on Google. I have two 3rd party batteries and they work great.

I am happy with my purchase and would recommend it to someone looking for something small and versatile to have fun with.

49 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Panasonic SDR-S7 vs Canon FS100, August 27, 2008

By 

Dave T. Schwering "Scrubs620" (Indiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Panasonic SDR-S7 Flash Memory Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom (Black) (Electronics)

I only feel obliged to write this because I have owned both camcorders. I bought the Panasonic at Wal-Mart the 1st of August. I wanted to tape my sons football games with it. The first couple of weeks I tried it ou and it seemed to do OK. Even though the MOD files could not be recognized by my computer the supplied software, while basic, did transfer them from the camera into the computer as mpg files that it would recognize. I successfully created a DVD using Roxio 10. As I used it more I noticed how bad the video was (I guess the newness wore off). The background in shots looked extremely soft and fuzzy. Anything that was close (10 to 15 feet) or if you zoomed way in was OK. When I was really disappointed was when I tried taping my sons first football game. I used it in conjunction with the video mode on my Fuji camera. I just put the panasonic on a tripod and did not zoom in far so I could capture the whole play with out moving the camera. I was not expecting to see good detail doing this but what I got turned my stomach. It was so fuzzy and the color was so bad that I could not tell one team from the other. there was no way I could have ever read a jersey number. Even being able to sort the players by teams would have helped but the video was useless. Luckily I had a few days to still take it back. I paid $299 for it at Wal-Mart. I decided to go with the Canon FS100 ($399 at Wal-Mart but I got mine through amazon for $315). It is a SD Card based camera just like the Panasonic. The Panasonic is the smallest camcorder I have ever seen, so it is handy to have if the video quality is not an issue. The FS100 is about twice the size but fits more comfortably in larger hands (still smaller than a pop can). It feels more solid. When I saw the video I knew I had made the right choice. it records in MOD format also. Unfortunately the software that came with it would not load on my computer. I have heard that the software is not worth much any way. I had WINAMP on my computer which converted them. I have read that you can just change the file name from *.MOD to *.MPG but I have not tried that yet. I had video from the Panasonic on my computer still so i duplicated those shots using the CANON and made another DVD alternating Panasonic,Canon,Panasonic,etc. The difference was unbelievable. If you want a small camcorder for goofing off with friends the Panasonic might fit the bill. If you would actually like to be able to go back and enjoy the videos, produce good DVDs and use the videos as a learning tool, choose the CANON FS100. By the way - I just started buying stuff from Amazon and they are wonderful. I ordered the camcorder on Monday about midnight and I was playing with it by noon on wednesday.

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