Panasonic SDR-H80-S SD and HDD Camcorder (Silver)

Other products by Panasonic

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 4.6 x 2.6 x 2.8 inches ; 3 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B001P3P3OE
• Item model number: SDR-H80-S
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #807 in Camera & Photo (See Bestsellers in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 8, 2008

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The 60 GB Panasonic SDR-H80 HDD camcorder features a 70x zoom lens that has the power you need to take dramatic close-ups of even distant subjects. But with long-distance zoom shots, even a tiny bit of hand shake has a huge effect on picture quality. That's where optical image stabilization comes in. Together, they provide clear, dynamic images of distant subjects in both still and motion images.

Features the iA function which automatically judges the scene and makes the best possible settings, so you get wonderful shots in virtually any situation. Forget about bothersome settings during important scenes and trust iA to give you the optimal shots.

With the included software VideoCam Suite, it's easy to upload a video clip to YouTube website for sharing videos with people all around the world. Expands the fun of video shooting even more.

Panasonic H80 Camcorder Highlights

Optical 70x Ultra Zoom
This 70x zoom lens has the power you need to take dramatic close-ups or get remarkable shots of even distant subjects. But with long-distance zoom shots, even a tiny bit of hand shake has a huge effect on picture quality. That's where optical image stabilization comes in. Panasonic's Advanced O.I.S. shifts a corrective lens as you shoot to help eliminate the effects of hand shake, so you get clear, sharp shots even at high zoom levels. It's an essential feature for getting the most out of this incredible zoom lens.
Advanced O.I.S.
Panasonic's Advanced O.I.S. helps suppress the effects of hand-shake as you shoot, for both motion and still images. This system uses gyrosensors to detect even tiny amounts of hand-shake, then shifts a lens and adjusts the optical axis to compensate - all at an astounding 4,000 times per second. It also covers approximately 3 times the stabilization area of our previous SD9 model. Because the system is optical, there's minimal loss of image quality even when viewed on a large-screen TV.

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.

Soft Skin Mode
When this function detects skin tones, it softens the focus in that area. This has a skin beautifying effect, which makes wrinkles and lines appear less noticeable. When turned on, this function makes blemishes and moles look less conspicuous, while preserving resolution in areas of the picture outside of the skin.

Shooting Functions

iA (Intelligent Auto)
Sometimes a scene is backlit or too dark, or it's difficult to get a good focus on the subject. Adjusting the settings every time is not only a hassle, it can be very tricky. That's where iA comes in. This powerful function senses the shooting conditions and automatically makes the settings and activates functions that will deliver optimal results. With both motion and still images, iA lets you forget about bothersome settings and makes it easy to capture beautiful, well-focused images.

Face Detection AE/AF
This mode captures faces beautifully. Face Detection automatically senses the ambient lighting and adjusts the exposure accordingly, so faces are bright and easy to see. The focus also prioritizes the faces, and skin tones are smoothed. Faces in the center of the frame serve as the reference for adjustments, but the function can detect up to 15 faces in all.

Shake Detection: Advanced O.I.S.
When hand-shake is detected while shooting, the Advanced O.I.S. system is automatically activated to compensate for blurring and produce beautiful recorded images. Because the system is optical, there's only minimal loss of image quality even when viewed on a large-screen TV.

Scene Selection: Intelligent Scene Selector
The shooting conditions are detected, and the optimal Scene mode is automatically selected. Even if the subject should change, there's no need to manually redo the settings, so you can concentrate entirely on your shot.

60 GB Hard Drive
The internal hard drive lets you record continuously for up to 54 hours without changing a disc, SDHC/SD Memory Card or other recording media.

One-touch Navigation and Joystick Control
The joystick makes the camera much easier to use, letting you control all basic operations quickly. As you shoot, just watch the image in the monitor and follow the instruction guide. You can handle a number of operations quickly and easily, without even taking your eye off the subject.

• Help Mode Not sure what a certain icon means? Just switch on the Help mode and select the icon. It's explained for you on the LCD monitor. This makes it easier to learn the icons, and you spend less time reading the operating manual.

Pre-rec Function
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.

Color Night View
Leave the light off. Color Night View gives you images with color even in dim lighting (2 lx). Light from the LCD is gentle and easy on the eyes, so you can snap shots of sleeping children without waking them up.

Auto Power LCD
The LCD brightness can be adjusted manually to suit the surroundings. In Auto mode, the LCD brightness is adjusted automatically in 16 smooth steps depending on the surroundings. In darker rooms it adjusts to a lower brightness, making it easier to frame the shot. Outside, it adjusts to around twice the brightness for easy viewing even on sunny days.

0.8-second Quick Start
Simply flip open the LCD and you're ready to shoot in just 0.8 second. When Eco mode is also used, the power turns off whenever the camcorder has not been operated for 5 minutes. This reduces wasted power consumption, and enables a longer battery life.

World Time
Handy for travellers, 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.

Easy Editing
You can do some polished editing using just the camera itself. For example, you can delete scenes right on the spot or change the scene sequence to create your own scenarios.

• Playlist Edit It's easy to change the sequence of the scenes you've recorded, and then play them back.
• Dividing and Deleting This function makes it easy to split up the recorded scenes and delete the front half or back half.

Editing and Networking

Web Mode for Easy Uploading to YouTube

• Shooting YouTube limits videos to 10 minutes. In Web mode the camcorder uses a 10-minute countdown system, so you're assured that the recording won't be too long for YouTube, and you won't have to edit it down after shooting.
• Uploading The Upload mode in the VideoCam Suite (included) is automatically activated as soon as the camcorder is connected to the PC. To upload, simply choose the image file you want and click the Upload button. Encoding is no longer a hassle, as the software does all the work for you.

Included Editing Software: VideoCam Suite 2.0
VideoCam Suite editing software is just the tool you need to make polished, smartly finished productions. It lets you load images into your PC for putting scenes in a different order and delete the ones you don't want with simple operation. When you're finished with your video production, you can use VideoCam Suite to reserve the edited version onto a DVD disc.

• USB 2.0 (HS Mode) USB 2.0 compatibility lets you upload a motion picture data to a PC at high speed over a single USB cable.

Easy DVD Copying
Connect the H80 directly to a DVD burner via a USB cable. You can then copy recordings from the SDHC/SD Memory Card or HDD to a DVD disc with easy operation. The disc you make can be played on DVD players, so playback is easy too.

VIERA Image Viewer
If your VIERA TV has an SD Memory Card Slot and can play MPEG2 files, you're equipped for spectacular viewing. Just slip your card into the slot and get ready to watch beautiful motion pictures on VIERA's large screen. You get all the fun of seeing your images on the big screen, with none of the hassle of connecting cables.

Storing on a DIGA
If you have an MPEG2-compatible DIGA with an internal hard disk and 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.

Product Description

SDR-H80-S silver SD/HDD camcorder

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The picture quality of a '90s cell phone, May 24, 2009

By	D. Joseph (New Hampshire, America) - See all my reviews

I bought the Panasonic SDR-H80 digital video camera from Best Buy yesterday (May 23, 2009). It cost $399 + extra for a backup battery and a warranty.

The Good Stuff:

The optical image stabilization feature is quite adept at stabilizing a shaky image.

The 70x zoom is kinda cool, though you really need a tripod for anything over about 30x.

The camera looks attractive, is light weight, and has a relatively easy to use interface. The buttons are mostly positioned well, except the zoom lever, which I couldn't easily reach without jostling the camera.

The Bad Stuff:

The image quality of this camera is utter trash. Pure garbage. My picture phone literally takes better quality video at a higher resolution. I was absolutely stunned at how bad the image quality is. It looks like some kind of highly compressed late 90's webcam or something.

And it gets even worse in low light. And here, by "low light", I mean anything less than direct sunlight. My first attempts with this camera last night turned out so bad that I couldn't see anything.

I did have the camera set to the highest quality, and I followed the instructions for the different lighting types (fluorescent, mercury, etc) with no luck.

The camera claims to have an intelligent auto (iA) feature, but I didn't notice it doing much but fiddling with the white balance at odd intervals.

There is also a special low-light feature called "magic ..." something or other. I forget. But it reduced the frame rate to 1 or 2 fps, which makes it completely unacceptable as a video recording device.

I am surprised at how good the reviews are for this piece of equipment. Really, people, set your bar just a little bit higher.

I returned this product this morning to Best Buy. I brought my laptop, and while I was there, I tried out other cameras of this model to make sure that mine was not simply defective. They were all trash.

I ate the $60 Best Buy restocking fee, but that's okay because I'd rather be out $60 than $400 for a camera that won't do anything but sit in my closet.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Upgraded to HDD, June 18, 2009

By	AV Guy (USA) - See all my reviews

Bought this a couple weeks ago as my old Sony MiniDV camera bit the dust.
So far so good - excellent zoom, audio quality, nice to have so much recording time to the HDD.
Didn't notice till I got it that it does not have an eyepiece - only the LCD screen - other than that I couldn't be happier.

Note, I originally tried to save money by buying from one of those New York Electronics dealers - guy tried to convince me it only came with a 30 minute battery and I needed to spend the extra $100 with him to upgrade. Looser -

It's good for at least a couple hours.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Grainy Image Quality, June 2, 2009

By	Sanjeev Vashist "Sanjeev Vashist" (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

After some research and because I own a Panasonic Camera. I decided to buy this camcorder. First impression it looks good (small and very light), the optical zoom 70X and 60GB hard drive make it very impressive.

The biggest downside to this camcorder is the video quality. I shot a couple of shots in the morning under daylight and the image quality was very good. However, with no sunshine the image quality is very shady and bad. Imagine even with a house that is brightly lit the image looked very grainy and not good quality. The backlit feature does not help either.

Am going to return this camcorder and would advice you to stay away.