Camcorder Store

Review by D. Joseph:

I bought the Panasonic SDR-H80 digital video camera from Best Buy yesterday (May 23, 2009). It cost 9 + 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 Best Buy restocking fee, but that’s okay because I’d rather be out than 0 for a camera that won’t do anything but sit in my closet.

Review by Sanjeev Vashist:

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.

Review by Scott A. Conway:

I have read all the reviews I could find here and elsewhere about this camcorder, and I came away with the impression that the more critical opinions stemmed from unrealistic expectations or poor reading comprehension from the reviewers themselves.

As it turns out, I was right.

This is an inexpensive and very compact and lightweight standard definition camcorder designed for the casual user who does not want to sink a whole month’s pay into just to record some personal events.

First, the good and bad:

Pros:

1) Unusually small and lightweight, this is easily carried in a jacket pocket.

2) The startup time, even when not set in Quickstart mode, is five seconds. Nice way to capture surprises on the go.

3) The iA mode, which automatically sets the iris, shutter, white balance, and other major aspects of recording, works pretty well, even though resorting to the manual settings is still required for some unusual applications.

4) The incredible 70x optical zoom is unparalleled in a camera at this price point.

5) The Optical Image Stabilization is considerably more effective than the more common digital stabilization found in all other cameras in this price range. Just don’t expect to get away with using the full 70x zoom while hand holding it, though!

6) The MPEG2 format used for recording is easily handled under my admittedly eccentric choice of operating system, Linux.

7) The SDHC storage medium allows random access to recordings, easy deletion, no moving parts, and a storage medium that is handled under even Linux with a cardreader. Also, the camcorder itself is recognized under Linux, so the files can be manipulated through the integral USB port if desired.

The manual settings allow the user to adjust for unusual conditions, such as low light, just as long as you READ THE MANUAL FIRST, then experiment a bit on your own.

9) The camcorder is almost noiseless in operation, so there is no clicking from a DVD, whirring of a hard drive, humming of a DVC drive motor, or motor from the lens being zoomed in and out.

10) The integral lens cover, which is built into the front of the camera surrounding the lens, cannot be lost.

11) The barrel surrounding the lens area is threaded, allowing accessories, such as wide angle and zoom lenses and filters, to be screwed in for special applications. Those accessories are easily found right here on Amazon.

12) Hey! It even comes with a proper printed manual, a rarity in this day of PDF manuals available only on CD-ROM or via websites.

Cons:

1) It would have been nice if Panasonic had added a microphone jack to allow a separate microphone to be used. However, the integral microphone works rather well on its own.

2) In certain applications, especially indoors, the image can take on a reddish cast when using the default iA setting. This is easily overcome by adjusting the white balance for incandescent lighting, though, so no real problem.

3) The battery life of ~1 hour is rather short, and requires opening a cover on the bottom to replace when discharged. I already ordered two spares and a standalone charger.

4) This may be looked at as good or bad, depending on your opinion, but the battery does not charge with the cable plugged in while the camera is in use. I actually look at this as a good thing, since it does not wear out the battery by discharging it while it is charging, which can cause premature failure of lithium-ion batteries. It simply runs directly from the power cord when plugged in, which is no real problem, as far as I am concerned.

5) Even at the MagicPix setting, designed for extreme low light, this camcorder will not work in a completely dark room. I don’t really even worry about that. If I really wanted to record in such extreme conditions, I would spring for a considerably more expensive night shot camcorder. It still does pretty well, in low light, as long as there is at least 2 lumens of light present.

My opinions on this are that this is unusually good for a camcorder in its price range, especially for its two main selling points of its fantastic 70x optical zoom and optical image stabilization.

It is so simple to operate that even a young child could understand it, using the nicely automated settings.

Yes, there are some circumstances that call for manual intervention, but the people griping about this, especially those attempting (apparently) to take footage inside a cave, would be well advised to READ THE MANUAL and not expect the impossible from such an inexpensive camcorder.

I was able to take some nighttime footage with this, with only sodium and mercury vapor light illumination, and it did pretty well.

And while it is true that my naked eyes are good in light far lower than this can handle, I have a more realistic expectation of it than some of the more critical people out there.

I intend to have a family member use this next year for my wedding, and I am confident that it will work just fine for that, too.

Nice work, Panasonic!

Review by C. Strauff:

This Panasonic SDR-S26 camcorder is by far the best you can buy for the price, and is rated best camcorder of 2009 CES!

I have owned a few others and none of them had true O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilization) and I assure you that this one does. My others had E.I.S. (Electronic Image Stabilization) and believe me there is a big difference. I have noticed a few other reviews on this camcorder, and some say the image stabilization works great out to 20x and good to 40x 70x is still tripod territory. That’s good advise as a tripod will assist in producing great videos with virtually no camcorder movement. Please don’t be confused between the O.I.S and plain old camcorder movement, with camcorder movement at 70x optical zoom the object that you are looking at may move somewhat due to arm and body movement, BUT notice with O.I.S. the image remains clear and crisp, with great detail, even with some hand shakiness. With E.I.S camcorders, which usually have less zoom capabilities, approx. 40x optical zoom, you’d notice while zoomed out, not only is there camcorder movement BUT the image is also a bit blurry and has limited detail, due in part to hand shakiness. So don’t be confused or fooled by plain camcorder movement or the difference between O.I.S vs. E.I.S, as Panasonic’s SDR-S26 with O.I.S and 70x optical zoom will absolutely exceed your expectations, as did mine, and amaze you with a spectacular camcorder experience. I am an extremely satisfied owner of the Panasonic SDR-S26 Camcorder, and I know you will be also.

You can also search the WEB for the Panasonic sdr-s26 and view some of the you-tube video zoom tests that were performed by camcorder owners and see the quality of the O.I.S. and the 70x optical zoom for yourself.

P.S. Don’t forget to pick up a SD/SDHC flash memory card (preferably a 16GB, priced around .00)and possibly an extra battery (part # B-9681, priced around .00) both at AMAZON.COM.

Review by M. Young:

I got this camcorder for about two weeks already. It’s very easy to start operating it even without reading the manual. The touch screen feature is great! You can basically play on the touch screen and see the difference of the picture quality right on the screen. Here’s some of the Pro & Con that I think after playing with this camcorder.

Pro:

-Easy to use

-Great video quality (I hook on my Sony 48 inches 1080p LCD screen, the picture looks great!)

-Picture quality is great too if you got enough light when using indoor (outdoor, no problem)

-Indoor video recording is pretty good using backlight function if indoor light is not enough.

-Outdoor video quality is excellent

-Digital zooming is great (I can basically zoom in and get so detail that I can see the pore of the person’s face right across of the street with 3 traffic lane in between it.)

-LCD touch screen is great (you can flip the screen too! You can also use fingernail to touch the screen if your fingertip is too big, the screen don’t have any problem recognizing your command.)

Con:

-Not enough battery life (got around 90minutes of recording, good thing is that you can see how much time you got left on the LCD screen for recording so you’ll know when you need to charge the battery or switch to power cord or new battery.)

-You cannot charge the battery while using power cord!

-The power cord plug on the camcorder is hidden underneath where you put the battery at, so you cannot use both battery and power cord at the same time (very bad when you try to record using power cord, once you accidentally pull the power cord plug, all of the recording stops, and it takes long time for camcorder to get back to recording and it also causes temporary hard drive malfunction while the camcorder trying to recover what you just record.)

-You cannot turn on the light that came with the camcorder to do the recording (it’s use mostly as flash function when taking picture)

So far that’s what I thought playing for two weeks (without reading the manual.)

Review by Mad Mom:

I bought this camcorder primarily to videotape my daughter’s gymnastics meets. I have recorded two so far and the video quality for those is excellent. The lighting in both cases was bright flourescent lighting like you would find in a high school gymnasium. I made a brief test video in my kitchen at night with just one light on and it wasn’t so great. I don’t know if this would be a great camcorder for birthday parties and that sort of thing. For that you would be better off getting a camera with 720 HD like the Panasonic DMC-FZ35 for less than half the price. It takes great video in a variety of lighting, but it cannot handle some of the very fast action of gymnastics without blurring. But that’s another review!

Pros:

- Very large (120gb) built-in hard drive.

- Available SD/SDHC memory card slot.

- Great video in bright indoor or outdoor light – the same video quality as the HDC-HS300 that costs over 00.

- Very easy to use – my 8-year-old was taking pictures and videos and playing them back with no instructions.

- Video is very easy to import to iMovie ’09 on my iMac – I just attach it using the included usb cable and a window comes up allowing me to choose the clips I want to import.

- The image stabilization works well – smooth footage without a tripod.

- Zoom is very smooth and adequate.

- Great price if you can get it for under 600 dollars.

- Display shows how much battery life (in minutes) and how much recording time is remaining.

Cons:

- Lacks an electronic viewfinder and an external microphone jack – to get those you need the HDC-H300.

- Probably not great for low light indoors.

- The battery charger/AC adapter are a bit strange but you can live with it – you have to remove the battery to put in the AC/Adapter but the battery will not charge while you are using the adapter.

- Battery life is not very long (about 90 minutes) and extra batteries are pricey – this is the case for most HD camcorders.

- Like probably every HD camcorder, the included software is not so great (although I don’t need it for my iMac) and you will have to invest in expensive software to edit the video using a Windows PC.

I researched extensively and for my needs this is by far the best camcorder for the price. It would also be great for videotaping any sports, including indoor sports like basketball.

Update: I’ve been using it for about two months now. When recording indoors (convention centers, gymnasiums, etc.) the video has good resolution, but often a strange color cast, especially at the start of recording. I don’t know if other cameras would be better in this kind of light with subjects that are far away.

Review by D. Joseph:

I bought the Panasonic SDR-H80 digital video camera from Best Buy yesterday (May 23, 2009). It cost 9 + 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 Best Buy restocking fee, but that’s okay because I’d rather be out than 0 for a camera that won’t do anything but sit in my closet.

Review by Sanjeev Vashist:

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.

Review by Scott A. Conway:

I have read all the reviews I could find here and elsewhere about this camcorder, and I came away with the impression that the more critical opinions stemmed from unrealistic expectations or poor reading comprehension from the reviewers themselves.

As it turns out, I was right.

This is an inexpensive and very compact and lightweight standard definition camcorder designed for the casual user who does not want to sink a whole month’s pay into just to record some personal events.

First, the good and bad:

Pros:

1) Unusually small and lightweight, this is easily carried in a jacket pocket.

2) The startup time, even when not set in Quickstart mode, is five seconds. Nice way to capture surprises on the go.

3) The iA mode, which automatically sets the iris, shutter, white balance, and other major aspects of recording, works pretty well, even though resorting to the manual settings is still required for some unusual applications.

4) The incredible 70x optical zoom is unparalleled in a camera at this price point.

5) The Optical Image Stabilization is considerably more effective than the more common digital stabilization found in all other cameras in this price range. Just don’t expect to get away with using the full 70x zoom while hand holding it, though!

6) The MPEG2 format used for recording is easily handled under my admittedly eccentric choice of operating system, Linux.

7) The SDHC storage medium allows random access to recordings, easy deletion, no moving parts, and a storage medium that is handled under even Linux with a cardreader. Also, the camcorder itself is recognized under Linux, so the files can be manipulated through the integral USB port if desired.

The manual settings allow the user to adjust for unusual conditions, such as low light, just as long as you READ THE MANUAL FIRST, then experiment a bit on your own.

9) The camcorder is almost noiseless in operation, so there is no clicking from a DVD, whirring of a hard drive, humming of a DVC drive motor, or motor from the lens being zoomed in and out.

10) The integral lens cover, which is built into the front of the camera surrounding the lens, cannot be lost.

11) The barrel surrounding the lens area is threaded, allowing accessories, such as wide angle and zoom lenses and filters, to be screwed in for special applications. Those accessories are easily found right here on Amazon.

12) Hey! It even comes with a proper printed manual, a rarity in this day of PDF manuals available only on CD-ROM or via websites.

Cons:

1) It would have been nice if Panasonic had added a microphone jack to allow a separate microphone to be used. However, the integral microphone works rather well on its own.

2) In certain applications, especially indoors, the image can take on a reddish cast when using the default iA setting. This is easily overcome by adjusting the white balance for incandescent lighting, though, so no real problem.

3) The battery life of ~1 hour is rather short, and requires opening a cover on the bottom to replace when discharged. I already ordered two spares and a standalone charger.

4) This may be looked at as good or bad, depending on your opinion, but the battery does not charge with the cable plugged in while the camera is in use. I actually look at this as a good thing, since it does not wear out the battery by discharging it while it is charging, which can cause premature failure of lithium-ion batteries. It simply runs directly from the power cord when plugged in, which is no real problem, as far as I am concerned.

5) Even at the MagicPix setting, designed for extreme low light, this camcorder will not work in a completely dark room. I don’t really even worry about that. If I really wanted to record in such extreme conditions, I would spring for a considerably more expensive night shot camcorder. It still does pretty well, in low light, as long as there is at least 2 lumens of light present.

My opinions on this are that this is unusually good for a camcorder in its price range, especially for its two main selling points of its fantastic 70x optical zoom and optical image stabilization.

It is so simple to operate that even a young child could understand it, using the nicely automated settings.

Yes, there are some circumstances that call for manual intervention, but the people griping about this, especially those attempting (apparently) to take footage inside a cave, would be well advised to READ THE MANUAL and not expect the impossible from such an inexpensive camcorder.

I was able to take some nighttime footage with this, with only sodium and mercury vapor light illumination, and it did pretty well.

And while it is true that my naked eyes are good in light far lower than this can handle, I have a more realistic expectation of it than some of the more critical people out there.

I intend to have a family member use this next year for my wedding, and I am confident that it will work just fine for that, too.

Nice work, Panasonic!

Review by C. Strauff:

This Panasonic SDR-S26 camcorder is by far the best you can buy for the price, and is rated best camcorder of 2009 CES!

I have owned a few others and none of them had true O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilization) and I assure you that this one does. My others had E.I.S. (Electronic Image Stabilization) and believe me there is a big difference. I have noticed a few other reviews on this camcorder, and some say the image stabilization works great out to 20x and good to 40x 70x is still tripod territory. That’s good advise as a tripod will assist in producing great videos with virtually no camcorder movement. Please don’t be confused between the O.I.S and plain old camcorder movement, with camcorder movement at 70x optical zoom the object that you are looking at may move somewhat due to arm and body movement, BUT notice with O.I.S. the image remains clear and crisp, with great detail, even with some hand shakiness. With E.I.S camcorders, which usually have less zoom capabilities, approx. 40x optical zoom, you’d notice while zoomed out, not only is there camcorder movement BUT the image is also a bit blurry and has limited detail, due in part to hand shakiness. So don’t be confused or fooled by plain camcorder movement or the difference between O.I.S vs. E.I.S, as Panasonic’s SDR-S26 with O.I.S and 70x optical zoom will absolutely exceed your expectations, as did mine, and amaze you with a spectacular camcorder experience. I am an extremely satisfied owner of the Panasonic SDR-S26 Camcorder, and I know you will be also.

You can also search the WEB for the Panasonic sdr-s26 and view some of the you-tube video zoom tests that were performed by camcorder owners and see the quality of the O.I.S. and the 70x optical zoom for yourself.

P.S. Don’t forget to pick up a SD/SDHC flash memory card (preferably a 16GB, priced around .00)and possibly an extra battery (part # B-9681, priced around .00) both at AMAZON.COM.

Review by D. Joseph:

I bought the Panasonic SDR-H80 digital video camera from Best Buy yesterday (May 23, 2009). It cost 9 + 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 Best Buy restocking fee, but that’s okay because I’d rather be out than 0 for a camera that won’t do anything but sit in my closet.

Review by Sanjeev Vashist:

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.

Review by L. Levinson:

I purchased other brands that didnt work in my new camcorder, these dvd’s worked GREAT .. i would recommend them for anyone with a sony camcorder and the price is GREAT

Review by Lucinda J. Michaelis:

no surprises with this purchase, the product matched the description; I knew what I was getting and I’m happy with the purchase.