-
"Very good HDD camcorder DO NOT pay attention to the other review" on by figueroa7
Pros: easy hdd access to your movies thru the computer
Cons: the still picture quality is not good
Summary: the camera does what is supposed to do: record your videos in the hdd and transfer them into your computer.
For the previous person who reviewed this camcorder: you do not need the actual software that the camera brings, you can just drag and drop your .mod files into your system. Use "sdcopy" to transform into .mpg files and keep the wide screen aspect. Second if you need to edit you can convert your .mpg files to .avi with "super" from erightsoft...and them import to programs like premiere pro of final cut.
I hope this helps, also the playback quality is fine. -
"descent price for size and picture qualty" on by eckhaaw
Pros: high storage capacity
Cons: limited data transfer options
Summary: I purchased the SDR-H18 for the HDD and because it had at least as good a picture quality as the other Panisonics I had owned previously. I also liked the fact that it had the ability to film in 16:9 widescreen or full frame. What I hadn't expected was it to be limited to only using the supplied program for downloading and capture of video. The supplied program appears to have been thrown together without much testing and little thought put in. I'm just a beginner at video editing but this program only allows you to edit the ends of your shot. I find I usually have a segment I want to edit out of the middle and it can't be done with the supplied software. I have also tried other softwares and have found that I can't upload what I have saved from this program.
-
"OK, but not editing-friendly" on by dressner
Pros: LONG zoom, ok video quality and stabilization
Cons: HDD footage seems to be jerky, not editing friendly (see review)
Summary: If you're a soccer mom and you love to zoom, zoom, and zoom in some more, this is great for you. There isn't really anything hard to understand about this camera.
If you plan to edit large amounts of video from this cord, I wouldn't recommend it. I didn't like the jerky video quality of this camera, and it was very sluggish to start recording. I had to go through a program that comes with the camera to convert the video to mpeg and get it into my editing program. If you are going to be capturing lots of video (like I did) this gets annoying after awhile.
But, if you couldn't care less about serious editing and manual controls, this camera can do what you need it to.
I give the camcorder a 6 for video quality and the annoying capture program. I would be pushing it to call this camera "very good". -
"Great overall package, but images a little dull around the edges" on by Onlies
Pros: Great focus finding in zoom, easy to navigate, warmer colors
Cons: A little trouble to set up the first time on the computer, images not as sharp as other cameras
Summary: I bought one of these at the same time as a Sony DCR-SR42 camera, for almost exactly the same price. This was superior to that camera in every way, except that the image is a little less sharp. You can still read a promo poster across a store, and at short distances looking at the screen is like looking through glass. But at about 8 ft away there starts to be a little softness around the edges. Color is good, a little over warm/dark rather than over pale or bleached (unfortunately I find most cameras fall into one of these two categories). A big con is you can't just drag videos off the folder and watch in Windows Media Player or VLC player, you have to use the supplied software.
This camera is really good about staying in focus while zooming or panning, even when zooming and panning quickly. It charges quickly, the menu is easy to navigate, and the joystick control easy to use. This camera is not hard to fully operate one handedly (if you should ever need that?) and color is good, start up time fast. Image stabilizer is better on this than it was on the Sony.
One funny thing is that it automatically adjusts color warmth; its very good at getting it right, but this takes a second.
Overall I highly recommend this camera, if you can sacrifice a little bit in sharpness for overall ease of use. -
"Very handy camera. Good features/quality for cost. Software and files a bit tricky" on by NJKirchner
Pros: Lightweight, Good fit to hand, easy menus, great capacity, good quality of video, O.I.S. great w/ zoom.
Cons: Provided software very clunky, aspect ratio bug {easy workaround though}, no USB access only w/ AC adapter
Summary: This is my second camcorder, and wow what an improvement. The physical size and capacity are just out of this world. My wife is not very technical and she had no issue getting going with it. The menus are very easy to navigate using the thumb and the display has a good range of backlight options.
If I can edit this review, I'll say more pros later.
But for now my primary issue is with the provided software and the fact that you have to use a secondary program to fix an issue that will cause 16:9 aspect ratio videos to playback at 4:3 on any other player/editor other than the one provided, which is practially impossible to use. I say this because if you are tryint to simply crop a video, it is impossible to find the right start/stop points becase as you move a slider around to find the right frame, it goes chop..... chop..... chop..... and you just keep jumping back and forth across where you want your cut points. This is not an advanced idea, we're just simply talking about scanning through a video. Ok, so it's just the software. But you have to use SDCopy to fix the aspect ratio. BUT YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE TO!
This is really where the score goes down for me, is that I called both Panasonic and ImageMixer and neither will agree that the video files that are on the device or the ones copied over by ImageMixer should play at the right aspect ratio in ANY video player other than the one provided.
In their opinion, because ImageMixer will show it as 16:9 everything is right with the world and we should not expect panasonic to fix this.
So here is a word to the wise to get an INSTANT $25.00 back on the camcorder.
COMPLAIN TO CUSTOMER SERVICE. I am getting a check in the mail for $25 because I have to deal with the problems in their product.
$25.00 people!!! Just say that you shouldn't have to fix something that should work. Not a bad deal. Maybe I should have asked for more.
</rant>
That being said I love the camera, and the fact that it splits each start/stop record into another file is very handy.
The startup to record time of the camera is super fast and the battery life has been great.
Write a Review
Online Stores
| Store | Promotions | In Stock | Price | Total Cost | Initial Sort Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | No | Yes | Tax: TBD Ship: TBD | $999.95 Shop Now | |
| See all prices | |||||
