Panasonic HDC-SD800 review

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Verdict:

A superb all-round camcorder - if you want the best video quality currently available, this is the model to buy.

Review Date: 24 Mar 2011

Price when reviewed: £556

Supplier: http://www.amazon.co.uk

Reviewed By: Chris Finnamore

Our Rating 5 stars out of 5

User Rating

Panasonic's single-sensor Panasonic HDC-SD90 impressed us with its detailed outdoor footage. The HDC-SD800 doesn't have the SD90's accessory shoe or microphone input - you'll need to buy the high-end HDC-SD900 for those - but its array three dedicated CMOS sensors (one each for red, green and blue light) promise superior image quality.

The SD800 is significantly larger than the tiny HDC-SD90 - while the SD90 had a can of Red Bull's proportions, the SD800 is fat as a Fanta. There are few controls; just a zoom rocker, buttons for recording video and taking photos, enabling or disabling image stabilisation and switching from 1080i to 1080p video.

As on the SD90, if you switch to manual mode you can use the touchscreen to tweak the image's white balance, the camera's shutter speed and the lens aperture. You can also focus manually with the touchscreen and, as on the SD90 again, the camcorder helps you by highlighting in-focus parts of the image in blue.

When it comes to image quality, it's not immediately apparent where the £150 premium over the SD90 goes. Footage taken in daylight only appears slightly more detailed at first. However, once you start to look closer, especially at maximum zoom, the differences become apparent. The level of detail is astounding; when filming buildings in the street, we were amazed by the sharp vertical lines on walls, the bumps and irregularities on paintwork and sharp, black text on road signs. There was almost no noise at all in bright light, lending everything a realistic vibrancy.

Things got even better when we moved inside. Footage shot under indoor lighting had very little noise and none of the oil-painting-esque lack of detail associated with excessive noise reduction. In low light, where the SD90 couldn't maintain a smooth frame rate, the SD800 gave us jerk-free video. Only when we turned all the lights off did excessive noise creep into the picture.

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User comments

View Finder

Note there is no viewfinder on this camera. This is one reason why I would not buy it!

By stevegcollins on 28 Mar 2011

What No Viewfinder ?

The very reason I am considering a new camcorder is that using a screen to shoot movies is just hopeless and unnatural. In bright sunlight impossible. This seems to me to be a case of manufacturers giving the customer what it suits them to make rather than what the user really wants

By steamyjim on 29 Mar 2011

Next model up has a viewfinder.

I believe the 900 adds an optical viewfinder. The worrying part of this review, is them comparing the video quality to the SD90. I took the SD90 back as it was so poor. Maybe 30 years as a computer artist has made me a bit more picky when it comes to image quality. But if this is not really any better than the SD90, for the extra money... then I'll give it a miss thanks.

By LeeC22 on 14 Aug 2011

Great camcorder for the money

I've been out of the camcorder game for some time so my view of a great camcorder may be a bit skewed, the image quality on IA mode and 1080/60p is quite good, and plays back very well on an HDTV. I had no issues importing the videos to Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5 for editing and compilation. The controls are fairly easy to navigate and the touchscreen is responsive and easy to use, the included stylus is helpful but not necessary.

The camcorder was surprisingly light, making it very easy to handle. Lack of a viewfinder and aux mic input are the only major downsides I see to this camcorder. If you are looking for something to get into HD video, and are looking for good quality video, this one should fit the bill.

for cheap price (save up to £300) check here: Amzoffer.com/SD800

Good Luck!

By Robinson2012 on 19 Jan 2012

Does this model show a timestamp (date and time of shoot) when playing back video and recording to DVD?

By PDubs on 20 Jan 2012

Does this model show a timestamp (date and time of shoot) when playing back video and recording to DVD?

By PDubs on 20 Jan 2012

Does this model show a timestamp (date and time of shoot) when playing back video and recording to DVD?

By PDubs on 20 Jan 2012

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