Digital Trends

Panasonic HDC-SD1

February 7th, 2007 | by David Elrich

Features and Design

The Panasonic HDC-SD1 is a perfect example of the blessings of solid state memory. Because video is recorded directly to Secure Digital or SDHC cards, bulky tape mechanisms and HDDs are nowhere to be found. This let Panasonic engineers create one of the slickest-looking camcorders ever. While it won’t have the cachet of the iPod or iPhone, it’s very sleek and stylish - a true small wonder. The -SD1 measures 2.9 inches wide, 2.71 high and 5.6 inches deep; it weighs 17.4 ounces with battery, SD card and strap.

The horizontal-style camcorder has a minimalist design with very few buttons. The plastic body has a silver tone while the LCD monitor door has a pearl-like luster. The front is dominated by the 12x Leica Dicomar zoom with a built-in lens cap. You can add filters and accessory lenses that fit the 43mm diameter twist-off ring. Other than a built-in flash and a recording lamp and remote sensor located under the lens, our tour of the front is complete. The right side has the adjustable Velcro strap, speaker as well as a compartment for USB and HDMI outputs. You’ll also find a small outlet for the cooling fan. The left side is dominated by the 3-inch foldout widescreen LCD monitor so you can easily frame your 16:9 videos. The LCD is rated 250K pixels, a solid number. Once the screen is open, you’ll find keys on the body that switch focus (auto, manual) and brighten the LCD screen. You’ll also find the SD card slot and another compartment for the A/V and component outputs as well as the mic and DC ins.

Hurray! The top of the camcorder has a 5.1-channel mic so you can record surround sound tracks using Dolby Digital 5.1 Creator. We’ve always wondered why competitors let Sony tout this feature for years without implementing it themselves. I guess someone finally woke up back in Osaka and decided it was time. But I digress…You’ll also find the wide/tele zoom toggle and a snapshot button to record stills (a barely decent 1920 x 1080 is the maximum). You won’t find an accessory shoe to add optional lights. Definitely minimalist as we said earlier.

The rear layout is very tidy. There’s a central mode dial with a record button right in the middle (Off, Video, Playback and PC are the settings). To the right is a small four-way joystick controller with set button. You’ll also find menu and delete keys. Other than the cooling fan inlet, that’s all there is. In keeping with the very modern styling, the battery has its own compartment on the bottom so it’s safely tucked away. What more can I say? I really liked the style and layout of this 2007 camcorder.

The HDC-SD1 comes with a basic kit but most important it’s supplied with a 4GB Class 2 SDHC card. Setting the camcorder in the highest resolution mode, you can record 40 minutes of 1080I video. For most casual home video makers, this is plenty of time but additional SanDisk 4-gig cards are $120 list but we’ve seen “no names” for half the price. Along with the card is a battery/recharger, remote, A/V, USB and component cables (no HDMI) and a software CD ROM.

Once the battery was charged and the basic settings entered, it was time to record.

Image Courtesy of Panasonic