Panasonic HDC-SD60S – Satisfactory Entry-Level
Thumbs Up:
The Panasonic HDC-SD60S delivers imposing performance; comes with superior than standard autofocus; has immense battery life; and the camcorder with a comfortable design comes with manual shutter-speed and iris controls.
Thumbs Down:
The LCD touchscreen of Panasonic HDC-SD60S is a bit cramped and even has a low-resolution; apart from this the camcorder delivers soft video quality.
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
Manufacturer: Panasonic
Part Number: HDC-SD60S
Price: $409.00 – $529.95
Product Type: Camcorder – 1080i
Weight: 9 oz
Dimensions (W x D x H) in inches: 2 x 4.4 x 2.6 inches
White Balance Presets: Cloudy, Indoor, Sunlight and Outdoor
Operating System Support: Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows XP SP2 or later, Apple Mac OS X 10.5.8, Microsoft Windows 7 & Apple Mac OS X 10.6.x
Software: Drivers & Utilities, Panasonic HD Writer AE 2.0
Cables Included: USB cable and A/V cable
Connector Type: HDMI output, Composite audio/video output, USB and Component video output
Additional Features: AF/AE tracking , DPOF support , Built-in speaker , Face detection , Pre-Rec function , Face Recognition , Built-in help guide , PictBridge support , YouTube capture mode , Touch-screen control , Backlight compensation , USB 2.0 compatibility , Smile Detection technology , Intelligent Scene Selector , Automatic display brightness adjustment , Intelligent Contrast Control and Dolby Digital AC-3 (2 channel) recording
Shooting Programs: Beach, Snow, Scenery, Sunset, Low light, Fireworks, Night scene, Spotlight, Portrait mode, Sports mode and Night portrait
Focus Adjustment: Manual and Automatic
Included Accessories: Pen stylus
Camera Flash: Fitted Flash
Battery Type: Lithium-ion
Razzle Dazzle:
The Panasonic HDC-SD60S comes with an Intelligent Zoom function and a 25x optical zoom. The intelligent zoom function of the camcorder can easily go up to 35x. While shooting with Intelligent Zoom, the Intelligent Resolution technology of the camcorder lets you shoot at high zoom rates and preserve the image resolution.
In general the design of the camcorder has a comfortable-to-grip design and a well-built feel. If you are not a very big fan of the tubular design designs of the flash-memory camcorders or just have slightly bigger hands, then here you will get a slight extra grip due to the hard disk of HS60. Its hard disk sticks out a bit on the right hand side of the camcorder and gives you a little extra edge for gripping. The camcorder belongs to the entry-level HD camcorder quartet from Panasonic, and hence like its siblings it also doesn’t have an accessory shoe. On the contrary, the top end of the camcorder houses a shutter button and zoom switch clicking still photos. Deviating from the traditional design for its price class, the HDC-SD60S comes with an LED video light for shooting in comparatively dim and low lighting environments. This definitely is a nice touch, as long as any one doesn’t clicks directly into your eyes.
Inside Dope:
The Panasonic HDC-SD60S is one of the four all new entrant from Panasonic into the entry-level HD camcorder market. We won’t say that it’s a bad thing to have so many entry-level HD camcorders from the same maker, but yes, we definitely think that it’s too much. Panasonic seems to be bombarding in between the $500 and $700 entry level camcorder range, rather than going for any significant improvement. But the good thing here is that, like all the other three siblings, the HDC-SD60S also delivers significant performance and battery life. So at least you don’t have to worry about the performance from the camcorder.
The HDC-SD60S comes with a switch for switching among its video, playback and still modes, on its rear end. This clearly is a lot more suitable than going through the entire complicated LCD touch screen. Positioned alongside the switch is a power connector. The LCD recess of the camcorder contains a complete set of connectors and ports, along with its power button. The ports and connectors include an SDXC card slot, Mini-HDMI and video out and USB. Now, although this is rather common in modern camcorders, but we still are not a big fan of this approach. As a matter of fact we think it’s a tad awkward, as your LCD will be open all the time when you connect the camcorder with any other device of your choice. A button positioned on the top of the camcorder lets you switch in between the intelligent manual and auto mode of the camcorder.
The relevant options for both the modes of the camcorder are accessible through a set of icons displayed on the touchscreen. The HDC-SD60S along with its other three siblings provides the manual iris and shutter speed controls, and while its tad uncommon, we don’t think it’s completely unique. The user interface of the camcorder here also is fairly straightforward.
The one satisfactory thing about the camcorder is the performance of the camera. As a matter of fact the performance here not only is good for its class, but in general as well. The zoom switch for the camcorder is easy to control and gives a decent feel. Unlike the autofocus of some of its competitors, the autofocus here is rather fast and precise and focuses the right subject only.
The video quality delivered by the camcorder was not the best we’ve seen, but it still was sufficient for its price class. So you can expect reasonable performance from HDC-SD60S and that too without any significant glitches. The HDC-SD60S also has a second image stabilization system in the form of Power OIS, which mainly is optimized for shooting while walking.
Nitty Gritty:
The Panasonic HDC-SD60S is an entry-level HD camera from Panasonic and like most of its other siblings; this camcorder also delivers respectable performance and has a decent amount of feature set.
