Panasonic HDC-DX1 Camcorder Reviewby John NeelyPublished on Apr 4, 2007 7:00 PM 
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What’s in the Box?
The DX1 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $1119.99) ships with a standard list of accessories:
-VW-VBG260 Battery Pack
-AC Adapter
-DC Cable
-AV Cable
-Component Cable
-AC Cable
-Remote Control
-Button-type Battery
-USB Cable
Unfortunately, the DX1 does not include a DVD-R disc, but you’ll probably want to buy a pack of 20 to have enough recording time.
Other Features (4.5)
Scene Modes - Scene Modes are special recording modes that automatically optimize the camcorder for specific lighting situations. The HDC-SD1 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $1119.99) includes the following Scene Modes: Sports – also useful for capturing any fast action in bright light; Portrait, for shooting static, nearby subjects; Low Light; Spotlight, for shooting subjects under stage lighting; and Surf & Snow, for recording in very bright locales. Scene Modes, also known as Recording Program Modes or AE Modes, are useful shorthand ways of improving picture quality in lighting that proves too challenging for auto mode. These options are in the Basic submenu of the Admin Menu.
Fades - Fades are available on the first page of the joystick menu, and fade color can be selected in the Video submenu. The only options available are white and black.
Back Light Compensation - Back Light Compensation (BLC for short) is found on page 1 of the joystick menu, and is represented by a sun icon. BLC automatically brightens the overall exposure of the image to compensate for backlit subjects.
Soft Skin Mode - Soft Skin Mode is a feature that automatically lowers contrast in “skin-toned” regions of the frame, smoothing out wrinkles and blemishes. It’s a subtle effect, and will only function if your subjects possess lighter skin tones. We’re waiting for consumer camcorder makers to make this option more inclusive, and offer options for adjusting this feature to account for a diverse range of skin tones.
MagicPix - MagicPix automatically allows the shutter speed to drop below 1/60 in accordance with available light. Images recorded in MagicPix mode at slow shutter speeds will have a stuttered, slow shutter appearance – but it will increase the light gathering ability of the camcorder.
Tele Macro - This option simply moves the optical zoom to 12x telephoto mode and auto focuses on objects in the foreground. The same effect can be accomplished by zooming to 12x manually – but on consumer camcorders, Tele Macro remains a popular “feature.”
Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound - The Panasonic onboard mic supports Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound, so audio can be recorded to five channel. The levels for each channel can be set in by selecting the Mic Level option from the Video submenu. Bear in mind that the quality of audio recorded with the onboard mic will still be onboard mic audio, which is to say, not very good, but it will fill out your 5.1 channel speaker system.
Zoom Microphone - The Zoom Microphone option, also in the Video submenu, links audio levels to zoom magnification automatically. When zoom magnification is high, the sound is recorded at higher levels, and when its low, audio is recorded at lower levels.
Wind Cut - Wind Cut, an option in the Video submenu reduces the effects of wind noise on the built-in microphone by filtering out low frequency sounds. This feature should only be used in windy environments, because the overall quality of the audio signal is reduced when it is enabled.