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Panasonic HDC-SD1 Camcorder Reviewby John NeelyPublished on Apr 2, 2007 6:00 PM
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Still Features (7.0)
The fact that the still photo recording section of the Operating Instructions for the HDC-SD1 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $1119.99) run to a mere 4 pages is a good indication of the fact that this camcorder is no video-still standout. In fact, for a model priced well over $1000, the SD1 may have the slimmest range of still options and functionality of anything on the market. You might expect us to skewer Panasonic for outfitting the SD1 with only the most basic of still photo capabilities, but the truth is we don’t see it as a great loss since even a camcorder with class-leading still performance (like Sony’s HD cams) can’t compete with even a $200 digital still camera. Yet for the asking price ($1299 MSRP) it’s only fair to expect more.
The SD1 does not offer a dedicated still photo mode, but photos can be captured in video mode when video recording is paused, or during active recording. The manual indicates that stills captured during video recording are lower in quality due to the fact that “priority is given to motion picture recording.” The only resolution available is 1920 x 1080 (identical to the camcorder’s HD video resolution). If the Photo Button, just above the back end of the body, is pressed down halfway, the camcorder focuses automatically. In manual focus mode, the joystick can be used to adjust still image focus. The options available in the Picture submenu include high and low picture quality, flash level, and shutter sound on/off.
Still Performance (9.6)
The Panasonic HDC-SD1’s stills were tested by shooting a Gretag McBeth Color Checker chart and running those stills through Imatest imaging software. The 1920 x 1080 stills were best, we found, by playing around with the shutter speed and aperture rather than leaving it in auto. Strangely, the camcorder has no exposure compensation; you are required to shift the shutter and aperture directly. The best setting for our tests, at 3000 lux, was a shutter of 1/100 and an aperture of f/3.4. The color error ran at about 6.25, the noise at 0.63%, and the saturation at 99.99%. The saturation score was unusual, as most consumer camcorders tend to bump up their color levels to make them look better. The color error was also low, making for an accurate image.
Still Resolution (6.2)
The Panasonic SD1’s stills were tested for resolution by shooting an Applied Image ISO 12233 resolution chart and running those stills through Imatest imaging software. At best, the camcorder produced a horizontal resolution of 590.7 line widths per picture height (lw/ph) (with a clipping percentage of 3.22% and oversharpening of 15.7%) and a vertical resolution of 557.7 lw/ph. No matter the camcorder settings of illumination, we could not get the images to stop clipping in the horizontal resolution, indicating that the in-camera sharpening may be running too high.
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