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Panasonic HDC-SD5 First Impressions Camcorder Reviewby Michael PerlmanPublished on Jul 30, 2007 3:00 AM 
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Picture & Manual Control
Automatic Control
Based on what we saw with the HDC-SD1 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $1119.99), you can expect the HDC-SD5 to perform well in auto mode. Granted, there are those challenging environments that tend to run auto exposure, white balance, and focus through the picture gauntlet due to high contrasts or harsh lighting. When the HDC-SD5 is set to auto mode, the joystick menu consists only of three pages and does not offer control over exposure, white balance, or shutter speed. This is Panasonic at its most rudimentary level. Despite its base form of operation, the HDC-SD5 still offers more independent control in auto mode than most camcorders. A help mode is available to guide the shooter through their selection of automatic controls, characterized by a series of titles for each setting.
The HDC-SD5’s auto mode will suit the needs of most point-and-shooters, but will not offer the idiot-proof stability of Sony’s Easy mode. In Easy mode, Sony’s camcorders slip into full autopilot, providing extensive image adjustment coverage for almost any environment. Panasonic tends to leave a bit more for the shooter. For instance, even in auto mode you have control over Intelligent Contrast, Soft Skin mode, MagicPix, backlight compensation settings, and Tele Macro. When selected, auto slow shutter automatically adjusts the shutter speed at fluctuating values beneath 1/30—yet another automatic control placed in the shooter’s hand. In Sony Easy mode land, everything turns into a ghost town—the touch screen menu buttons swell in size and many beloved, reassuring features vanish into digital oblivion. Users might get bogged down by Panasonic’s intricate joystick menu, but it definitely caters to the more sophisticated point-and-shooter.
Overall Manual Control
The HDC-SD5 is a manual control hero—on the consumer level. While intermediate and professional filmmakers swoon over Panasonic’s manual control offerings on their pro and prosumer cameras, the average point-and-shooter will be steeped in plenty o’ image control. For instance, gain. Panasonic is the only manufacturer to offer gain on their consumer camcorders—a tip of the hat to their professional line. In addition, the implementation of the rear-mounted joystick allows for one-handed camcorder operation in conjunction with the neighboring menu button.
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The Basic sub-menu in the main menu |
The Video sub-menu in the main menu |
In manual mode, one center press of the joystick activates the function menu. The fourth page of the function menu contains iris, shutter speed, and white balance control, clumped together for quick accessibility. Gain will automatically kick in after the aperture has been fully opened. Navigating with the HDC-SD5’s joystick is not particularly a treat. As outlined in the handling section, the joystick is too small and finicky—practice is in order for on-the-fly manual adjustment without inadvertently selecting every icon in existence. Panasonic’s manual focus control is not entirely preferable, especially with the joystick, but look at the size of this thing. The HDC-SD5 is about sleek lines and a feathery mass, so you’ll have to deal with the fact that the “world’s smallest AVCHD camcorder” is a point-and-shooter’s dream.
The zoom toggle
Zoom
Most Panasonics, Sonys, Canons, and JVCs are equipped with the infamous rocking zoom lever—a raised plastic tab that is capable of resilient handling and an innate ability to stop on a dime. Panasonic took a gamble with the HDC-SD5 and slapped a chunky rectangular zoom slider on top. Though our opinions of zoom sliders tend to wax and wane, this is the first zoom control we’ve seen that combines the beloved responsiveness of a lever with the buttery smoothness of a slider. All in all, this is a great design.
The HDC-SD5 has a 10x optical zoom, which is slightly stunted compared to the HDC-SD1’s 12x. In order to design the “world’s smallest AVCHD camcorder,” Panasonic had to cut corners somewhere, and the HDC-SD5 joins the vast sea of high-end consumer camcorders strapped with 10x optical zooms. The HDC-SD5 also has a digital zoom that can penetrate the stratosphere with a magnification of up to 700x. The digital zoom can be capped at 25x, which is where it should remain—anything after that is a pixilated fiasco.
Like the HDC-SD1, there are no additional zoom controls found on the HDC-SD5’s body, yet the Sony HDR-CX7 (Specs, Recent News, $1199) offers handy W and T buttons embedded within its LCD panel. The option to have an alternate set of controls for any function on a camcorder is a definite plus, but Panasonic appears to be honing in on looks and size rather than functionality.
Focus
The HDC-SD5’s manual focus can be activated by shifting the auto/manual switch to the manual focus setting. A fifth page will appear within the joystick menu, consisting of +/- parameters that can be controlled horizontally via the joystick. Sadly, the HDC-SD5 does not have any other method of focus control, so the joystick is your only hope. The HDC-SD1 features the same manual focus interface—along with all other recent Panasonics—and we found the level of control offered by the joystick to be mediocre at best. As with all Panasonics, the manual focus performs well, producing a crisp, sharp picture when calibrated correctly. This is great, but keep in mind that your only monitor is a 2.7” LCD screen.
The Sony HDR-SR1 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $1119.99), HDR-UX1 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $729.95), and HDR-UX7 all feature 3.5” LCD screens, amplifying the degree of manual focus accuracy due to the colossal viewing pane. The aforementioned AVCHD titans also feature cam control rings or dials similar to those found on the Canon HV20 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $903) and Sony HDR-HC7 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $1128.56). Though you will not be greeted with that echelon of manual control with the HDC-SD5, its joystick-governed manual focus interface beats the pants off the Sony HDR-CX7’s touch screen control panel. The HDC-SD5 features an MF assist function which magnifies the center quadrant of the viewing pane by 2x, aiding the finer intricacies of focus adjustment. This helps when honing in on fine detail. Though MF assist proves to be a useful feature, Panasonic’s version does not offer peaking and the 2.7” widescreen LCD renders the function virtually useless.
Exposure (Aperture)
The HDC-SD5’s independent iris control is part of the reason why Panasonic reigns supreme in the manual control world. Most camcorders will offer basic control over exposure, a tip of the cap to beginners and novices who quest for the simplicity of merely brightening or darkening a clip via a familiar horizontal slider. That’s not the case here—Panasonic doesn’t play around.
When in manual mode, iris control can be accessed in the fourth page of the joystick menu by shifting the joystick upward. A small cluster of information appears in the bottom left side of the LCD screen, including adjustable fstops in the following increments: f/16, f/14, f/11, f/9.6, f/8, f/6.8, f/5.6, f/4.8, f/4, f/3.4, f/2.8, and Open. While shifting through fstops, you’ll notice that there is a mysterious 1/2 step between each value, adding to a total of 23 steps. When the aperture is fully open, you can continue adjusting the exposure via gain, which automatically kicks in. Panasonic is the only manufacturer to offer gain in their consumer line, and we applaud them for continuing the legacy on the HDC-SD5.
On the flip side of all the above praise, none of the Panasonics have a simple exposure compensation, which is often the only control that a novice really wants. It wouldn’t have hurt to put both aperture and exposure compensation on.
Shutter Speed
Shutter speed on the HDC-SD5 can be accessed on the fourth page of the joystick menu by shifting the joystick to the left and can be adjusted by shifting the joystick left to decrease and right to increase. The HDC-SD5 offers manual shutter speed control in the following steps: 1/30, 1/60, 1/100, 1/120, 1/180, 1/250, 1/350, 1/500, 1/750, 1/1000, 1/1500, 1/2000, 1/3000, 1/4000, and 1/8000—a wide array within its class. Since the HDC-SD5 records in 1080i, it is capable of a 1/30 shutter speed, as opposed to the HDC-SD1’s base shutter speed of 1/60. With MagicPix on, the shutter speed automatically drops below 1/30, but there is no available manual control past that point.
White Balance
Also located in the fourth page of the joystick menu, the HDC-SD5’s white balance control can be selected by shifting the joystick to the right. Toggling the joystick up or down will cycle you through a menu consisting of auto, indoor, outdoor, and manual white balance settings. In order to manually adjust the white balance, simply hold the joystick up toward the manual white balance icon until it blinks twice. The HDC-SD5’s manual white balance control is fast and accurate, calibrating a balanced image in less than two seconds. Though the Canon HV20 churned the best manual white balance performance within our testing room, the HDC-SD5 is a strong contender. Auto white balance is a bit of a free-for-all with most consumer camcorders, and the HDC-SD5’s rapid white balance adjustment will obliterate the need to rely on autopilot.
Gain
While most manufacturers infuse or disguise gain control within manual exposure, Panasonic is the only manufacturer to isolate this tier of image adjustment. The HDC-SD5’s gain kicks in after the aperture is fully opened and offers the following incremental steps: 0dB, 3dB, 6dB, 9dB, 12dB, 15 dB, and 18dB. That mysterious 1/2 step is present between each individual gain level, amounting to a total of 12 gain steps.
Other Manual Controls
Guidelines- Though we did not get a chance to explore the HDC-SD5’s guideline offerings, they should be strikingly similar to that of the HDC-SD1’s. The HDC-SD1 offers three horizontal lines congruent to the rule of thirds, a nine box grid, and a second grid which overlays finer lines on the subject.
Zebra Stripes- Zebra stripes aid those who need guidance when it comes to exposure. When selected, black and white stripes will appear over blown out areas of the image, indicating which spots need exposure correction. Sony and Canon offer two levels of intensity—70 IRE and 100 IRE, but Panasonic only provides a single fixed zebra level setting.
Color Bars- You can record a screen of color bars for color calibration when playing back footage on a TV. Color bars are located in the advanced section of the administrative menu.
Intelligent Contrast- New from Panasonic, the intelligent contrast feature can be found in the first page of the joystick menu. When applied, intelligent contrast reportedly detects the intensity of the ambient light within an image and adjusts the exposure according to its reading. The central goal of the intelligent contrast feature is to abolish blown highlights and obstructed shadows. We look forward to putting this feature to the grindstone in our testing room next month. In fact, we may even whip out a brand new test we’ve been sitting on…