Panasonic HDC-SD60

Auto Mode

Panasonic's iA controls have become a staple feature for the company.

In our brief time with the HDC-SD60 we didn't notice any striking differences with its auto controls as compared to last year. Panasonic's Intelligent Auto (iA) functions worked quite well and the AF/AE tracking feature is still a strong feature for the model.

The face detection feature on the HDC-SD60 has been updated with new auto shutter controls that will automatically snap a photo when it detects a smiling subject within the frame. This feature is similar to the smile shutter setting on numerous Sony camcorders.

Low Light Modes
We couldn't find the Magic Pix setting that was Panasonic's low light mode of yore, but the SD60 does have a Color Night Record mode that appears to be exactly the same thing. Color Night Record lets the camcorder use very slow shutter speeds and probably boosts the gain to its maximum level so you can shoot in low light situations, albeit with lots of motion trailing from the slow shutter.

Scene Modes
The SD60 appears to have the same set of scene modes as last year's camcorders, but it was difficult to tell due to Panasonic's inscrutable icons for its scene modes. Instead of saying what each scene mode is useful for in text, the camcorder shows confusing icons that can be difficult to decipher.

Zoom

The zoom toggle on the HDC-SD60 is top-mounted and isn't much different than last year's models. There's also the zoom buttons on the base of the LCD panel, but they don't work all that well (and they aren't comfortable to press).

The zoom toggle isn't much different than what was on previous models from Panasonic.

Zoom Ratio

The HDC-SD60 has an optical zoom of 25x, which is very good for an HD camcorder. It is also a big improvement over last year's models from Panasonic, as they only had 16x optical zoom lenses. The zoom can be expanded to 35x using Panasonic's Intelligent Zoom setting. Intelligent zoom is different than digital zoom in that it doesn't result in much image degradation when utilized. The intelligent zoom system attempts to enhance the image to make it look sharper and clearer than a regular digital zoom.

Focus

Focus is adjusted using the touchscreen system on the HDC-SD60 and it isn't really improved from last year's mid-range HD models from Panasonic. In fact, all of these manual controls are essentially unchanged from last year's HDC-SD20 camcorder.

Exposure

Exposure is adjustable on the HDC-SD60, but it is buried deep in the camcorder's menu under the picture adjustment heading. Panasonic did remove a few of the extra info screens that you must tap your way through before you can actually adjust the exposure, however, so there has been some improvement. Good job Panasonic!

Aperture

Aperture is part of the function menu with the HDC-SD60, just like it was on previous models. Panasonic calls aperture adjustment iris, and the control is still tied to gain. Only after the aperture is fully open (to f/1.8) can you adjust the gain settings.

Shutter Speed

Shutter speed is set just like aperture on the SD60. It is part of the camcorder's function menu and it is adjusted using by tapping buttons on the touchscreen display. The lowest available shutter speed you can set manually is 1/30 of a second, but you must turn on auto slow shutter for that option (otherwise 1/60 is the lowest available).

White Balance

Panasonic didn't change anything with its white balance settings on the HDC-SD60. The camcorder has a few white balance presets and a custom option that is easy to set. In the picture adjustment settings you can also adjust the color temperature on the camcorder manually. The setting allows you to push the color temperature red or blue.

Gain

Gain can only be set on the HDC-SD60 when the aperture is fully opened on the camcorder. We'd like to see Panasonic separate aperture and gain control on its camcorders, but it doesn't seem like this will happen anytime soon.

Color & Image Controls

Other Manual Controls

Nothing really new here for Panasonic this year. The camcorder still has a tele macro setting and guide lines for framing assist, but nothing really jumped out as a new feature for 2010. The SD60 does feature an improved stabilization system, however, and we discuss that in the Handling section of this review.