Panasonic HDC-SX5 First Impressions Camcorder Review

Audio
Some of the biggest cuts from the HDC-DX1 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $1119.99) are found here in the audio features. The Panasonic HDC-SX5 has a standard 2-channel built-in mic located on top near the lens. Last year’s DX1 offered a 5.1-channel Dolby mic in the same location. Graver yet is the loss of the mini mic input. We’re quite sorry to see that go, as mic inputs open up a world of options for better sound recording.

Panasonic does not leaving us hanging entirely, though. The camcorder does come equipped with a hot accessory shoe that can connect to other audio accessories. If connected, they must be activated manually in the menu. The built-in mic has a decent set of features. When Zoom Mic is engaged, audio levels are automatically boosted in sync with the optical zoom increases. Audio levels can be set manually, as well. There are two options, “SET,” which gives you full control of the levels, and “SET+AGC,” which enables an auto gain control to prevent clipping in the audio track. Both of these are located in the main menu, and handle very well. Finally, there is a Wind Cut feature that trims some of the bottom-end rumble caused by wind.

Playback
There are two playback modes on the mode dial, one for high definition footage and one for standard definition. Both are indicated by little green triangles, and it won’t be hard to tell them apart; the whole mode dial is split into an “HD” set of options and a “STD” set of options.

When in the HD playback mode, there are three tabs at the top: DVD video clips, Card video clips, and still photos. Once again, toggling between these tabs will make you wish you never recorded anything onto a DVD. While the video clips on the card load instantly, each represented by a little thumbnail image, the DVD clips load laboriously, taking as long 12–15 seconds to complete the page.

Traversing the playback options are done with the joystick, and it’s all very straightforward. The menu options are limited, but they do allow for loop playback and erase prevention, among the basic fast forward, rewind, and skip controls.

Connectivity
The Panasonic HDC-SX5 has all the standard ports you would expect on an HD camcorder, and not a single port more. Located under the LCD cavity is a port cover that opens to reveal AV-out, component-out, and mini-USB 2.0. Next to that is the card slot for SD and SDHC cards. On the other side of the camcorder is the DVD loading bay, which takes 10-25 seconds to open after the Disc Open switch has been touched. On top of the HDC-SX5 is the hot accessory shoe. On the back, behind the battery, are the HDMI and DC power jacks. We’ve brought this up before here and in other reviews, but we’ll make our case again. It makes no sense to hide ports behind the battery. A power connection in this location means that if the battery is running low and you want to change to in-line power, you’ll have to stop record and remove the battery first. Goodbye, footage of Billy’s big finish in the school play. The HDMI jack is less of a concern, but still annoying.

The posts are spread out through the body of the HDC-SX5: AV-out, component-out, and USB are located on the left side (left). The HDMI and DC power are located on the back behind the battery (right). Not shown are the hot accessory shoe on top and the SD card slot on the left side.