Panasonic HDC-SX5 First Impressions Camcorder Review

Other Features
Pre-Record – This feature is designed to prevent you from missing a key moment while the camcorder is booting up to begin recording. The operation is a little tricky. First, the camcorder must already be on and in the video record mode. Then, when you see the moment you’ve been waiting for, you point the camcorder at the subject and hit the Pre-Rec button located on the back. The camcorder begins capturing video in the cache memory while it waits for you to hit the actual Record button. The cache memory can only hold three seconds, so you must hit the Record button immediately after Pre-Rec. Hitting Pre-Rec will not automatically activate the recording process. If all goes well, the cache memory footage is slapped onto the front of the starting point, and you have every part of the shot you wanted.

We can see this being useful for DVD recording, where there is a short lag time between pushing the button and the camcorder actually capturing. Card memory has very little lag time, though, and the Pre-Rec feature may be less necessary. Also, the chances of people forgetting to hit the actual Record button after hitting Pre-Rec are high, ending up with none of the shot. It would have made more sense to have the Pre-Rec button automatically initiate record, like a quick start feature.

Power LCD Extra – This button, located in the Panasonic HDC-SX5’s LCD cavity, brightens up the LCD for better viewing. Push it once, and you’ll see +1 appear on screen. Push it again, and +2 appears on an even brighter screen. Push it a third time, and the screen returns to normal brightness.

Disc Copy – This button, also located in the Panasonic HDC-SX5’s LCD cavity, initiates the process of burning footage from the SDHC card onto a DVD. There are some provisos, though. While the process is done entirely in-camera, the power must be plugged in. Samsung’s new SC-DX10 is the only hybrid camcorder that does not require this.

Quick Start - This feature, which is only available when shooting to SDHC cards, places the camcorder in stand-by, reducing power up-to-record time down to about 1.7 seconds.

Backlight Compensation - Located in the joystick menu, this feature boosts overall exposure to maintain detail when a subject is framed against a strongly lit background.

MagiPix - This is Panasonic's night mode, which reduces the shutter speed down to 1/15th or 1/30th. While it's good at gathering light, a shutter this slow will result in serious blurring.

Soft Skin Mode - Found in the joystick menu, this feature detects certain colors as skin tones and smooths out the detail in those areas, usually by softening focus.

Tele Macro - This feature automatically extends the zoom to its full 10x range.

Conclusion
Hybrid camcorders make sense, particularly the Panasonic HDC-SX5. If you’re going to spend all this money on an HD camcorder, why not give yourself the option of multiple recording media. While several manufacturers have hybrid camcorders, this particular combination is the smartest we’ve seen. SDHC cards have wide support and are getting cheaper and larger. Recording video straight to DVD is a chore due to the slow load times, but being able to back-up footage from SDHC to a DVD, all in-camera, is a great feature. Archival is a feature people value, and the built-in functionality means that you don’t have to spend another $200 on a stand-alone burner.

What do these conveniences cost you? The Panasonic HDC-SX5 sells for an estimated $899, a full $100 less than the new HDC-SD5, which only records to SDHC cards. However, the SX5 is also much smaller and more portable. If you already own a DVD burner, you can shell out a little more money here and lighten the load in your camera bag. But the SX5 combo package is looking like an awfully good deal.

There’s no doubt that the HDC-SX5 is an improvement over the HDC-DX1 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $1119.99). Though we mourn the loss of the mic jack and larger LCD, the SX5 compensates with an active accessory shoe and higher resolution LCD. Plus, you no longer have to settle for the intolerably slow DVD as your only media. The reduced size is also a benefit, as the DX1 was a monster. The only inconsolable downgrade is the smaller imager size – there’s just no cure for that kind of cutback. Though we must say, the increased capture resolution, now a full 1920 x 1080, should make for a better picture. Our resolution tests will be the final judge of that.

We’re interested to get the Panasonic HDC-SX5 into our labs for testing, most especially to test out that Intelligent Contrast and new imagers. As of right now, we’re putting out a tentative “This Could Be Cool” award.