Panasonic SDR-H60 Camcorder Review

by David Kender
Published on Nov 18, 2008 1:20 PM

 
Intro Performance
Format Auto / Manual Controls
Still Features
 Handling and Use
Audio / Playback / Connectivity Other Features
Conclusion & Comparisons Photo Gallery
Specs and Ratings


Still Features (6.0)
The Panasonic SDR-H60 has a very limited ability to record still photos. You can record either 640 x 480 or 640 x 360 stills in the JPEG format. Just to be clear, that's 0.3 megapixels and 0.23 megapixels. The average compact digital camera offers about 7 to 8 megapixels – more than twenty times the resolution. Sure, all the great manual controls found in video mode are carried over to still recording mode, but who cares? Stills this size are only suitable for small reference pictures or when you have no option of using a better camera.

The Photo Manual Control Menu contains the following items:

Photo Manual Control Menu
Page 1 Self Timer, BLC, Information
Page 2 Soft Skin Mode
Page 3 Iris, White Balance, Shutter Speed
Page 4 Focus

The main, or Admin, menu contains the following options:

Photo Administrative Menu
Basic Scene Mode, Guide Lines, Picture Size, Picture Quality, Clock Set
Advanced Shutter Effect, Auto Slow Shutter
Media Select HDD, SD Card
Setup Display, Date/Time, Date Format, Format Card, Quick Start, Power Save, Beep Sound, LCD Set, Initial Set, Demo Mode
Language English, Espanol, Francais

Clockwise starting above:
1) Admin Menu in Still Photo Mode,
2) The Basic submenu,
3) The Advanced submenu

 In Photo Playback mode, the Photo menu contains the following items:

Photo Playback Menu
Picture Setup Lock Set, Copy, Delete
Media Select HDD, SD Card
Setup Display, Date/Time, Date Format, Power Save, Beep Sound, LCD Set, TV Aspect
Language English, Espanol, Francais

Still Performance (8.0)
The still performance of the Panasonic SDR-H60 was tested by shooting an X-Rite Color Checker chart under an even, bright light, then running those stills through Imatest imaging software. According to Imatest, the H60 produced a color error of 7.5. The noise measured 0.70205%. The saturation measured 92.89%.

These scores are rather good for a camcorder in its price range. The color accuracy was about the same on the step-up Panasonic SDR-H200, but the noise was actually lower this time around. In fact, the Panasonic SDR-H60 had better color and noise test results than either the Sony DCR-SR85 and Canon FS11, by a lot. Of course, it's important to remember that these maximum still size is incredibly small by modern standards.

Still Resolution (1.17)
The still resolution of the Panasonic SDR-H60 was tested by shooting an Applied Image ISO 12233 resolution chart at an even, bright light, then running the stills through Imatest imaging software. At best, the camcorder produced a horizontal resolution of 295.9 line widths per picture height (lw/ph), and a vertical resolution of 343.5 lw/ph.

These scores are decent, considering how small the stills are.



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