Panasonic SDR-S150 Camcorder Review

The Front (9.0)
The first thing that strikes you about this camcorder is that it’s genuinely small – in fact pocket-sized. The second is that little has changed with regard to design since last year’s SDR-S100 (Specs, $1199) other than some cosmetic tweaks here and there. Viewed from the front, the most prominent feature of the SDR-S150 is the Leica Dicomar lens, which looks big on this camcorder given the 37mm filter diameter. Shading the lens is a small built-in matte box, which should provide better than average glare protection. An automatic lens cover is built into the matte box, and retracts when the LCD is opened. The lens hood (into which the matte box is integrated) can be removed to accommodate filters and conversion lenses. Just below the lens is a remote sensor, inset into a grey rubberized area that provides a solid grip for hand-held shooting.

The Right Side (3.0)
The right side of the SDR-S150 is where you see some of the modifications Panasonic has made to their interface to adapt to this camcorder’s exceptionally small profile. As with the SDR-S100, there is no hand strap because of the upright design. Instead, a loop-style strap can be affixed to a small loop on the camcorder’s underside.

Panasonic’s familiar mode dial appears on the top half of the right side near the back of the camcorder. While this iteration of the mode dial resembles those found on larger consumer camcorders from Panasonic, it has been miniaturized on the SDR-S150, and placed flat against the right face. The mode dial usually appears on the camcorder’s back facing the user, allowing for true one-handed operation. Above the mode dial is a small black sensor used for white balance calibration, which strikes us as an odd placement since it points right rather than forward. In front of the white balance sensor is a switch that pops open the onboard flash, and a playback speaker that consists of three tiny holes in the camcorder’s exterior.

The lower half of the right side is taken up by the battery compartment which is protected by a cover that blends seamlessly with the camcorder body. If you are someone who makes use of optional long-life batteries, the mention of a battery compartment cover is already setting off alarm bells. As with last year’s SDR-S100, the SDR-S150 does not accommodate longer life batteries meaning if you want to shoot for a long period of time, you’ll need to buy additional fixed-size batteries. While it’s certainly possible to extend the length of your shoot by purchasing any number of CGA-S303 battery packs for this camcorder, we are strongly in favor of designs that provide users with the option of upgrading to longer life batteries. Clearly the closed-battery design of the SDR-S150 has to do with this being a small camcorder and Panasonic has miniaturized wherever possible. However, even a closed battery compartment can be built with a little extra space. We would prefer to see a few extra millimeters in girth on this svelte camcorder to allow for a long-life battery option.

The Back (6.0)
The back side of the SDR-S150 faces the user during hand-held use, and most of the user interface is located here. On top is the On/Off switch, and just to its right is a small red indicator lamp that is illuminated when power is turned on. Below this is the record button nested inside a circular zoom toggle. This control is another place where Panasonic has consolidated controls (by combining the record button and zoom toggle) to save space, and it comes at a cost to usability. The zoom toggle is operated by applying pressure to either side, and while it is functional, a traditional zoom lever or slider offers better control. As on other Panasonic consumer camcorders, the zoom toggle also controls volume during playback.

Below this is the menu navigation controller, a four-way touch pad with a selection button at its center. The touch pad offers the same functionality as the four-way joystick on larger Panasonics, and it’s nearly as user-friendly. Below the touchpad on the right half of the body is the menu access button, and below that is a file delete button, identified by a trash can icon. The delete button is a feature found on non-tape-based camcorders and is reminiscent of digital still cameras. Below the delete button is the Auto/Manual Mode toggle switch, which is also used to engage manual focus control.

To the left of the buttons, aligned vertically, is a rubberized port cover that conceals all of the SDR-S150’s ports: a USB, combination AV/S-Video/headphone jack, and the DC-power in. The placement of these ports presents some obvious problems for hand-held shooting, since your hand blocks all of these ports when gripping the camcorder. While it’s relatively unlikely that you’ll be shooting hand-held when the DC or USB ports are plugged in, however, you might want to monitor audio with headphones – but you’ll need to adopt a modified grip to accomplish that feat with the SDR-S100.

The Left Side (9.0)
The left side of the SDR-S150 is dominated by the 2.8” widescreen LCD screen, which puts the size of this camcorder in perspective. The exterior surface of the LCD is bare other than some branding text, and it hinges from the top. Inside the LCD cavity are a few features: the Power LCD button turns on the LCD backlight, and a release switch near the bottom edge of the camcorder opens the adjacent SD card slot. It should be noted that the SD slot does open at the camcorder’s base which means you’ll need to remove the camcorder from a tripod to change SD cards. We prefer commonly accessed features like card slots to be placed more conveniently – but at least Panasonic can play up the ultra-compact card. Too many manufacturers place card slots on the base even when they aren’t so space-limited – a cop out in our book.

The Top (7.0)
The top of the SDR-S150 has only a few features to speak of. Just ahead of the on/off switch is the onboard stereo microphone, recessed slightly from the top surface. Closer to the lens is a pop-up flash that is opened via a small switch on the right side of the camcorder. There is no accessory shoe – and really no space for one anyway – but a microphone jack would have been a valuable addition, especially since Panasonic has provided a headphone adaptor for the AV multiport.