Panasonic SDR-SW20 First Impressions Camcorder Review by Michael Perlman Published on Jan 21, 2008 7:00 AM
Related Articles News: Panasonic SDR-SW20 underwater cam first impressions review posted

Picture & Manual Control
Automatic Control
While Panasonic’s Manual Controls rule the roost, their Automatic Controls reside on the back burner. Yes, there is a distinct Auto mode, but it’s no Sony Easy mode. When Auto mode is selected, the second half of the Joystick menu vanishes, reducing the propensity for inadvertent menu selections. Still, many one-touch adjustments can be made, such as Backlight Compensation (BLC) or MagicPix. Sony’s Easy mode just requires a press of the Record Start/Stop button, and that’s it.

Like its kin, the SDR-SW20 (Review, Specs, Recent News, )’s Automatic controls respond quickly and accurately. A brief stint at the Panasonic booth revealed a smooth shift for focus and exposure. Panasonics of yore have excelled in Automatic controls, in addition to Manual controls, and the SDR-SW20 proves Panasonic’s dedication to a quality product, regardless of the price point or intended market.

The SDR-SW20 includes a gaggle of Scene Modes, which are individual picture adjustments that can be selected based on the shooting environment. The SDR-SW20’s Scene Modes are comprised of Sports, Portrait, Low Light, Spot Light, and Surf & Snow.

	The mode dial in the LCD cavity

Overall Manual Control
Panasonic’s manual controls are a force to be reckoned with, even on their budget underwater cam. The SDR-SW20 is stacked with Iris (Aperture), White Balance, Shutter Speed, and Focus control. Unfortunately, the SDR-SW20 lacks the refined navigation of a rear-mounted joystick. The four-way directional pad embedded within the LCD cavity is inferior when it comes to handling. Shooters are required to focus on the left side of the camcorder, rather than the shot. Obviously, Panasonic had to trim space to make the SDR-SW20 a fanny pack special, but crowding the Mode dial and navigation controls within the LCD cavity will deter those who are finally ready to abandon Auto mode.

On the bright side, the SDR-SW20’s Manual controls function just as well as any other Panasonic. If you plan on going underwater, it’s probably best to hit up Auto mode—the LCD controls are a pain to handle even on land.

Zoom
The SDR-SW20’s Zoom toggle is a bit on the cheap side. It looks like it belongs on a budget internet sharing cam. The vertical plastic button design just feels flimsy and makes zooming in and out an arduous task. Underwater, the annoyance will be amplified, so master the art of its lame design.

The SDR-SW20 is capable of a 10x optical zoom and up to a 700x digital zoom. On a camcorder with such low resolution, however, anything after 20x starts to look like a YouTube video, and nobody wants their footage to look like YouTube before they actually upload it to YouTube. You’ll be snagging a lot of close-ups of swordfish and buried treasure, anyway, so zooming is not a primary concern on the SDR-SW20.

Focus
Like any other Panasonic, the SDR-SW20’s Manual Focus control is activated by pressing the Manual Focus button. A fourth page will appear in the Joystick menu, allowing you to adjust the focus by using the left and right buttons of the four-way directional pad.

Using the directional pad is just not the same as a rear-mounted joystick. Underwater, this will be an issue. The focus shift is smooth, but requires numerous taps on that clunky old directional pad. Again, Auto mode will be your saving grace underwater.

Exposure (Aperture)
Aperture is found within the third page of the Joystick menu, labeled Iris. The best part of Panasonic’s Aperture control is that it provides the shooter with aperture values (f/1.8 - f/16) to aid future calibration in particular shooting environments. Aperture is a bit easier to operate with the directional pad once you get the hang of it because you can simply shift up to a certain value before diving in. If you’re in a dark, coral-rife part of the ocean, it may behoove you to crank the aperture up a few decibels to accommodate the deep shadows.

Shutter Speed
Shutter Speed is also part of the deal and the SDR-SW20 is capable of the following speeds: 1/30 – 1/8000 (Movie) and 1/30 – 1/500 (Still Picture). With such a small imager, the SDR-SW20 will not allow much room for play at the lower shutter speeds. The PV-GS85 (Review, Specs, $0.00) and VDR-D230 (Review, Specs, $0.00), which feature identical imagers, have minimum shutter speeds of 1/60, so the SDR-SW20 does have a slight advantage with its minimum 1/30 speed.

White Balance
In addition to Auto and Manual White Balance, the SDR-SW20 has a handful of presets that include Outdoor, Indoor, Manual, and Underwater shooting modes. It’s going to be pretty exciting to see how the Underwater setting fares while the SDR-SW20 is submerged. White Balance can be selected in the third tier of the Joystick menu. To manually White Balance, shift up on the directional pad until the picture is adjusted. This may be a bit of a pain using the side-mounted directional pad, so practice is necessary—especially underwater.

Gain
Panasonic is the only manufacturer to offer Manual Gain on its camcorders, an option that is commonplace in the pro/prosumer world. Gain can be particularly useful in murky parts of the water. After the Aperture is fully opened up, Gain kicks in and adds up to an 18dB boost. Even the PV-GS85 and VDR-D210 had room to play with at 15 lux, so the SDR-SW20 should fall along the same lines.

Other Manual Controls

Guide Lines
To assist the shooter with the Rule of Thirds, Guide Lines section the screen into either two or three horizontal portions.