Panasonic VDR-D200 Camcorder Review

Audio (4.0)

Audio options for the VDR-D200 (Review, Specs, $324.99) are limited because this camcorder lacks Mic-in and headphone ports, features which are found on the VDR-D300 (Review, Specs, $534.89).  Needless to say, onboard stereo mics on consumer camcorders leave much to be desired.  They are small, pickup any and all sounds near the camcorder, including sounds made by the camcorder’s own motors and the shooter as s/he makes adjustments.  This camcorder is hobbled by its audio limitation so if sound quality is important to you, consider a camcorder that allows the use of external sound gear.

There are a few audio options available for use with the VDR-D200 onboard microphone. Wind Cut is a digital High Pass filter that reduces impact of the buffeting sounds caused by wind when it hits the microphone’s screen.  Wind Cut does help in light winds, especially when recording dialogue, but becomes less effective as wind speed increases.  It also reduces the overall fidelity of recorded audio because it eliminates not just wind noise, but any other sounds in a similar register. The VDR-D200 also includes Zoom Microphone, a feature that links audio levels to the camcorder’s zoom.  While this feature imitates the effects of microphones used to pick up distant sounds (such as hypercardioid booms), the Zoom Mic feature will boost the whole audio signal, introducing a greater risk of overmodulation.  It’s a feature that should be used sparingly, if at all.

VCR Mode (8.0)

The joystick is used for both video and still playback on the VDR-D200, and playback functions of the camcorder are easy to navigate even if they are a bit limited.  Video playback mode is engaged by turning the mode dial to the playback setting, represented by a “play” icon in the form of a right facing pointer.  Once initiated, clips are shown in an 8 thumbnail per page browser format. Pressing the joystick in any direction moves from clip to clip, and basic information about each clip is displayed below the thumbnails.  This information includes the date and time the selected clip was recorded, and the length of the clip.

Moving from page to page takes a while. In between pages, the camcorder freezes while it renders the next 8 thumbnail page.  Holding the joystick down advances from one page to the next, or 8 clips at a time. What’s confusing is that the page display will only change when you release the controller.  Then, you must wait while the camcorder renders the next page of clips.  A vertical scrollbar on the right hand side of the thumbnail display indicates where in the scene library you are, and a scene counter at the top of the screen reflects the scene number as you advance through the pages.

Depressing the center of the joystick causes the selected clip to begin playing on the LCD. When a clip is displayed, the joystick is used to navigate and standard VCR controls are assigned to cardinal directions: left is fast-forward, right is rewind, up is play/pause, down is stop.  It is also possible to perform basic edits such as trimming and joining video clips in-camera.  The camcorder also offers some file management such as deleting clips and images prior to exporting, and finalizing a DVD.  File management options are found in the general playback menu

 The VDR-D200 can record footage in a 16:9 aspect ratio, but this camcorder does not have a 16:9-native CCD.  Instead, this camcorder uses employs a letterboxing approach to recording widescreen footage.  The camcorder literally superimposes black bars over the, essentially cutting off the top and bottom of a 4:3 video image to achieve a 16:9 aspect ratio.  It’s a crude (but common) method that reduces the total amount of visual information recorded to disc in widescreen mode.