Panasonic VDR-M53 Camcorder Review

The Front (6.0)
The front side of the VDR-M53 is pretty standard. Lens barrel on top, with a port cover on the bottom, in this case covering the camcorder’s A/V input/output and microphone input, and a built-in stereo microphone in between.

The Right Side (7.5)
The right side of the VDR-M53 features the camcorder’s DVD mechanism, strap, and not much else. The DVD mechanism, which now supports DVD-RAM discs without plastic coverings (last year’s camcorders required them), takes up most of the side, and the strap snakes its way along the bottom. While much of Panasonic’s DVD line this year has undergone cosmetic changes, however minor, Panasonic’s skinny strap seems to always stay the same. If you have big hands this strap can be great as it is very long, but if your hands are small it can pose a problem as it is not as comfortable as other faux-suede straps.

The Left Side (7.0)
The left of side of this camcorder is its main control center. Not only does it feature the camcorder’s main visualization source, its 2.5 inch LCD screen, but also a group of buttons governing what little manual control the camcorder has, and the navigational buttons necessary for surfing the camcorder’s menu system.

While the functions of the various buttons outside of the LCD screen’s cavity have not changed over the last year--there are still buttons for Disc Navigation, Menu, Select, Stop, and a four-way navigational button—button placement has changed. Instead of a column of buttons running down the right side of the LCD screen, these buttons form a neat cluster on the upper edge. The new navigational button is a bit harder to use than last year’s small nub device, but it’s not too hard.

The buttons underneath the LCD have not changed place or function from last year’s model. There are still buttons for auto mode, focus, exposure, back light, display, and two volume/adjustment buttons. Also under the LCD is the camcorder’s SD/MM card port, having been moved from the right side. The USB port found on last year’s VDR-M50 has been removed from under the LCD screen on the VDR-M53, and indeed has been removed from the camcorder completely.

The Back (5.5)
The back of the VDR-M53 features the camcorder’s mode dial, color viewfinder, and DVD mechanism open switch. The battery slot is also located here. The mode dial has options for recording movies to disc, stills to disc, stills to SD card, and off. The camcorder’s record button rests in the middle of the mode dial. The viewfinder will extend about a half an inch towards the viewer.

The Top(7.0)
The top of the VDR-M53 features the camcorder’s cold accessory shoe, crummy zoom toggle, and photo button. Kinda sparsely populated up here.