The Panasonic HDCSD10 features a 16x optical zoom. You can zoom close to catch dynamic shots of distant objects. And because the zoom is optical there's limited image degradation. Also Panasonic's Advanced O.I.S. helps prevent blurring - typically a big concern when shooting with a zoom. This combination of optical zoom and Advanced O.I.S. gives you the ability to take fantastic zoom shots. You get all the beauty and minimal blurring. There's nothing more disappointing than shooting a once-in-a-lifetime event on video only to discover that the images are blurry or poorly exposed because of backlighting.

• Captures 1080p HD video


• Super-compact design; weighs only 1/2 pound


• Intelligent Auto mode takes the guess-work out of recording and allows anyone to record picture perfect moments


• 16x Optical Image Stabilized zoom with Active mode anticipates your movement to correct jitters and shakes and allow smooth movement when recording


• Record to SD/SDHC memory cards (not included)

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The Panasonic HDCSD10 features a 16x optical zoom. You can zoom close to catch dynamic shots of distant objects. And because the zoom is optical there's limited image degradation. Also Panasonic's Advanced O.I.S. helps prevent blurring - typically a big concern when shooting with a zoom. This combination of optical zoom and Advanced O.I.S. gives you the ability to take fantastic zoom shots. You get all the beauty and minimal blurring. There's nothing more disappointing than shooting a once-in-a-lifetime event on video only to discover that the images are blurry or poorly exposed because of backlighting.

• Captures 1080p HD video


• Super-compact design; weighs only 1/2 pound


• Intelligent Auto mode takes the guess-work out of recording and allows anyone to record picture perfect moments


• 16x Optical Image Stabilized zoom with Active mode anticipates your movement to correct jitters and shakes and allow smooth movement when recording


• Record to SD/SDHC memory cards (not included)

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Great Camcorder still needs some improvement

I got this camcorder for about two weeks already. It's very easy to start operating it even without reading the manual. The touch screen feature is great! You can basically play on the touch screen and see the difference of the picture quality right on the screen. Here's some of the Pro & Con that I think after playing with this camcorder.



Pro:

-Easy to use

-Great video quality (I hook on my Sony 48 inches 1080p LCD screen the picture looks great!)

-Picture quality is great too if you got enough light when using indoor (outdoor no problem)

-Indoor video recording is pretty good using backlight function if indoor light is not enough.

-Outdoor video quality is excellent

-Digital zooming is great (I can basically zoom in and get so detail that I can see the pore of the person's face right across of the street with 3 traffic lane in between it.)

-LCD touch screen is great (you can flip the screen too! You can also use fingernail to touch the screen if your fingertip is too big the screen don't have any problem recognizing your command.)



Con:

-Not enough battery life (got around 90minutes of recording good thing is that you can see how much time you got left on the LCD screen for recording so you'll know when you need to charge the battery or switch to power cord or new battery.)

-You cannot charge the battery while using power cord!

-The power cord plug on the camcorder is hidden underneath where you put the battery at so you cannot use both battery and power cord at the same time (very bad when you try to record using power cord once you accidentally pull the power cord plug all of the recording stops and it takes long time for camcorder to get back to recording and it also causes temporary hard drive malfunction while the camcorder trying to recover what you just record.)

-You cannot turn on the light that came with the camcorder to do the recording (it's use mostly as flash function when taking picture)



So far that's what I thought playing for two weeks (without reading the manual.)

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The picture quality of a '90s cell phone

I bought the Panasonic SDR-H80 digital video camera from Best Buy yesterday (May 23 2009). It cost $399 + extra for a backup battery and a warranty.



The Good Stuff:



The optical image stabilization feature is quite adept at stabilizing a shaky image.



The 70x zoom is kinda cool though you really need a tripod for anything over about 30x.



The camera looks attractive is light weight and has a relatively easy to use interface. The buttons are mostly positioned well except the zoom lever which I couldn't easily reach without jostling the camera.



The Bad Stuff:



The image quality of this camera is utter trash. Pure garbage. My picture phone literally takes better quality video at a higher resolution. I was absolutely stunned at how bad the image quality is. It looks like some kind of highly compressed late 90's webcam or something.



And it gets even worse in low light. And here by "low light" I mean anything less than direct sunlight. My first attempts with this camera last night turned out so bad that I couldn't see anything.



I did have the camera set to the highest quality and I followed the instructions for the different lighting types (fluorescent mercury etc) with no luck.



The camera claims to have an intelligent auto (iA) feature but I didn't notice it doing much but fiddling with the white balance at odd intervals.



There is also a special low-light feature called "magic ..." something or other. I forget. But it reduced the frame rate to 1 or 2 fps which makes it completely unacceptable as a video recording device.



I am surprised at how good the reviews are for this piece of equipment. Really people set your bar just a little bit higher.



I returned this product this morning to Best Buy. I brought my laptop and while I was there I tried out other cameras of this model to make sure that mine was not simply defective. They were all trash.



I ate the $60 Best Buy restocking fee but that's okay because I'd rather be out $60 than $400 for a camera that won't do anything but sit in my closet.More detail ...

Uh people...this is a sub-$200 camcorder NOT a commercial grade HD unit!

I have read all the reviews I could find here and elsewhere about this camcorder and I came away with the impression that the more critical opinions stemmed from unrealistic expectations or poor reading comprehension from the reviewers themselves.

As it turns out I was right.

This is an inexpensive and very compact and lightweight standard definition camcorder designed for the casual user who does not want to sink a whole month's pay into just to record some personal events.

First the good and bad:

Pros:

1) Unusually small and lightweight this is easily carried in a jacket pocket.

2) The startup time even when not set in Quickstart mode is five seconds. Nice way to capture surprises on the go.

3) The iA mode which automatically sets the iris shutter white balance and other major aspects of recording works pretty well even though resorting to the manual settings is still required for some unusual applications.

4) The incredible 70x optical zoom is unparalleled in a camera at this price point.

5) The Optical Image Stabilization is considerably more effective than the more common digital stabilization found in all other cameras in this price range. Just don't expect to get away with using the full 70x zoom while hand holding it though!

6) The MPEG2 format used for recording is easily handled under my admittedly eccentric choice of operating system Linux.

7) The SDHC storage medium allows random access to recordings easy deletion no moving parts and a storage medium that is handled under even Linux with a cardreader. Also the camcorder itself is recognized under Linux so the files can be manipulated through the integral USB port if desired.

8) The manual settings allow the user to adjust for unusual conditions such as low light just as long as you READ THE MANUAL FIRST then experiment a bit on your own.

9) The camcorder is almost noiseless in operation so there is no clicking from a DVD whirring of a hard drive humming of a DVC drive motor or motor from the lens being zoomed in and out.

10) The integral lens cover which is built into the front of the camera surrounding the lens cannot be lost.

11) The barrel surrounding the lens area is threaded allowing accessories such as wide angle and zoom lenses and filters to be screwed in for special applications. Those accessories are easily found right here on Amazon.

12) Hey! It even comes with a proper printed manual a rarity in this day of PDF manuals available only on CD-ROM or via websites.



Cons:

1) It would have been nice if Panasonic had added a microphone jack to allow a separate microphone to be used. However the integral microphone works rather well on its own.

2) In certain applications especially indoors the image can take on a reddish cast when using the default iA setting. This is easily overcome by adjusting the white balance for incandescent lighting though so no real problem.

3) The battery life of ~1 hour is rather short and requires opening a cover on the bottom to replace when discharged. I already ordered two spares and a standalone charger.

4) This may be looked at as good or bad depending on your opinion but the battery does not charge with the cable plugged in while the camera is in use. I actually look at this as a good thing since it does not wear out the battery by discharging it while it is charging which can cause premature failure of lithium-ion batteries. It simply runs directly from the power cord when plugged in which is no real problem as far as I am concerned.

5) Even at the MagicPix setting designed for extreme low light this camcorder will not work in a completely dark room. I don't really even worry about that. If I really wanted to record in such extreme conditions I would spring for a considerably more expensive night shot camcorder. It still does pretty well in low light as long as there is at least 2 lumens of light present.



My opinions on this are that this is unusually good for a camcorder in its price range especially for its two main selling points of its fantastic 70x optical zoom and optical image stabilization.

It is so simple to operate that even a young child could understand it using the nicely automated settings.

Yes there are some circumstances that call for manual intervention but the people griping about this especially those attempting (apparently) to take footage inside a cave would be well advised to READ THE MANUAL and not expect the impossible from such an inexpensive camcorder.

I was able to take some nighttime footage with this with only sodium and mercury vapor light illumination and it did pretty well.

And while it is true that my naked eyes are good in light far lower than this can handle I have a more realistic expectation of it than some of the more critical people out there.

I intend to have a family member use this next year for my wedding and I am confident that it will work just fine for that too.

Nice work Panasonic!More detail ...

Good for the price and the size

I bought this several weeks ago when it was on sale. I'm happy with it. The footage it produces is very good the low light performance while not great is acceptable. It's very small and very easy to use and the optical image stabilizer is fantastic. All in all it's a solid step up from a flip camcorder though certainly not as good as one of the more expensive canons. But for now this is an affordable high def camcorder that works well for family video shoots.More detail ...