7.3 out of 10

Panasonic HDC-SD5

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from 50 sources in 19 countries

Great Deal: $371.99

User Score (126)

8.3
Expert Score (8)

7.7
Design (2)

7.2
Value for money (6)

7.5
Features (5)

6.7
Ease of use (6)

7.4
Sound quality (5)

7.0
Picture quality (6)

7.5
Battery performance (4)

8.1
Video quality (2)

7.2

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Pros & Cons

easy to use, lightweight, small, good image quality, small and neat

no viewfinder

Score Distribution

Experts:

9-10		(2)
7-8		(5)
5-6		(1)
3-4		(0)
1-2		(0)

Users:

9-10		(44)
7-8		(44)
5-6		(8)
3-4		(6)
1-2		(4)

Expert Reviews

Wired

19 November 2010
Panasonic’s solid-state 3-chip camcorder is a perfect vacation cam: small and lightweight, with a long lasting, efficient battery. Even better, it shoots 1920 x 1080i AVCHD video to SD or SDHC cards, so if you fill it up on the road you can grab some more memory. Yet while color handling was fantastic and we were totes impressed with the sehr gut Leica lens that captured bright, crisp images, we saw some noticeable compression artifacts on our 37″ HDTV. Read more
- The Nicole Richie of camcorders at 2.6 x 2.6 x 5.3 inches and 12 ounces. Impressive manual focus enlarges image on LCD display for fine-tuning. Manual controls and men...
- No manual focus ring. Flashlight shape hard to hold steady when shooting while in motion. At ten minutes of video per GB in max resolution mode, you’re going to need a...
Camcorder Info

29 July 2007
Other Features Faders – Accessible in the first page of the joystick menu, faders will add that cinematic wonderment to your shots by beginning and ending recorded clips with a fade-in and fade-out. Choose between black and white. Pre-Record – According to Panasonic, their "clever new function" automatically stores the first three seconds of footage prior to pressing the record start/stop button so you won’t miss that wacky car accident. Read more
TechRadar UK

8.0/10

26 May 2008
Manual control is activated by a switch that's found inside the LCD recess and gives users access to iris, shutter, white balance and focus. Read more
- Enjoyable to handle and easy to use, Amazingly good images
- No mic and headphone sockets, Audio affected by light wind noise outdoors
REVIEW STREAM

8.0/10

16 May 2008
So if your videos are subdivided into different cards you will have more chances of keeping all your data. The zoom button is also used during video playback to raise/lower the volume. The optics seem to work pretty well, but unfortunately, at least in my point of view, the video does seem to have a foggy like effect, it’s very subtle but once you notice it it’s hard to stop. Read more
CNET

7.0/10

26 November 2007
The Panasonic HDC-SD5 delivers fantastic HD video and accessible but clever features in a petite package -- we just wish it had more memory Read more
- Compact size, First-rate video
- Flash memory fills up fast

User Reviews

Write your own review of Panasonic HDC-SD5

Good camera, bad shipment.

6.0/10

Reviewer: David S. Alvarez "David", Amazon
22 September 2010
I bought this camera with the dvd burner but I never got the dvd burner. Even though I called Amazon and they told me that they send it. But the camera itself is amazing. I'm a sound and video technician at a curch and this is a really good camera to record the sermons. I recomend to buy another SD card. Read more
Good Low Cost High Value Set to Auto function, small is good for small hand

8.0/10

Reviewer: lanukip, Ebay
7 December 2011
Good video with very little motion blur when panning, i dont care about sound so its "OK" but it does have wind cut. It is very small, maybe a little too small so its finicky in my hand to try and find a confortable grip, my previous was a sony hd camcorder and i am tall, so this may not have been a good fit anyway. Read more
"My wife and I loved the use of this camera for our vaction."

7.0/10

Reviewer: flivver316, CNET
20 December 2007
My wife and I decided to purchase a camcorder before we went on our honeymoon. We were originally in the market for an HD camcorder with a harddrive. We were misdirected by the salesperson at Circuit City and purchased the HDC-SD5 bundle on accident! We were going to return it until we found 8 GB HDSC cards on Newegg for $30. I was extremely sceptical about how well the camcorder would work with the SD cards. In the end we grew to love it. Read more
- Small, light, convienent
- poor night recording,
Good camera worth the money (almost)

8.0/10

Reviewer: jfreelan1964, epinions.com
12 July 2008
This is the first camcorder I have bought since I first bought my monster shoulder carry VHS camcord Read more
- small lightweight easy to use.
- battery & memory location, video artifacts, short battery time
Almost a home run

8.0/10

Reviewer: Chuck Wagon, Newegg
2 January 2008
Panasonic bundles this with a DVD recorder at most retail stores, but Newegg doesn't appear to sell it that way. Wide range of pricing on this, for some reason. Read more
- Very small, shoot directly to SDHC flash memory cards, no tape or tape mechanism to break, easy to use for most people, high quality HD pictures with well lit scenes.
- Color was a little off from other cameras I've used, especially indoors, auto white balance didn't work indoors, had to manual white balance for better color, need a s...

Features

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Features

The HDC-SD5 captures video on the AVCHD format with 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution. It uses the 3CCD camera system to record videos with clear images and true-to-life colors. It is also equipped with the advanced O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer) which minimizes camera shake, done by trembling hands, and delivers crisp, clear images. Its Leica Dicomar lens provides 12 lens elements in eight groups, and uses low-dispersion optical glass to reduce color blur. With a special multi-coating process is applied to the lens, chromatic aberration is minimized so images are crisp, clear, and free of flare and glare. The HDC-SD5 also feature the new intelligent contrast control which measures ambient lighting and adjust the contrast as it changes.

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Manufacturer's Description

The high definition Panasonic HDC-SD5 camcorder provides breathtakingly detailed video and comes fitted with a world-class Leica Dicomar lens made specifically for high definition capture. The superior craftsmanship of Leica’s advanced lens system captures stunning images and colors that look magnificent in HD. Combined with Panasonic’s advanced 3CCD system, which uses three separate sensors to capture and process light, the HDC-SD5 can bring all of your memories to l…

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Questions asked: 1 Answers: 2

Previous questions about this product

Does the device have the capability of connecting an external...

Does the device have the capability of connecting an external audio devices to record better quality audio for interviews?

Answered by KristoferB 2008-09-12:

I don't see on the Panasonic site where it mentions anything about it, it just says "2-ch Stereo, Zoom Microphone" I did find a review of it with pictures and couldn't see any external microphone jacks..

Answered by jarvis 2008-09-12:

Thanks for looking and trying to find out if it

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