Stuart Kennedy | September 16, 2008
THE seemingly limitless dive in flash memory prices has opened up a market in camcorders that use SD flash cards rather than tape or hard drives for movie storage.
The Canon FS10 comes with a built-in 8GB of memory
The JVC GZ-MS-100 SD card camcorder is pitched at the social networking set
Panasonic SDR-SW20 offers a whole extra level of fun with its underwater capability
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Moving footage from camera to a PC for editing is quick and easy with an SD camera, especially compared with transferring DV tape, which can take an age.
The camcorders we took a look through for this week's Tech Check all shoot footage in standard definition.
While there are hi-def camcorders that use memory cards for storage, such as Panasonic's HDC SD9, you pay a premium for the privilege.
The standard definition models we looked at range from $500 to just under $800, whereas hi-def comes in at $1500 plus.
The cost of hi-def will come down over time and we suspect that in a couple of years, almost all camcorders will be hi-def.
But this year, standard definition video cameras will continue to occupy a decent chunk of the market.
We looked at the JVC Everio Memory Camcorder and the Canon FS10 as well as the shockproof and waterproof Panasonic SDR SW20.
Canon FS10
THE Canon weighs in at 310g and comes in a very attractive silver and black case with chrome accents.
Menus on the 2.7in LCD viewfinder are joystick driven and the screen was bright and clear. While small compared with a tape camcorder, the Canon was the largest of the review units, measuring 58mmx60mmx124mm.
None of the three camcorders on test here came with an optical viewfinder, which comes into its own when shooting in bright sunlight. While the Canon is more expensive than the JVC, it does come with a built-in 8GB of memory, which can be supplemented through the SD slot.
It also has an automatic lens cover - whereas the JVC's is manual - and comes with a remote for controlling the camera during TV playback.
Video quality was good from the Canon's 37x optical zoom lens and 1 megapixel CCD.
The badge on the side says "45x Advanced Zoom", but this turns out to be a method of swapping some resolution for a bit more zoom. The weakish lens light will get you by in the dark.
We liked the large and simple function selector switch on the back of the camera with the record button in the middle.
SPECIFICATIONS
Features: 37x optical zoom, 8GB internal memory, auto lens cover
Price: $699 (exclusive to Harvey Norman)
More at: www.canon.com.au
Rating: 8/10
Panasonic SDR SW20
WHILE Panasonic does make a standard-spec SD camcorder, the SDR-SW20 offers a whole extra level of fun with its underwater capability.
The camera can handle a depth of 1.5 metres, saltwater or fresh, which makes it a fun tool for snorkelling or shooting in-wave surfing movies.
It's also shockproof, handy should you wipe out and hit bottom with the camera.
Panasonic says it will take a drop of 1.2 metres and the camera showed no ill-effects after a few on-purpose journeys to the deck.
The Panasonic is very compact compared to the already svelte Canon and JVC cameras and weighs just 224g and measures 34mmx 115mmx63mm, making it almost top pocketable.
A 4GB SD card is included.
The downside to the compact dimensions and water proofing is the optics aren't that great.
Optical zoom is a mere 10x Zoom and the 800K pixel CCD produced video that was murkier than the other two.
The waterproofing also means the controls were a bit harder to use than the others, with a rotary dial controlling camera modes and menu director flush mounted to the inside of the case.
SPECIFICATIONS
Features: 10x optical zoom, waterproof to 1.5m, shockproof, 4GB SD card included
Price: $769
More at: www.panasonic.com.au
Rating: 8/10
JVC EverioS GZ-MS100
THE JVC is light and slender, weighing 225g and measuring 55mmx68mmx11mm.
It has a 2.7in LCD screen with a touch sensor on the left for scrolling through options and a row of four buttons underneath for selecting various options.
This SD camcorder is built to a price. There's no built-in memory and you will be supplying your own SD card for video storage. And the lens cover is manual. The optics are reasonably good, with a 35x optical zoom Konica Minolta lens shooting footage better looking than that of the Panasonic, but a tad below the quality of the Canon's.
The Pansonic's digital image stabilisation technology was also a rung below the Canon's.
JVC is pitching its SD card camcorder at the social networking set and a sticker on the side of the device spruiks a one-touch upload system to YouTube.
Open up Everio's screen and there's a button marked "Upload". Press the button twice while the camera is in shoot mode and it automatically restricts recordings to the 10-minute YouTube limit.
In playback mode, pressing the upload button while connected to a PC via the USB port will activate the included PowerCinema software.
Then, for those with a YouTube account, it's just a matter of checking which files you want done on the Tube and their video category and broadcast options and off they go. It has a good quality Konica Minolta 35x optical zoom lens, aided by a light.
SPECIFICATIONS
Features: YouTube friendly controls, 35X optical zoom, touch sensor on side of LCD
Price: $499
More at: www.jvc.com.au
Rating: 7/10
CONCLUSION
THE Panasonic costs the most and produces the least attractive video output, but it can take a beating and its underwater ability adds a big chunk of fun factor over the other two.
The Canon and Panasonic are close on video quality, zoom and ease of use, but the Canon, while $100 more expensive, does add an 8GB hunk of internal memory and a couple of other neat features, like the automatic lens cover.
Given a choice, I'd go for the Panasonic, purely for the underwater thrills, but the others would give excellent service as light and handy standard definition video cameras.