/// HD Camcorder Comparison

Picture ?

Manufacturer

Sony

Panasonic

Name

HDR-CX550V

AG-HMC40

European name ?

HDR-CX550VE

AG-HMC41E

US name ?

HDR-CX550V

AG-HMC40

lowest US price

1899 $

1599 $

On the market since

March 2010

August 2009

Manufacturers URL

Test preview

slashCAM rating ?

Good

not yet tested

test picture 1200 Lux

Test image 12 lux auto-mode

Video

Video formats ?

AVCHD
SD MPEG2

AVCHD

Recording Medium

SDHC card
Memory Stick PRO Duo
built-in flash memory

SD Card
SDHC card

video resolutions EU ?

AVCHD 1440 x 1080/50i
AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50i
SD MPEG2 720 x 576

AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50i
AVCHD 1920 x 1080/25p
AVCHD 1280 x 720/50p
AVCHD 1280 x 720/25p

video resolutions US ?

AVCHD 1920 x 1080/60i
AVCHD 1440 x 1080/60i
SD MPEG2 720 x 480

AVCHD 1920 x 1080/60i
AVCHD 1280 x 720/60p
AVCHD 1280 x 720/30p
AVCHD 1280 x 720/24p

Max Bitrate ?

24 Mbit/s

Compression format ?

MPEG2
MPEG4

MPEG4

on-board memory ?

64 GB

Optics

Optics Manufacturer ?

Sony

Leica

Optical Zoom ?

10 x

12 x

Wide Angle 16:9 ?

29,8 mm

41 mm

Filter diameter ?

37 mm

43 mm

Image Stabilization ?

optically and electronically

optical

ND Filter ?

Yes

Exchangable optics ?

Image Sensor

Number of sensors ?

Size of image sensor ?

1/2,9 inch

1/4 inch

image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ?

4150000 Pixel

2510000 Pixel

Image Sensor Type ?

CMOS

Controls

White Balance ?

auto
manual
presets

auto
manual
presets
WB-Shift

Focus ?

auto
manual

Minimum shutter time ?

1/10.000

1/2.000

Maximum shutter time ?

1/6

1/2

Apperture control ?

auto
manual

Infrared recording ?

Expanded Focus ?

Yes

Peaking ?

Signal Processing

Zebra ?

50-105%

Histogram ?

waveform

adjustable sharpness ?

Yes

Adjustable color ?

Yes

Cinegamma ?

Yes

Black Strech ?

Knee ?

Yes

Colorbars ?

Yes

Misc.

Shot Transition ?

Custom Presets ?

Yes

Set Time Code ?

Yes

Configuration

Connections

FBAS ?
synonymous: RCA, composite

Out

YC ?
synonymous: S-Video

About Special Equipment

YUV ?
synonymous: Component Signal

Out

HDMI ?

Out

DV / HDV (FireWire) ?
synonymous: ILink / IEEE-1394

USB ?

USB 2.0

Microphone / Audio input ?

Mini-jack

Mini-jack
XLR optional

Headphones ?

3.5 mm mini-jack

Mini-jack

Lanc ?

Time-code interface ?

Genlock ?

Accessory shoe ?

Standard

HD-SDI ?

Misc.

Weight (without battery)

440 g

980 g

Weight (with battery)

490 g

1200 g

Battery type

Sony NP-FV50

Panasonic VW-VBG260E

Battery capacity

Charger ?

internal

internal
external

Remote control

Yes

Size

Height

66 mm

136 mm

Width

74 mm

135 mm

Depth

143 mm

304 mm

Relative Size ?

Viewfinder

Viewfinder available ?

Yes

Color Viewfinder ?

Color

Viewfinder format ?

16:9

Viewfinder pixels ?

201600 Pixel

113000 Pixel

Display

Display available ?

Yes

Color display ?

Color

Display size

3,5 Inch

2,7 Inch

Display format ?

16:9

Display pixels ?

921000 Pixel

230000 Pixel

Touch Screen ?

Yes

External controls

Manual Zoom ?

Rocker
Zoom ring multi-assigned

Rocker

Manual Focus ?

Wheel
bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

Ring

Manual Aperture ?

Wheel
bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

Ring

Focus switcher ?

Yes

ND Filter ?

Yes

Exp Lock ?

Yes

Gain ?

White balance ?

Yes

Push AF ?

Yes

Audio Levels ?

Custom Keys ?
synonymous: User buttons

Audio

Audio Formats ?

AC-3 Dolby Digital 5.1 640 kbit max.

Dolby AC-3 Digital 2 channel 48 KHz

Microphone ?

Stereo internal
Mini-jack external

Audio Control ?

auto

auto
manual

Audio levels ?

Viewfinder
Screen

Still

Recording Medium ?

Memory Stick Duo
hard drive
SDHC card

SD Card
SDHC card

Medium included ?

Effective pixels ?

10600000 Pixel

Resolutions ?

4000 x 3000 - Max

4224 × 2376 max

Standard ?

JPEG Exif 2.2

Flash ?

Yes

Misc.

Specials

GPS with geo-tagging functionality

optional available XLR adapter

Product Shots

View 1

View 2

Test results

Test pictures

luminance resolution

chrominance resolution

lens distortion

test small ISO image

noise / internal microphone

test picture 1200 Lux

Test image 12 lux auto-mode ?

Test image 12 lux optimized ?

slashCAM rating

Lowlight ?

Very good

Resolution ?

Very good

Color performance ?

Good

subj.Picture impression ?

Very good

Optical Zoom ?

Sufficient

Wide Angle ?

Excellent

Configuration / image ?

Satisfactory

Configuration / sound ?

Poor

Handling ?

Good

Portability ?

Very good

Photo function ?

Satisfactory

Optics ?

Good

Dynamics ?

Good

Conclusion slashCAM

slashCAM rating ?

Good

not yet tested

Total score ?
(maximal 570)

390

Pros

+ multi functional ring
+ focus and exposure control via touchscreen works well
+ good lowlight sensibility
+ wide angle
+ Display with high resoultion

Cons

- image characteristics cannot be modified
- no focus or exposure assist

Conclusion

The wide angle (which shrinks a little with active image stabilization) as well as the low light performance is better than on all competing modells.But in terms of sharpness, manual control options and color reproduction the Sony is not quite on par with the class winners.The automatics work solidly in a Sony-typical way.Remarkably good is the high-resolving display, but a focus assist option is nevertheless missed when setting the focus manually.

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