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Model
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| Canon HF M31 | Panasonic HDC-SD1 |
| Picture ? | | |
| Manufacturer | Canon 
| Panasonic 
|
| Name | HF M31 | HDC-SD1 |
| European name ? | Legria HF M31 | HDC-SD1EG-S |
| US name ? | VIXIA HF M31 | HDC-SD1 |
| lowest US price | 628 $ | 1300 $ |
| On the market since | March 2010 | March 2007 |
| Manufacturers URL | link to Canon | link to Panasonic |
|
|
Test preview
|
| [ top ] | Canon HF M31 | Panasonic HDC-SD1 |
| slashCAM rating ? | Good
 | Satisfactory
 |
| test picture 1200 Lux | | |
| Test image 12 lux auto-mode | | |
Video
|
| [ top ] | Canon HF M31 | Panasonic HDC-SD1 |
| Video formats ? | AVCHD
| AVCHD
|
| Recording Medium | SDHC card built-in flash memory
| SD Card
|
| video resolutions EU ? | AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50i AVCHD 1920 x 1080/25p
| AVCHD 1440 x 1080/50i
|
| video resolutions US ? | AVCHD 1920 x 1080/60i AVCHD 1920 x 1080/24p AVCHD 1920 x 1080/30p
| AVCHD 1440 x 1080/60i
|
| Max Bitrate ? | 24 Mbit/s | 13 Mbit/s |
| Compression format ? | MPEG4
| MPEG4
|
| on-board memory ? | 32 GB | |
| Optics |
| Optics Manufacturer ? | Canon
| Leica
|
| Optical Zoom ? | 15 x | 12 x |
| Wide Angle 16:9 ? | 39,5 mm | 38,5 mm |
| Filter diameter ? | 37 mm | 43 mm |
| Image Stabilization ? | optically and electronically
| optical
|
| ND Filter ? | No
| |
| Exchangable optics ? | No
| No
|
| Image Sensor |
| Number of sensors ? | 1 | 3 |
| Size of image sensor ? | 1/4 inch | 1/4 inch |
| image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ? | 2990000 Pixel | 520000 Pixel |
| Image Sensor Type ? | CMOS
| CCD
|
| Controls |
| White Balance ? | auto manual presets
| auto manual presets
|
| Focus ? | auto manual
| auto manual
|
| Minimum shutter time ? | 1/2.000 | 1/8.000 |
| Maximum shutter time ? | 1/2 | 1/50 |
| Apperture control ? | auto manual
| |
| Infrared recording ? | No
| |
| Expanded Focus ? | Yes
| |
| Peaking ? | No
| |
| Signal Processing |
| Zebra ? | No
| |
| Histogram ? | No
| |
| adjustable sharpness ? | Yes
| |
| Adjustable color ? | Yes
| |
| Cinegamma ? | Yes
| |
| Black Strech ? | No
| |
| Knee ? | No
| |
| Colorbars ? | No
| |
| Misc. |
| Shot Transition ? | No
| |
| Custom Presets ? | No
| |
| Set Time Code ? | No
| |
Configuration
|
| Connections |
| [ top ] | Canon HF M31 | Panasonic HDC-SD1 |
FBAS ? synonymous: RCA, composite | Out
| |
YC ? synonymous: S-Video | No
| |
YUV ? synonymous: Component Signal | Out
| |
| HDMI ? | Out mini
| Out
|
DV / HDV (FireWire) ? synonymous: ILink / IEEE-1394 | - | |
| USB ? | USB 2.0
| USB 2.0
|
| Microphone / Audio input ? | Mini-jack
| Mini-jack
|
| Headphones ? | also AV-output
| |
| Lanc ? | No
| |
| Time-code interface ? | No
| |
| Genlock ? | No
| |
| Accessory shoe ? | Advanced Mini
| |
| HD-SDI ? | No
| No
|
| Misc. |
| Weight (without battery) | 320 g | 430 g |
| Weight (with battery) | 380 g | 490 g |
| Battery type | Canon BP-808
| |
| Battery capacity | 890 mAh | |
| Charger ? | internal
| |
| Remote control | Yes
| |
| Size |
| Height | 60 mm | 74 mm |
| Width | 68 mm | 69 mm |
| Depth | 123 mm | 142 mm |
| Relative Size ? | 5 | 7 |
| Viewfinder |
| Viewfinder available ? | No
| No
|
| Color Viewfinder ? | - | |
| Viewfinder format ? | - | |
| Viewfinder pixels ? | | |
| Display |
| Display available ? | Yes
| Yes
|
| Color display ? | Color
| Color
|
| Display size | 2,7 Inch | 3,0 Inch |
| Display format ? | 16:9 | 16:9 |
| Display pixels ? | 211000 Pixel | 251000 Pixel |
| Touch Screen ? | Yes
| |
| External controls |
| Manual Zoom ? | Rocker
| |
| Manual Focus ? | Menu
| |
| Manual Aperture ? | Menu
| |
| Focus switcher ? | No
| |
| ND Filter ? | No
| |
| Exp Lock ? | No
| |
| Gain ? | No
| |
| White balance ? | No
| |
| Push AF ? | No
| |
| Audio Levels ? | No
| |
Custom Keys ? synonymous: User buttons | No
| |
Audio
|
| [ top ] | Canon HF M31 | Panasonic HDC-SD1 |
| Audio Formats ? | Dolby AC-3 Digital 2 channel 48 KHz
| AC-3 Dolby Digital 5.1 640 kbit max.
|
| Microphone ? | Stereo internal Mini-jack external
| Stereo internal Mini-jack external
|
| Audio Control ? | auto manual
| |
| Audio levels ? | Screen
| |
Still
|
| [ top ] | Canon HF M31 | Panasonic HDC-SD1 |
| Recording Medium ? | built-in flash memory SDHC card
| SD Card
|
| Medium included ? | No
| 4 GB
|
| Effective pixels ? | | |
| Resolutions ? | 2304 x 1296 - Max
| 1920x1080 |
| Standard ? | JPEG Exif 2.2
| JPEG Exif 2.2
|
| Flash ? | Yes
| Yes
|
Misc.
|
| [ top ] | Canon HF M31 | Panasonic HDC-SD1 |
| Specials | | |
Product Shots
|
| [ top ] | Canon HF M31 | Panasonic HDC-SD1 |
| View 1 | | |
| View 2 | | |
Test results
|
| Test pictures |
| [ top ] | Canon HF M31 | Panasonic HDC-SD1 |
| 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 ? | Satisfactory | Good |
| Resolution ? | Good | Satisfactory |
| Color performance ? | Very good | Good |
| subj.Picture impression ? | Very good | Good |
| Optical Zoom ? | Satisfactory | Sufficient |
| Wide Angle ? | Satisfactory | Satisfactory |
| Configuration / image ? | Satisfactory | Satisfactory |
| Configuration / sound ? | Satisfactory | Sufficient |
| Handling ? | Good | Satisfactory |
| Portability ? | Excellent | Very good |
| Photo function ? | Satisfactory | Sufficient |
| Optics ? | Good | Good |
| Dynamics ? | Good | Good |
| Conclusion slashCAM |
| slashCAM rating ? | Good
 | Satisfactory
 |
Total score ? (maximal 570) | 369 | 328 |
| Pros | + Many manual controls
| + Acceptable wide-angle + Good lowlight characteristics
|
| Cons | - No Zebra
| - No FullHD -3CCDs with pixelshif do not result in full sharpness -fan
|
| Conclusion | A big drawback from the previous series has been fixed: setting the focus works much better thanks to the touch screen.But overall the operation is still somewhat fiddly at certain points.The large display of the upcoming HF S series will thus come in handy. On the minus side we have the low light capabilities, the missing zebra mode and the small wide angle.A plus is the lowered price, as well as the cinegamma/25p-mode and the fact, that the camera, given enough light, produces very consistent images in the auto mode. | In our opinion the SD1 is the best AVCHD Cam by Panansonic, and it remains competitive in 2008 thanks to its wide-angle and lowlight characteristics . |
More information
|
| Reviews and Forums |
| [ top ] | Canon HF M31 | Panasonic HDC-SD1 |
| slashCAM Review | | |
| external reviews/tests | | |
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