/// HD Camcorder Comparison

Picture ?

Manufacturer

Panasonic

Name

HDC-HS300

HDC-DX1

European name ?

HDC-HS300EG

HDC-DX1EG

US name ?

HDC-HS300K

HDC-DX1

lowest US price

877 $

949 $

On the market since

March 2009

March 2007

Manufacturers URL

Test preview

slashCAM rating ?

Good

Satisfactory

test picture 1200 Lux

Test image 12 lux auto-mode

Video

Video formats ?

AVCHD

Recording Medium

Built-in hard disk
SDHC card

MiniDVD 8cm
MiniDVD-DL 8cm
MiniDVD RAM 8cm

video resolutions EU ?

AVCHD 1440 x 1080/50i
AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50i
AVCHD 1920 x 1080/25p
AVCHD 1440 x 1080/25p

AVCHD 1440 x 1080/50i

video resolutions US ?

AVCHD 1920 x 1080/60i
AVCHD 1920 x 1080/24p
AVCHD 1440 x 1080/60i
AVCHD 1440 x 1080/24p

AVCHD 1440 x 1080/60i

Max Bitrate ?

17 Mbit/s

13 Mbit/s

Compression format ?

MPEG4

on-board memory ?

120 GB

Optics

Optics Manufacturer ?

Leica

Optical Zoom ?

12 x

Wide Angle 16:9 ?

45 mm

38,5 mm

Filter diameter ?

43 mm

Image Stabilization ?

optical

ND Filter ?

Exchangable optics ?

Image Sensor

Number of sensors ?

Size of image sensor ?

1/4 inch

image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ?

2070000 Pixel

520000 Pixel

Image Sensor Type ?

CMOS

CCD

Controls

White Balance ?

auto
manual

auto
manual
presets

Focus ?

auto
manual

Minimum shutter time ?

1/8.000

Maximum shutter time ?

1/25

1/50

Apperture control ?

auto
manual

Infrared recording ?

Expanded Focus ?

Yes

Peaking ?

Signal Processing

Zebra ?

100%

Histogram ?

Yes

adjustable sharpness ?

Yes

Adjustable color ?

Yes

Cinegamma ?

Yes

Black Strech ?

Knee ?

Colorbars ?

Misc.

Shot Transition ?

Custom Presets ?

Set Time Code ?

Configuration

Connections

FBAS ?
synonymous: RCA, composite

Out

YC ?
synonymous: S-Video

YUV ?
synonymous: Component Signal

Out

HDMI ?

Out mini

Out

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

USB ?

USB 2.0

Microphone / Audio input ?

Mini-jack

Headphones ?

3.5 mm mini-jack

Lanc ?

Time-code interface ?

Genlock ?

Accessory shoe ?

Standard

HD-SDI ?

Misc.

Weight (without battery)

385 g

680 g

Weight (with battery)

445 g

800 g

Battery type

Panasonic VW-VBG070

Battery capacity

1250 mAh

Charger ?

internal
external

Remote control

Yes

Size

Height

70 mm

92 mm

Width

72 mm

91 mm

Depth

141 mm

163 mm

Relative Size ?

Viewfinder

Viewfinder available ?

Yes

Color Viewfinder ?

Color

Viewfinder format ?

16:9

Viewfinder pixels ?

183000 Pixel

Display

Display available ?

Yes

Color display ?

Color

Display size

2,7 Inch

3,0 Inch

Display format ?

16:9

Display pixels ?

230400 Pixel

251000 Pixel

Touch Screen ?

Yes

External controls

Manual Zoom ?

Rocker
Zoom ring multi-assigned

Manual Focus ?

Menu
bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

Manual Aperture ?

Menu
bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

Focus switcher ?

Yes

ND Filter ?

Exp Lock ?

Gain ?

White balance ?

Push AF ?

Audio Levels ?

Custom Keys ?
synonymous: User buttons

Audio

Audio Formats ?

AC-3 Dolby Digital 5.1 640 kbit max.

Microphone ?

Stereo internal
Mini-jack external

Audio Control ?

auto
manual

Audio levels ?

Viewfinder
Screen
display

Still

Recording Medium ?

SDHC card

SD Card

Medium included ?

Effective pixels ?

2100000 Pixel

Resolutions ?

1920x1080

Standard ?

JPEG Exif 2.2

Flash ?

Yes

Misc.

Specials

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 ?

Satisfactory

Good

Resolution ?

Very good

Satisfactory

Color performance ?

Very good

Good

subj.Picture impression ?

Very good

Good

Optical Zoom ?

Sufficient

Wide Angle ?

Poor

Satisfactory

Configuration / image ?

Very good

Satisfactory

Configuration / sound ?

Satisfactory

Sufficient

Handling ?

Good

Satisfactory

Portability ?

Excellent

Good

Photo function ?

Satisfactory

Sufficient

Optics ?

Good

Dynamics ?

Good

Conclusion slashCAM

slashCAM rating ?

Good

Satisfactory

Total score ?
(maximal 570)

372

320

Pros

+ Sharpness and colour at the upper AVCHD limit
+ Many manual controls

+ Acceptable wide-angle
+ Good lowlight characteristics

Cons

- No wide angle

- No FullHD
-3CCDs with pixelshif do not result in full sharpness
- MiniDVD

Conclusion

Finally camcorder in the 1000 Euro range which allows for a manual control of iris, shutter and gain (not by joystick) while indicating meaningful parameters in the display. Add to that a focus ring and useful helpers as focus zoom, zebra and histogram.Since it also offers a flawless (and even adjustable) image quality, the Panasonic SD300 can almost be recommended without any hesitation.It only leaves you wanting more external controls, a display with higher resolution and, above all, a wide angle lens.Also the low light performance is only average.

The MiniDVD as a recording medium does not strike us as particularly useful for HD , so the similar model SD1 is much more interesting.

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