/// HD Camcorder Comparison

Picture ?

Manufacturer

Sony

Panasonic

Name

HDR-HC7

AG-HMC40

European name ?

HDR-HC7E

AG-HMC41E

US name ?

HDR-HC7

AG-HMC40

lowest US price

1700 $

1599 $

On the market since

January 2007

August 2009

Manufacturers URL

Test preview

slashCAM rating ?

Satisfactory

not yet tested

test picture 1200 Lux

Test image 12 lux auto-mode

Video

Video formats ?

MiniDV
HDV

AVCHD

Recording Medium

MiniDV/HDV-Cassette

SD Card
SDHC card

video resolutions EU ?

HDV 1440 x 1080/50i
MiniDV 720 x 576/50i

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

video resolutions US ?

HDV 1440 x 1080/60i
MiniDV 720 x 480/60i

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

Max Bitrate ?

25 Mbit/s

24 Mbit/s

Compression format ?

DV
MPEG2

MPEG4

on-board memory ?

Optics

Optics Manufacturer ?

Carl Zeiss

Leica

Optical Zoom ?

10 x

12 x

Wide Angle 16:9 ?

41,3 mm

41 mm

Filter diameter ?

37 mm

43 mm

Image Stabilization ?

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 ?

2280000 Pixel

2510000 Pixel

Image Sensor Type ?

CMOS

Controls

White Balance ?

auto
manual
presets
WB-Shift

Focus ?

auto
manual

Minimum shutter time ?

1/auto

1/2.000

Maximum shutter time ?

auto

1/2

Apperture control ?

auto
AE-Shift

auto
manual

Infrared recording ?

Yes

Expanded Focus ?

Yes

Peaking ?

Yes

Signal Processing

Zebra ?

Off
70%
100%

50-105%

Histogram ?

Yes

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

YUV ?
synonymous: Component Signal

Out

HDMI ?

Out

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

In
Out

USB ?

USB 2.0

Microphone / Audio input ?

Mini-jack
Cinch

Mini-jack
XLR optional

Headphones ?

Mini-jack

Lanc ?

Yes

Time-code interface ?

Genlock ?

Accessory shoe ?

Standard

HD-SDI ?

Misc.

Weight (without battery)

550 g

980 g

Weight (with battery)

1200 g

Battery type

Sony NP-FH60

Panasonic VW-VBG260E

Battery capacity

1000 mAh

Charger ?

internal

internal
external

Remote control

Yes

Size

Height

82 mm

136 mm

Width

82 mm

135 mm

Depth

138 mm

304 mm

Relative Size ?

Viewfinder

Viewfinder available ?

Yes

Color Viewfinder ?

Color

Viewfinder format ?

16:9

Viewfinder pixels ?

123200 Pixel

113000 Pixel

Display

Display available ?

Yes

Color display ?

Color

Display size

2,7 Inch

Display format ?

16:9

Display pixels ?

211200 Pixel

230000 Pixel

Touch Screen ?

Yes

External controls

Manual Zoom ?

Rocker

Manual Focus ?

Menu
bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

Ring

Manual Aperture ?

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 ?

MiniDV: 2x48kHz 16bit PCM
MiniDV: 4x32kHz 12bit PCM
HDV: 2x48kHz 16bit MPEG 1

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

SD Card
SDHC card

Medium included ?

Effective pixels ?

1991000 Pixel

10600000 Pixel

Resolutions ?

2848x2136
2848x1602

4224 × 2376 max

Standard ?

JPEG Exif 2.2

Flash ?

Yes

Misc.

Specials

&"Smooth Slow Record" slow motion mode: 3 seconds are recorded with 200 half frames/sec., resulting in a 4-fold slow motion.However, the recording is without sound and in poorer image quality.

optional available XLR adapter

Product Shots

View 1

View 2

Test results

Test pictures