/// HD Camcorder Comparison

Picture ?

Manufacturer

Panasonic

Sony

Name

AG-HMC40

HDR-UX7

European name ?

AG-HMC41E

HDR-UX7E

US name ?

AG-HMC40

HDR-UX7

lowest US price

1599 $

On the market since

August 2009

March 2007

Manufacturers URL

Test preview

slashCAM rating ?

not yet tested

test picture 1200 Lux

Test image 12 lux auto-mode

Video

Video formats ?

AVCHD

Recording Medium

SD Card
SDHC card

MiniDVD 8cm
MiniDVD-DL 8cm

video resolutions EU ?

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

AVCHD 1440 x 1080/50i

video resolutions US ?

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

AVCHD 1440 x 1080/60i

Max Bitrate ?

24 Mbit/s

12 Mbit/s

Compression format ?

MPEG4

on-board memory ?

Optics

Optics Manufacturer ?

Leica

Carl Zeiss

Optical Zoom ?

12 x

10 x

Wide Angle 16:9 ?

41 mm

40 mm

Filter diameter ?

43 mm

37 mm

Image Stabilization ?

optical

ND Filter ?

Yes

Exchangable optics ?

Image Sensor

Number of sensors ?

Size of image sensor ?

1/4 inch

1/3 inch

image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ?

2510000 Pixel

2280000 Pixel

Image Sensor Type ?

CMOS

Controls

White Balance ?

auto
manual
presets
WB-Shift

auto
manual
presets

Focus ?

auto
manual

Minimum shutter time ?

1/2.000

1/500

Maximum shutter time ?

1/2

Apperture control ?

auto
manual

Infrared recording ?

Yes

Expanded Focus ?

Yes

Peaking ?

Signal Processing

Zebra ?

50-105%

Off
70%
100%

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

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
XLR optional

Headphones ?

Mini-jack

Lanc ?

Yes

Time-code interface ?

Genlock ?

Accessory shoe ?

Standard

HD-SDI ?

Misc.

Weight (without battery)

980 g

550 g

Weight (with battery)

1200 g

650 g

Battery type

Panasonic VW-VBG260E

Sony NP-FH60

Battery capacity

1180 mAh

Charger ?

internal
external

internal

Remote control

Yes

Size

Height

136 mm

82 mm

Width

135 mm

82 mm

Depth

304 mm

138 mm

Relative Size ?

Viewfinder

Viewfinder available ?

Yes

Color Viewfinder ?

Color

Viewfinder format ?

16:9

Viewfinder pixels ?

113000 Pixel

123200 Pixel

Display

Display available ?

Yes

Color display ?

Color

Display size

2,7 Inch

3,5 Inch

Display format ?

16:9

Display pixels ?

230000 Pixel

211200 Pixel

Touch Screen ?

Yes

External controls

Manual Zoom ?

Rocker

Manual Focus ?

Ring

Menu
bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

Manual Aperture ?

Ring

bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

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 ?

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

Audio Control ?

auto
manual

auto

Audio levels ?

Viewfinder
Screen

Still

Recording Medium ?

SD Card
SDHC card

Memory Stick Duo

Medium included ?

Effective pixels ?

10600000 Pixel

3200000 Pixel

Resolutions ?

4224 × 2376 max

2304x1728
2304x1296

Standard ?

JPEG Exif 2.2

Flash ?

Yes

Misc.

Specials

optional available XLR adapter

&"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.

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 ?

Resolution ?

Color performance ?

subj.Picture impression ?

Optical Zoom ?

Wide Angle ?

Configuration / image ?

Configuration / sound ?

Handling ?

Portability ?

Photo function ?

Optics ?

Dynamics ?

Conclusion slashCAM

slashCAM rating ?

not yet tested

Total score ?
(maximal 570)

Pros

Cons

Conclusion

More information

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