/// HD Camcorder Comparison

Picture ?

Manufacturer

Sony

Panasonic

Name

HVR-Z5

HDC-DX3

European name ?

HVR-Z5E

HDC-DX3

US name ?

HVR-Z5U

HDC-DX3

lowest US price

3339 $

2799 $

On the market since

December 2008

May 2007

Manufacturers URL

Test preview

slashCAM rating ?

Very good

not yet tested

test picture 1200 Lux

Test image 12 lux auto-mode

Video

Video formats ?

MiniDV
HDV
DVCAM

AVCHD

Recording Medium

MiniDV/HDV-Cassette
external flash memory

MiniDVD 8cm
MiniDVD-DL 8cm

video resolutions EU ?

HDV 1440 x 1080/50i
MiniDV 720 x 576/50i
DVCAM 720 x 576/50i
HDV 1440 x 1080/60i
HDV 1440 x 1080/25p
HDV 1440 x 1080/24p
HDV 1440 x 1080/30p

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

video resolutions US ?

HDV 1440 x 1080/50i
HDV 1440 x 1080/60i
DVCAM 720 x 480/60i
HDV 1440 x 1080/25p
HDV 1440 x 1080/24p
HDV 1440 x 1080/30p
MiniDV 720 x 480/60i
720 MiniDV x480/24p
MiniDV 720 x 480/30p

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

Max Bitrate ?

25 Mbit/s

13 Mbit/s

Compression format ?

DV
MPEG2

MPEG4

on-board memory ?

Optics

Optics Manufacturer ?

Sony

Leica

Optical Zoom ?

20 x

12 x

Wide Angle 16:9 ?

29,5 mm

38,5 mm

Filter diameter ?

72 mm

43 mm

Image Stabilization ?

optical

ND Filter ?

Exchangable optics ?

Image Sensor

Number of sensors ?

Size of image sensor ?

1/3 inch

1/4 inch

image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ?

1037000 Pixel

560000 Pixel

Image Sensor Type ?

CMOS

CCD

Controls

White Balance ?

auto
manual
presets
WB-Shift

Focus ?

auto
manual

Minimum shutter time ?

1/16.000

1/8.000

Maximum shutter time ?

1/4

1/50

Apperture control ?

auto
manual
AE-Shift

Infrared recording ?

Yes

Expanded Focus ?

Yes

Peaking ?

Yes

Signal Processing

Zebra ?

70-100%

Histogram ?

Yes

adjustable sharpness ?

Yes

Adjustable color ?

Yes

Cinegamma ?

Yes

Black Strech ?

Yes

Knee ?

Yes

Colorbars ?

Yes

Misc.

Shot Transition ?

Yes

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

In
Out

USB ?

Microphone / Audio input ?

XLR

Headphones ?

Mini-jack

Lanc ?

Yes

Time-code interface ?

Genlock ?

Accessory shoe ?

Standard

HD-SDI ?

Misc.

Weight (without battery)

2200 g

680 g

Weight (with battery)

2200 g

800 g

Battery type

Battery capacity

Charger ?

external

Remote control

Yes

Size

Height

169 mm

92 mm

Width

188 mm

91 mm

Depth

451 mm

163 mm

Relative Size ?

143

Viewfinder

Viewfinder available ?

Yes

Color Viewfinder ?

Color

Viewfinder format ?

16:9

Viewfinder pixels ?

1226880 Pixel

183000 Pixel

Display

Display available ?

Yes

Color display ?

Color

Display size

3,2 Inch

3,0 Inch

Display format ?

16:9

Display pixels ?

921600 Pixel

251000 Pixel

Touch Screen ?

External controls

Manual Zoom ?

Rocker
Ring

Manual Focus ?

Ring

Manual Aperture ?

Ring
button

Focus switcher ?

Yes

ND Filter ?

Yes

Exp Lock ?

Yes

Gain ?

Yes

White balance ?

Yes

Push AF ?

Yes

Audio Levels ?

Yes

Custom Keys ?
synonymous: User buttons

Audio

Audio Formats ?

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

AC-3 Dolby Digital 5.1 640 kbit max.

Microphone ?

external XLR

Audio Control ?

auto
manual

Audio levels ?

Viewfinder
Screen

Still

Recording Medium ?

Memory Stick Duo

Medium included ?

Effective pixels ?

1037000 Pixel

Resolutions ?

1440 x 810

1920x1080

Standard ?

JPEG Exif 2.2

Flash ?

Misc.

Specials

"Smooth Slow Record" slow motion mode: 6 seconds are recorded with 200 half frames/sec., resulting in a 4-fold slow motion.But the recording in without sound, in HDV resolution and in an inferior picture quality (interlaced not 25p).optional flash recorder for simulataneous recording on tape and flash.

Product Shots

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Test results

Test pictures