/// HD Camcorder Comparison

Picture ?

Manufacturer

Panasonic

Sony

Name

HDC-HS100

HDR-CX520V

European name ?

HDC-HS100EG

HDR-CX520VE

US name ?

HDC-HS100

HDR-CX520V

lowest US price

1060 $

951 $

On the market since

September 2008

August 2009

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

Memory Stick PRO Duo
built-in flash memory

video resolutions EU ?

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

AVCHD 1920 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 1920 x 1080/60i

Max Bitrate ?

17 Mbit/s

16 Mbit/s

Compression format ?

MPEG4

on-board memory ?

60 GB

64 GB

Optics

Optics Manufacturer ?

Leica

Sony

Optical Zoom ?

12 x

Wide Angle 16:9 ?

42 mm

42,9 mm

Filter diameter ?

37 mm

Image Stabilization ?

optical

ND Filter ?

Exchangable optics ?

Image Sensor

Number of sensors ?

Size of image sensor ?

1/6 inch

1/2,9 inch

image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ?

520000 Pixel

4150000 Pixel

Image Sensor Type ?

CMOS

Controls

White Balance ?

auto
manual
presets

auto
manual
presets
WB-Shift

Focus ?

auto
manual

Minimum shutter time ?

1/8.000

1/1000

Maximum shutter time ?

1/25

Apperture control ?

auto
manual

auto
manual
AE-Shift

Infrared recording ?

Yes

Expanded Focus ?

Yes

Peaking ?

Signal Processing

Zebra ?

Off
100%

Histogram ?

Yes

adjustable sharpness ?

Yes

Adjustable color ?

Yes

Cinegamma ?

Black Strech ?

Knee ?

Colorbars ?

Misc.

Shot Transition ?

Custom Presets ?

Set Time Code ?

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

USB ?

USB 2.0

Microphone / Audio input ?

Yes

Headphones ?

3.5 mm mini-jack

Lanc ?

Time-code interface ?

Genlock ?

Accessory shoe ?

Standard

HD-SDI ?

Misc.

Weight (without battery)

420 g

370 g

Weight (with battery)

482 g

450 g

Battery type

Panasonic VW-VBG130-K

Sony NP-FH60

Battery capacity

1000 mAh

Charger ?

external

internal

Remote control

Yes

Size

Height

74 mm

62 mm

Width

138 mm

65 mm

Depth

76 mm

125 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 ?

300000 Pixel

230000 Pixel

Touch Screen ?

Yes

External controls

Manual Zoom ?

Rocker
Zoom ring multi-assigned

Rocker

Manual Focus ?

Ring
bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

Manual Aperture ?

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 ?

Mini-jack external
5.1 Internal

5.1 Internal

Audio Control ?

auto
manual

auto

Audio levels ?

Viewfinder
Screen

Still

Recording Medium ?

SD Card
hard drive

Memory Stick Duo

Medium included ?

Effective pixels ?

6631000 Pixel

Resolutions ?

1920x1080

3640 x 2160 max

Standard ?

JPEG Exif 2.2

Flash ?

Yes

Misc.

Specials

-Quick Power : ready to record in 1,9 seconds

-50 upscaling in playback mode
- image stabilizator corrects hand rotations
- GPS receiver built in

Product Shots

View 1

View 2

Test results

Test pictures

purchase advice SonyHDR-SR11, Panasonic HDC-HS100; Canon HG21

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

Very good

Resolution ?

Satisfactory

Good

Color performance ?

Good

subj.Picture impression ?

Good

Very good

Optical Zoom ?

Sufficient

Wide Angle ?

Sufficient

Poor

Configuration / image ?

Good

Sufficient

Configuration / sound ?

Satisfactory

Poor

Handling ?

Good

Portability ?

Excellent

Very good

Photo function ?

Sufficient

Satisfactory

Optics ?

Good

Dynamics ?

Good

Very good

Conclusion slashCAM

slashCAM rating ?

Good

Satisfactory

Total score ?
(maximal 570)

336

328

Pros

-lens-ring with lots of manual functions

+ multi functional ring
+ focus and exposure control via touchscreen works well
+ good lowlight sensibility
+ six freely configuarable display buttons

Cons

-average sharpness
-menu-structure and menu-handling

- no microphone and headphone jacks
+ mediocre display resolution
- upgradeable only with expensive and proprietary MemorySticks

Conclusion

This is going in the right direction.More manual control is what is missing with most of the current AVCHD cams.And this is exactly what Panasonic is delivering.Thanks to histogramm, zebra, luma display and expanded focus manual control is better than on any other camera below 1000 Euros.The somewhat below average sharpness of the camera is something one can live with, but there are also one or two other minor things on this camera which could have been solved better.But definitely one of the most interesting newcomers 2008

for now, the low-light image quality rules superior in the sub 1000 Euro camcorder class.The great dynamic range when using the factory settings as well as its abandonment of moving part makes this cam interesting for independent filmmakers.On the other hand there are some features missing, there is no histogram, no zebra, no exposure time control, no sharpness helper and no image adjustment.

More information

Reviews and Forums

slashCAM Review

external reviews/tests

www.camcorderinfo.com

Forum posts

Panasonic HDC-HS100 and HDC-SD100