/// HD Camcorder Comparison

Picture ?

Manufacturer

Panasonic

JVC

Name

HDC-SD100

GS-TD1BE (3D-Modus)

European name ?

HDC-SD100EG

GS-TD1BE

US name ?

HDC-SD100

GS-TD1

lowest US price

1060 $

1299 $

On the market since

September 2008

April 2011

Manufacturers URL

Test preview

slashCAM rating ?

Satisfactory

test picture 1200 Lux

Test image 12 lux auto-mode

Video

Video formats ?

AVCHD

AVCHD
MVC 3D

Recording Medium

SDHC card

SDHC card
built-in flash memory
SDXC card

video resolutions EU ?

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

AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50i
MP4 2 x 1920 x1080

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
MP4 2 x 1920 x1080

Max Bitrate ?

17 Mbit/s

34 Mbit/s

Compression format ?

MPEG4

on-board memory ?

64 GB

Optics

Optics Manufacturer ?

Leica

JVC HD

Optical Zoom ?

12 x

5 x

Wide Angle 16:9 ?

42 mm

Filter diameter ?

37 mm

- mm

Image Stabilization ?

optical

optically and electronically

ND Filter ?

Exchangable optics ?

Image Sensor

Number of sensors ?

Size of image sensor ?

1/6 inch

1/4,1 inch

image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ?

520000 Pixel

2070000 Pixel

Image Sensor Type ?

CMOS

Controls

White Balance ?

auto
manual
presets

Focus ?

auto
manual

Minimum shutter time ?

1/8.000

1/4000

Maximum shutter time ?

1/25

1/2

Apperture control ?

auto
manual

Infrared recording ?

Expanded Focus ?

Yes

Peaking ?

Yes

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

YUV ?
synonymous: Component Signal

Out

HDMI ?

Out

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

USB ?

USB 2.0

USB 2.0 OUT

Microphone / Audio input ?

Yes

Mini-jack

Headphones ?

3.5 mm mini-jack

Mini-jack

Lanc ?

Time-code interface ?

Genlock ?

Accessory shoe ?

Standard

HD-SDI ?

Misc.

Weight (without battery)

320 g

590 g

Weight (with battery)

382 g

676 g

Battery type

Panasonic VW-VBG130-K

JVC BNVF815U

Battery capacity

1460 mAh

Charger ?

external

internal

Remote control

Yes

Size

Height

65 mm

102 mm

Width

138 mm

64 mm

Depth

72 mm

186 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

3,5 Inch

Display format ?

16:9

Display pixels ?

300000 Pixel

920000 Pixel

Touch Screen ?

Yes

External controls

Manual Zoom ?

Rocker
Zoom ring multi-assigned

Rocker

Manual Focus ?

Ring
bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

Manual Aperture ?

bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

assignable custom key

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.

Dolby AC-3 Digital 2 channel 48 KHz

Microphone ?

Mini-jack external
5.1 Internal

Stereo internal
Mini-jack external

Audio Control ?

auto
manual

auto
5 steps

Audio levels ?

Viewfinder
Screen

Screen

Still

Recording Medium ?

SD Card

built-in flash memory
SDHC card
SDXC card

Medium included ?

Effective pixels ?

Resolutions ?

1920x1080

1920 x 1080 3D

Standard ?

JPEG Exif 2.2

Flash ?

Yes

Misc.

Specials

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

autostereoscopic display

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 ?

Sufficient

Good

Color performance ?

Good

Satisfactory

subj.Picture impression ?

Good

Optical Zoom ?

Sufficient

Poor

Wide Angle ?

Sufficient

Configuration / image ?

Good

Satisfactory

Configuration / sound ?

Satisfactory

Handling ?

Good

Satisfactory

Portability ?

Excellent

Good

Photo function ?

Sufficient

Satisfactory

Optics ?

Good

Satisfactory

Dynamics ?

Good

Conclusion slashCAM

slashCAM rating ?

Satisfactory

Total score ?
(maximal 570)

328

307

Pros

+ lens ring with lots of maunal settings

+ More manual 3D control than its direct competitors

Cons

-average sharpness
-menu-structure and menu-handling

- operation concept
- Image characteristics can not be changed

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

In terms of image quality, handling and also the display the JVC is not quite on par with the HDR-TD10.Though the TD1 in return offers a little more manual control, this is partly hidden by an unnecessarily complicated operation.Also the non-changeable, rather extreme color settings are certainly not for everyone.A firmware update could address these criticisms, however, and make the camera much more attractive.Hopefully the standards-compliant MVC implementation will be adopted by more software makers over time.

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