Panasonic HDC-SD5

Hello, I'm Richard Trenholm of CNET.co.uk, and this is the Panasonic HDC-SD5. It's a flash memory-based 3CCD high-def camcorder, and it's really small -- even smaller than its predecessor, the Panasonic HDC-SD1. Some people prefer a little more heft in a camera to make it steadier. We found that despite its size, the SD5's snug fit in our hand gives it a weighty feel. Panasonic has re-profiled the SD1's svelte shape to make the SD5 easier to hold. This gently upward-sloping section at the back rounds out the shape and makes it fuller and more grippable. This zoom rocker is satisfyingly large, and its easy to change settings with your thumb with this nifty joystick. Another button pops out the 69mm LCD screen. A nice touch is that the screen displays actual numbers values for how long the battery and the memory card have left. Other features include a stereo microphone, a Leica 10x optical zoom lens, and optical image stabilisation. One feature you may find useful is anti-ground recording, which pauses recording when the SD5 is held upside down, so if you forget to press stop, the camera detects that you have dropped your hand to your side and pauses it for you. The SD5 produced excellent video in our tests. This kind of camcorder uses three separate sensors, called charge coupled devices, to independently capture red, green and blue light. This gives a clearer and more vivid picture than a single CCD. On the SD5, colour is vibrant and contrast well-handled by an intelligent contrast control. Low light footage isn't as crisp as we'd like, but still not bad. 3CCD camcorders are generally more expensive, but the SD5 is very reasonably-priced. Our only reservation with this, and all camcorders that record to memory cards, is limited capacity. The question is whether it might be better to simply buy a camcorder with a decent-sized hard drive. Still, memory cards are small and cheap, and the image quality of the SD5 is definitely worth a look. I'm Richard Trenholm of CNET.co.uk, and this is the Panasonic HDC-SD5.