One of our favourite features is the pre-record option, which buffers footage in the memory even if you're not recording, and when you do press record, the last saved frames are added to your video. This means that if you're pointing the camcorder at something -- say, sports -- and you're just too slow on the trigger to catch a particular part of action, the camera will still have captured it.
Audio features include a zoom mic and wind cut feature to reduce wind noise. In playback mode, videos can be trimmed.
Performance
We were pleased with the performance of the S7, within the limits
of standard definition. From standby, it will start up in less than a
second, although this will penalise the battery. Battery life was good,
though, and we filled the best part of a 4GB card without needing to
recharge.
Image quality is crisp in decent lighting. There's a slight tendency to overexpose, especially when moving from one set of lighting conditions to another and when zoomed in. The option to manually adjust settings is useful here, but not as much as it could be -- unless you're careful, button pushing when you're rolling causes slight jitters.
We found that it was better to lay off the zoom to get best results from the autofocus, which would frequently have to stop and think if zooming was too quick. Otherwise, focus was pleasingly responsive.
In automatic mode in low light, results weren't great, with noise creeping in. Still, despite not getting on with the controls, we were impressed with the range of tweakability available and passable results were possible.
Conclusion
The size of the Panasonic SDR-S7 might give camcorder purists
pause, but we love it. The fact that it's standard definition may also
put some people off, but even if you do have an HD TV there's no
denying the portability and affordability of the S7. It's possible to
go hi-def for a similar price with cameras like the Aiptek AHD200, but the S7 has superior manual control.
Edited by Shannon Doubleday
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