Video Camera Review

With its broad, useful feature set; zippy shooting performance; attractive design; and good video quality, the Canon DC40 cements a place among the best of the DVD camcorders. Of course, it suffers from many of the same flaws as its competitors–such as sluggish disc activity–but if your heart is set on recording direct to DVD, it’s definitely worth checking out. However, if your idea of a good time is hitting the Easy button and pointing the camera, you’d best consider the Sony DCR-DVD405 or the DCR-DVD505 as well.

There’s not a lot you can do to make a DVD camcorder attractive. There’s only so many ways to combine the basic geometries of a tubular optical system, a 3-inch circular DVD disc, and a rectangular LCD screen–and for obvious reasons, you’ve got to rule out the combinations that require thumbs on the back of your hand or eyes in your neck. Canon does its darnedest to make you forget that its DC40 is composed of the same old elements.

For starters, its brushed-plastic chassis, in two-tone metallic champagne and brown, provides a nicely upscale look and feel. Despite the plastic, the DC40 also feels quite solidly made, in part due to its 1-pound, 3-ounce heft. A rubberized strip atop the drive gives your fingers a comfortable edge to grip, and in that position, your right forefinger rests naturally on the zoom switch and within reach of the photo shutter button, while your thumb falls on the record button.

If you’ve been considering a camcorder with an Easy button, the DC40 isn’t for you; it has quite a few external controls for a consumer model. The on/off/play slider, next to the record button, takes a bit of a reach for your right thumb. Given how infrequently you need that control during shooting, its placement works. You have to shift your hand a bit to operate the camera/camcorder switch. The menu and function buttons, which you will need to access more frequently, require either a bit of a right-hand contortion or left-handed activation; since the navigation joystick sits on the left side of the camcorder, it means shifting your left hand back and forth repeatedly. It’s not a bad design, but it could use fine-tuning.

The joystick provides quick access to exposure settings–exposure compensation, shutter speed, or aperture, depending upon which mode you’re in–as well as manual focus. Though it quickly gets you in the neighborhood when manually focusing, it’s very hard to manipulate for fine-tuning.

Canon put playback controls, plus on/off buttons for the flash and video light, on the outside of the camcorder and the battery on the inside under the LCD. That’s where they all belong but all too frequently aren’t.

Because of the smallish 2.7-inch LCD, the DC40’s menu icons can be a bit tough to distinguish. Unfortunately, the viewfinder is also tiny and inflexible, so it’s not much of an alternative. You should try it yourself before purchase if you’re a senior or you wear glasses.

Like Sony, Canon’s approach to the high-end DVD camcorder involves tons o’ features. But while Sony goes the home-theater route, tossing in extras such as 5.1 surround recording, Canon emphasizes manual controls and photo options. I find the latter approach much more compelling.

Though the Canon DC40 offers a modest 10X zoom lens, it provides a wide f/1.8-to-f/3.0 aperture and can accept 37mm add-on lenses. Video shot in 16:9 aspect ratio runs just less 3 megapixels, while 4:3 uses about 3.5 megapixels; stills take a full 4-megapixel shot. Like all of its competitors, the camcorder can fit 20 minutes of the highest-quality video on a single-sided DVD. Canon’s camcorder offerings support 3-inch DVD-R and DVD-RW discs and include Roxio MyDVD in the box.

For the most part, unless an option makes no sense in a particular situation, it works for both videos and stills: aperture- and shutter-priority exposure modes, a large handful of scene and white-balance presets, and a smattering of digital image and video effects. The DC40 also offers a lot of nice touches, including a variable zoom rate plus three constant zoom-rate choices, a display overlay of a horizon line (for those of us who can’t keep it level), a built-in neutral density filter, and a wind filter. The two low-light modes, Night and Super Night, simply drop the shutter speed and add the video light, respectively.

There are a few controls that I wish were available for both videos and stills, however. For instance, photo-only options such as selectable metering modes–you have a choice of evaluative, spot, and center-weighted–would come in handy for videos. And video-only options, most notably 16:9 operation and image stabilization, would be great for stills. Since the DC40 uses electronic image stabilization, you do sacrifice a bit of your 16:9 frame when it’s active. But at least the camcorder delivers a true wide-screen view, rather than letterboxed 4:3.

The Canon DC40 performs pretty well for its class, but remember that DVD camcorders are still in the remedial courses when it comes to recording lag. With a pre-initialized blank disc, start-up is virtually instantaneous; shutdown takes a few seconds. Initializing is another story. The camcorder requires about 15 seconds just to ascertain that a DVD-RW needs initialization and another 35 seconds to format for DVD-VR (rewritable) or 20 seconds for DVD-R. A partly filled DVD-R requires almost half a minute before the camcorder is ready to record. Once you’re ready to go, you’ll always have a couple of seconds of lag between pressing record/stop and the action occurring.

Aside from its media-related performance, however, the DC40 operates smoothly and quickly. It adjusts focus rapidly when zooming and panning, for both high- and low-contrast subjects, and swiftly adapts to changes in subject exposure. The zoom switch is quite responsive; in variable-zoom mode, the lens can go from wide to tele in a snap. The constant-rate zoom presets run at slow, slower, and unbearably slow, but I guess that’s where you need them the most. The electronic image stabilization keeps the video steady through minor shakes.

Canon positioned the DC40’s microphone in the front of the camcorder, below the lens. As such, it doesn’t pick up the thock sound of the zoom switch being released or the profane utterances of the frustrated videographer. That said, the audio quality is just OK; I miss the level controls that were available on the soon-to-be-defunct Optura models.

The 2.7-inch LCD is a bit small and quite coarse but remains usable in bright sunlight and moderately dim environments.

When played back in a relatively new DVD player, the Canon DC40’s best-quality video looks extremely good: sharp and saturated, with accurate white balance and exposure. As long as you haven’t panned or zoomed too fast, there are few motion artifacts. However, when I played my video on a several-year-old, basic DVD player, it randomly skipped frames; though it’s likely the fault of the player and its inability to fluently read DVD-R, you should keep my experience in mind when you send discs to Grandma.

Low-light video quality came as a pleasant surprise. Yes, it’s grainy, but not offensively so, and it retains enough color to look realistic. The video light provides strong illumination as far as about 6 feet away, but if you point it at a person, they’ll be seeing spots for days.

Still photos display the same characteristics that make the video appealing–good white balance, exposure, and saturation–but without the image stabilization, you have to manually set the shutter speed a bit high in order to get sharp pictures. In Auto mode on a bright day, I couldn’t snap one sharp enough to print.

Many were disappointed when Canon released its flagship XL2 DV camcorder without any high-definition (HD) capabilities. About a year later, Canon at last entered the HD fray with its XL H1 HDV camcorder. This 16:9-native camera incorporates the 1080i HDV specification, using MPEG-2 compression to fit an hour’s worth of HD video onto a DV tape. The Canon XL H1 can trace its lineage back nearly a decade to the groundbreaking XL1, retaining that camera’s unique love-it-or-hate-it design.

However, while the XL1 was a breakthrough camera, the Canon XL H1 is playing catch-up, matching the state of the art already established by Sony, JVC, and Panasonic. And at nearly $9,000, the XL H1 is by far the most expensive HD option in its class. To those familiar with or invested in Canon’s XL system, the XL H1 may prove the obvious choice. To others, its quirky design, lack of progressive-video capabilities, and high price may be the three strikes that knock it out of competition.

The XL H1 is very obviously the most recent iteration of Canon’s XL-series camera. In fact, if it weren’t for its stealthy black color and a prominent HDV logo, the Canon XL H1 could easily be mistaken for the earlier XL2, retaining almost exactly its odd hybrid shape–something between that of a typical Handycam and a shoulder-mounted pro camera.

Many people have found this to be an ergonomically awkward design: too large to comfortably support in the hands and, thanks to its enormous zoom, too front-heavy to easily balance on the shoulder. However, others have found the XL easier to keep steady than its Handycam-style competition. At 8.3 pounds, the Canon XL H1 is about half a pound heavier than the XL2–hardly discreet but an asset for those needing that “pro” look.

Most likely, Canon is sticking with this tried-and-true form in order to retain compatibility with the XL-mount lenses, viewfinders, and accessories originally designed for the XL1, the XL1S, and the XL2. This is a real boon for those who already have a significant investment in the XL system and for those with special needs that only those optional components can serve.

The stock XL H1 comes with a new HD-optimized version of Canon’s 20X, servo-controlled, optically stabilized 72mm-diameter zoom. This is a beast of a lens–nearly as large as the camera body itself–and provides the 35mm-camera equivalent of a 39mm-to-780mm focal-length range. As 39mm isn’t very wide, you might want to use Canon’s excellent 3X wide-angle zoom for shooting in cramped interior spaces. Both these lenses are clearly optimized for use in autofocus, as the endlessly rotating pseudo-manual focus ring is frustratingly oversensitive and imprecise. Similarly, while the motorized zoom is silky smooth and has a wonderfully superslow speed, you have no true manual control over it; the zoom ring provides only a sluggish electronic impersonation of manual control. Fortunately for those demanding better lens controls, Canon makes a superb fully mechanical 16X zoom lens. Be aware, however, that the optional lenses are not optimized for HD and cost about $1,500 each–a very high price to pay on top of a camera that already lists at $9,000.

The adjustable side-mounted viewfinder is the other major component of the modular XL system. Where every other camera in this class offers a traditional viewfinder on the back and a flip-out LCD screen on the left side, the stock XL H1 viewfinder attempts to combine both options in one unit by allowing the viewfinder eyepiece to flip up and expose a small 2.4-inch, 215,000-pixel color screen that can be viewed at a (slight) distance. While this viewfinder is a bit better than the one supplied with the XL2, it does not hold up well against the current competition. As an alternative, Canon offers a higher-resolution, tube-based black-and-white viewfinder at a steep $1,500 price.

The Canon XL H1 retains almost all of the XL2’s nonstandard but easily accessed mechanical controls over all major camera functions: iris, shutter, gain, white balance, audio levels, and so on, as well as two user-assignable custom keys. Most obviously, the XL H1 preserves the large rotary selector on the camera’s left side, which you use to turn the camera on and place it in one of its many exposure modes.

The only other obvious revisions to the controls are two new buttons that activate the Peaking and Magnifying functions–two new viewfinder features that will be covered in the Features section. Unfortunately, given how useful these new features are, the buttons are not very well placed and are difficult to find by feel. In contrast, Canon made a big ergonomic improvement by returning the iris control to an easily manipulated wheel, such as the one on the XL1, rather than replicating the XL2’s awkward three-position switch.

In addition to the usual assortment of audio and video connections offered by the XL2 (ports for composite and S-Video, balanced and unbalanced audio, headphones, LANC remote, and FireWire), the XL H1 offers component video via a proprietary multipin connector, an SD-card slot for storing stills and Custom Presets, and on the right side of the shoulder pad, four BNC jacks collectively known as the Professional Jack Pack.

The Professional Jack Pack consists of Timecode In, Timecode Out, Gen-lock In, and HD/SD SDI out. Previously unavailable at this price point, these connections enable the Canon XL H1 to interface with high-end pro gear and will be particularly useful for multicamera studio work.

Like its predecessors, the Canon XL H1 is unique among its competition in offering a removable plate at the back on which to mount wireless microphone receivers, extra batteries, and other items–a very practical nod to the serious user.

Clearly, the most exciting new feature of the Canon XL H1 is its HD-recording capability, made possible by its three 1.67-megapixel, 16:9-native, 1/3-inch CCDs. Like Sony’s prosumer HD offerings, this Canon conforms to the 1080i HDV standard, recording interlaced 1,440×1,080, 16:9 HD video to DV tape through an aggressive form of MPEG compression. The XL H1 can also record standard-definition DV with a 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio and downconvert HD to standard definition over both FireWire and analog ports. This downconversion feature is a godsend for those who want to shoot HD now but aren’t yet prepared to completely abandon standard-definition viewing, editing, and distribution.

Oddly, given the XL2’s progressive capabilities, the Canon XL H1 cannot record true progressive video in either HD or SD. That’s a real disadvantage for those going for a cinematic look. The XL H1 does offer a pseudo-progressive shooting option, which Canon calls Frame Mode, in 30- and 24-frame-per-second varieties. Unfortunately, while Frame Mode provides identical motion quality to that of progressive video, it results in a significant loss of vertical resolution. There are also real questions about whether or when decks and editing software will support this proprietary format.

With its Digic DV II HD Image Processor, the Canon XL H1 offers even more menu-based image controls than the XL2 before it. You can determine such variables as color matrices, gamma curves, knee, black stretch, setup, master pedestal, horizontal and vertical detail, sharpness, coring, noise reduction, color gain, hue, and master RGB color. The XL H1 has replaced the XL2’s imprecise bar-graph displays for these functions with numeric readouts, making settings much easier to remember and exchange. The number of Custom Presets–user-defined and stored looks–has increased from three to six. You can now store and share these presets via the SD memory card.

The stock lens offers all the features of the XL2’s lens: autofocus, a powerful Super-Range optical image stabilizer, two built-in neutral-density filters, and a zoom-and-focus-preset mechanism. This last feature lets you reset the lens to a predetermined zoom and focus position with the push of a button. While hardly a substitute for the subtle control of the optional manual lens, this makes the stock lens somewhat more functional. The only wholly new feature offered by the stock lens is a back-focus adjustment that can be set either manually or automatically.

While the Canon XL H1 viewfinder has several performance limitations (see Performance), it offers a host of clever features. Adjustable aspect-ratio and safety-zone guidelines, crosshairs, and a line to aid in keeping shots level may all be digitally superimposed on the image. To assist in focusing–especially critical when shooting HD–a distance readout is now available. Other viewfinder functions include Peaking, which artificially emphasizes areas in focus, and Magnifying, which blows up the center of the viewfinder. Unfortunately, the Magnifying function can be switched on only when the camera is not recording.

Also new to the XL H1 is a viewfinder-flip feature for use with certain types of lens adapters. It turns the viewfinder image upside down and backward; unfortunately, you can activate it only when the stock lens is not attached to the camera. Retained from earlier iterations of the XL series are zebra stripes (adjustable from 70 to 100 IRE) for assessing exposure.

Miscellaneous features retained from the XL2 include two user-definable Custom Keys; full SMPTE color bars complete with 1KHz tone; Clear Scan, for removing the flicker from electronic displays; Skin Detail, for smoothing out wrinkles; and full professional time-code functionality.

From the beginning, the Canon XL series has offered the unique capability to record four tracks of audio, albeit only at a lower-quality 12-bit setting. The XL2 added two built-in XLR jacks with switchable 48V phantom power for powering professional microphones. The XL H1 goes one better by making these inputs switchable between microphone and line levels, allowing them to interface with virtually all types of audio gear. And as the HDV standard includes four channels of 16-bit audio, the XL H1 can record four high-quality audio tracks at once.

Due to the addition of an SD-card slot, the XL H1 offers some limited photo functionality. It can output stills at resolutions as high as 2 megapixels and record them as fast as 5fps. It can also drive an external flash and capture single-megapixel stills while shooting HD video.

Finally, Canon offers three new options for an extra price. First is the Console software package, which enables a FireWire-equipped PC to control just about every camera function and serve as a hard disk recorder. Second is a package including the FU-2000 Color Viewfinder and the ZR-2000 Zoom Remote Control, which together enable remote monitoring and control of the camera. Finally, for a $500 service charge, Canon will give the XL H1 the ability to switch between PAL and NTSC formats–almost as nifty as Sony’s HVR-Z1, which offers this multiformat functionality for free.

The Canon XL H1’s stock lens shows the strengths and weaknesses that have characterized the XL series since its inception. On the plus side, this sharp and contrasty lens offers an unrivaled 20X zoom range, a terrific selection of motorized zoom speeds, and a spectacularly effective optical stabilizer. However, those wanting to shoot wide will be disappointed; at its widest, the zoom provides the 35mm-camera equivalent of a 39mm lens. And the zoom and focus controls are as clumsy and imprecise as ever, making precise manual adjustments difficult. A superb fully mechanical zoom is available to rectify most of these issues, but it adds about $1,600 to the price of a camera that is already more expensive than its competition.

While every other manufacturer offers a flip-out LCD in addition to a viewfinder, Canon continues to offer only a viewfinder–one that has not significantly improved from the XL2’s. To put it simply, a camera capable of 1.5-megapixel HD imagery deserves a viewfinder with higher than 0.25-megapixel resolution. The Magnifying feature helps ameliorate this weakness, but this focusing aid cannot function while the camera is recording. Finally, there is no way to override the viewfinder’s underscan, making it impossible to see the full image–a serious limitation if you’re shooting for distribution in a format that displays an overscanned image (streaming Web video, for example).

With the exception of the mediocre lens controls discussed above, the manual controls are precise and responsive. The camera starts and stops almost instantaneously. Unfortunately, the Canon XL H1’s automation is considerably less impressive. The autofocus and the autoexposure are quite accurate but lag badly, particularly when you’re shooting in 30F or 24F mode. This should not be a major issue for most users, however, as a camera with the XL H1’s advanced capabilities deserves to be controlled manually.

The audio performed well in informal testing. Quiet and relatively directional, the built-in camera microphone is better than average, though of course, it’s no substitute for a proper audio kit.

There is no doubt that the Canon XL H1 produces interlaced HD video of extraordinarily high resolution. However, those shooting narrative work will want 24P imagery, and the Canon offers only a 24F mode, which sacrifices approximately a quarter of the vertical resolution in order to run at 24fps. While the 24F footage may suffice for many projects, this is a real weakness in a camera whose main selling point is its HD resolution.

It’s important to note that resolution is only one of several measures defining overall image quality. Another critical variable is dynamic range, or latitude–the camera’s ability to handle a contrasty scene without blowing out. Here the Canon is less impressive, easily clipping on uncontrolled highlights.

With regard to color, the Canon XL H1 provided an accurate, saturated image. In addition, the very rich Custom Presets enable the user to dial in any desired look, from the naturalistic to the stylized and experimental.

Like all new small-chip semipro HD cameras, the XL H1 has mediocre low-light performance; it needs something on the order of a stop more light than its standard-definition predecessor. This is simply physics at work; surface area dictates that the tiny pixels on the chips of HD cameras be less sensitive than the larger pixels on the chips of SD cameras.

As previous HDV cameras have demonstrated, the HDV compression scheme does a surprisingly good job of squeezing an HD picture onto a DV tape. Even complex, high-motion imagery revealed little in the way of artifacts.

In standard definition, the Canon XL H1 performs similarly to the XL2, which costs half as much and offers a true progressive mode. Finally, the XL H1’s still-image quality is extremely limited, offering only 2-megapixel resolution.

Sony’s DCR-PC55 MiniDV Handycam is a stylish shooting companion that’s small and light enough to fit in your pants pocket. With a 10X optical zoom and a decent selection of automatic and manual shooting modes, the DCR-PC55 provides most of the capabilities of larger counterparts. Unfortunately, it compromises on video quality, which runs from mediocre under optimal conditions to poor in low light. So unless portability and style are your paramount concerns, you can do better than this.

The Sony Handycam DCR-PC55 is amazingly light and compact and looks as if it would feel more at home hanging out in a crowd of iPods than on a shelf with the other camcorders. It’s small enough to fit, albeit tightly, in your jeans pocket, and weighs a mere 12.8 ounces with battery and tape installed. This camera goes for style as much as function, and comes in four colors: silver, red, black, and white. Despite its light weight, the camera feels very solid, which you’d expect when packing a camcorder into such a tight space. The camcorder should be safe in your pocket, thanks to an automatic lens cover that closes when you turn the DCR-PC55 off.

The three-inch LCD swings out of the side and must be swiveled 90 degrees for shooting, due to the camera’s vertically oriented design. There’s no electronic viewfinder, so you must always have the LCD open to frame your shots. The compact design can also be somewhat awkward to operate. While shooting, you must be very careful to avoid blocking the lens with your index finger. The camera’s design also makes it somewhat harder to hold steady than a more traditional, horizontally oriented camcorder.

You access most functions using the LCD touch-screen menus. While this is simpler than hunting for the right control on camcorders that boast 20 or more dedicated buttons, it takes longer to drill through the menus than it would if there were dedicated controls available for common functions.

At least the primary menu is customizable, so you can put your most commonly used functions on the first few pages. When you do need to go deeper into the menu system, you’ll find menu items clearly labeled and easy to navigate. There’s also an Easy mode, which puts all of the camera operations on automatic and removes almost all the menu items from view.

Notably, the DCR-PC55 includes a charging/transfer cradle. The camera itself has only USB and A/V ports; these are duplicated on the cradle, which also features the all-important FireWire port for transferring video to your computer. The A/V port is a tiny custom connector to which you attach an included cable that features S-Video, composite, and stereo audio inputs and outputs. There’s a stereo microphone mounted on the top of the camcorder; you can also attach an external microphone or flash to the custom accessory shoe directly behind the microphone.

You can eject a tape from the side-loading door while the camcorder is mounted on a tripod, but you must remove it from the tripod to swap batteries.

Most small electronics make some compromises, and the Sony Handycam DCR-PC55’s most significant is its lens, which has just a 10X optical zoom. The lens can’t accept accessories, so you can’t add a teleconverter or a wide-angle converter. It also features a 120X digital zoom, but as is true with virtually all camcorders, digital zoom causes such a dramatic loss of detail that it’s not really a viable option. Its 1/6-inch, 680,000-pixel sensor is also a bit low-resolution, given the camcorder’s price range.

The lens does support manual focus via icons on the touch screen. Unfortunately, this arrangement makes it difficult to finely adjust the focus with one hand while keeping your subject in view. A better option is the spot-focus function, which lets you use the touch screen to specify what object in the screen the camera should focus on.

The touch screen also scores points when you’re working with tricky exposures. With the spot-meter function, you frame your subject, then touch the screen at the spot that you want to use as an exposure reference. There are also manual exposure and white-balance settings, something you might not expect on such a compact camcorder.

The DCR-PC55 includes the typical array of automatic exposure modes, including Spotlight, Portrait, Sports, Beach & Ski, Sunset & Moon, and Landscape. You’ll also find a series of built-in faders and an assortment of gimmicky digital effects such as Old Movie, Pastel, and Mosaic. Sony’s trademark infrared Night Shot modes are absent here; the only low-light option is a Color Slow Shutter mode.

The camcorder shoots still images at VGA (640×480) resolution and can capture MPEG movies at 320×240 or 160×120 pixels. A 16MB Memory Stick Duo card is included for saving stills and video clips. There’s no built-in flash, but you can attach an external flash or flash/video-light combo to the camcorder’s accessory shoe.

The Sony Handycam DCR-PC55’s automatic modes perform well in most shooting conditions. Auto white balance and autoexposure are very quick, autofocus is snappy, and the camera quickly adjusts to fast changes in lighting conditions. The digital image stabilizer fares worse, with very noticeable camera shake when using the zoom. This is probably more a result of the camera’s awkward-to-hold-steady shape making the stabilizer work extra hard than any deficiency with the stabilizer itself.

Manual controls are a mixed bag. Manual focus is time-consuming and imprecise using the touch screen, but the spot-metering and focus functions that let you touch the portion of the frame you want to use as a reference work very well.

The LCD provides a clear, bright picture and, at three inches, is quite large for such a tiny camcorder. It works well in bright light, which is good, since there’s no viewfinder to fall back on.

The stereo microphone worked well, picking up subtle noises without recording the sound of the camera motor. Its placement on top of the camera makes it more sensitive to the shooter’s voice than the subject’s, however, and the lack of a wind-filter function made for some noisy outdoor shots in our testing on a breezy day.

While Sony didn’t compromise many features in making the Handycam DCR-PC55 small, we unfortunately can’t say the same about image quality. The video quality is among the poorest we’ve seen for a model in this price class. No matter how good the lighting, we saw noticeable video noise in our shots, indoors and out. There’s also a noticeable lack of resolution. Footage lacks detail, and objects such as rooflines have a very noticeable stair-step effect.

Color on our bright, outdoor shots looked accurate and saturated, but both indoors and in dimly lit situations, color faded out very noticeably while video noise increased dramatically. This camcorder is definitely best suited for outdoor shooting. The Color Slow Shutter mode brings colors out a bit more in dark situations but at the expense of a very slow frame rate and blurry panning shots. Furthermore, in situations with extremes of exposure--say, a lamp in a very dim room--the lighted area blows out while the dark areas remain underexposed.

Still pictures are merely VGA resolution and thus lack detail. Brightly lit outdoor images are OK for basic Web or e-mail use, but indoor shots are very muddy. This definitely isn’t a viable substitute for a dedicated still camera.

Unless you want to make the leap to high-definition footage, the Panasonic VDR-D310 is the most high-end Panasonic DVD camcorder you can get. Considering that the company’s high-def DVD camcorder, the HDC-DX1, retails for a good $300 more, the VDR-D310 clearly appears to be designed for users who want high-quality video without investing the significant money required for high-def.

On the outside, the D310 doesn’t look much different from lower-end Panasonic DVD camcorders, such as the VDR-D210 and the D230. All three models share the same basic shape and simple, direct control scheme. Most of the camcorder’s shooting options can be accessed directly through the joystick mounted on the mode dial. The joystick also navigates the D310’s menu. Though the casual user probably won’t use the menu for anything besides finalizing the disc, this camcorder also might attract some higher-end users who might be miffed to find that there are no dedicated buttons for functions such as backlight compensation or white balance, which can be helpful when trying to change shooting conditions on the fly. Also, given that this is a step-up model, we would’ve hoped to find some extra controls, such as the zoom and record start/stop buttons found on the LCD bezels of most Sony and Canon camcorders.

Looking past its simple design, the D310 proves itself to be pleasingly different than its 200-series siblings. Its three 800,000-pixel sensors and a 10x Leica lens give the VDR-D310 a significant edge over those more budget-priced models. Given that both sport a three-CCD design and a 10x lens, the D310 can be seen as a mini-DVD version of the miniDV Panasonic PV-GS320, which also offers a significant step up from its two budget-priced, single-chip little brothers.

The D310 produced very nice footage both indoors and out, with sharp details and saturated, accurate colors. With no video light, indoor footage looked predictably muted. Panasonic’s MagicPix mode enhances indoor and low-light footage, making video more viewable, but since it slows the shutter speed, it also makes your video quite choppy in dim lighting. Like all Panasonic camcorders, the D310 uses Panasonic’s Mega OIS optical image stabilization. It helps reduce shake and blur, but if you plan to zoom in a great deal, you should still invest in a tripod.

The Panasonic VDR-D310 takes good-looking home movies and burns them straight to easy-to-watch miniDVDs. It’s a good choice if you want pleasing footage without spending over a grand on high-def video. If you’re willing to do without the convenience of miniDVDs, however, the miniDV-based Panasonic PV-GS320 offers the same great video quality for several hundred dollars less.

Budget camcorders might not seem flashy, but they play an important part of every camcorder line. They’re designed to be no-frills, affordable products that anyone can pick up for only a few hundred dollars. Since their price is their main selling point, however, they tend to lack features found standard on higher-end models. Among Panasonic camcorders, for example, the PV-GS80 sits as the runt of the litter.
The GS80’s chunky, simple design makes it look almost indistinguishable from the crowd of budget MiniDV camcorders. Thanks to the camcorder’s incredibly simple control scheme, you can easily record and play videos without ever touching the menu system. If you really want to fiddle with the menus, you can navigate the GS80’s settings with a small joystick set into the mode dial. The “advanced” menu holds very little in the way of video settings, and it’s unlikely anyone would need to delve into the menus often.
Like most budget miniDV camcorders, the GS80 offers few, if any, impressive features. Its 680,000-pixel sensor effectively records 340,000 pixels at 4:3 and 460,000 pixels at 16:9 wide-screen. The camcorder scores some minor points for recording higher-resolution wide-screen video and not simply cropping its 4:3 video, but since both aspect ratios use such a small, low-resolution sensor, it doesn’t matter much. The GS80 incorporates a 32X zoom lens with optical image stabilization, but neither the GS80 nor its big brother, the GS85, use a Leica-branded lens. Panasonic prides itself in its use of Leica lenses in the majority of its digital imaging products, so the GS80’s unbranded lens secures its place at the bottom of Panasonic’s camcorder food chain.
For a budget camcorder, the GS80 produces rather nice video. Colors looked neutral and accurate, and footage was relatively clean and free of grain. Of course, if you plan on watching your movies on a large, high-def television, they’ll probably look awful; most budget camcorders’ standard definition video tends to look blown out and jagged when upscaled on modern HD screens. Finally, the GS80 failed at recording low-light video. Even enabling Night Mode or Panasonic’s Best Pix mode yields no significant difference when shooting in the in 50-watt-lamp darkness. Unless you’re positive you’ll always have plenty of light, consider spending about $40 more for another model, such as the slightly higher end GS85. It’s essentially the same camcorder as the GS80, except for minor features like a built-in video light and an SD card slot for taking low-resolution stills. The GS80 has a still photo button, but it only captures a still image and records that still to 7 seconds of video; it’s effectively useless.
The Panasonic PV-GS80 is a decent budget camcorder in its own right, but you could get a much better camera for the same or just slightly higher price. The comparably priced Canon ZR850 outshines the GS80 in almost every way.