CamcorderInfo takes a look at a very nice tapeless digital camcorder in their Panasonic SDR-S150 review. The Panasonic S150 was announced back in June, and has just started shipping. It features three 1/6″ CCDs, 10x optical zoom, and the capability to record high-quality video to SD card. A 2GB card is included, but at the highest quality this only gets you 25 minutes of footage. Fortunately this camcorder also supports the new SDHC cards, which will be capable of capacities far greater than 2GB. So how did the SDR-S150 fare when put to the test?
The video quality of the Panasonic SDR-S150 was not unlike its predecessor: very good. The noise levels are low, and colors are not oversaturated, which can be very common in any consumer digital camcorder. The picture was quite sharp.
The optical image stabilization worked quite well, actually beating out most other camcorders, according to CCInfo. On the other hand, low light performance was not very good, and other similar camcorders on the market performed much better.
In conclusion, we love this camcorder, if you can accept the handling issues inherent in an ultra-compact and the almost assured necessity of purchasing an additional SD card. It’s a tough call, but the quality just about makes it worth it.
It will be interesting to see how the SDR-S150 sells once consumers become more aware of its existence. Will hard-drive based camcorders still rule the market, or will we see a shift toward tapeless camcorders with removable media?
