The Panasonic HDC-SX5 was only recently announced, but TrustedReviews has the first Panasonic HDC-SX5 review that I’ve seen available already. As a refresher, the HDC-SX5 is a true hybrid HD camcorder capable of recording to SDHC memory cards or 8cm DVDs, and can copy footage from SDHC cards to the DVD, as well. How does the SX5 fare in the review?
The Panasonic HDC-SX5 has some really nice features, like a very effective optical image stabilizer, and a PRE-REC function, which continuously buffers 3 seconds of footage in SDHC mode and automatically records those 3 seconds when you hit the record button. The PRE-REC function makes sure you don’t lose any footage from missing the right moment to press record.
Video performance on the Panasonic HDC-SX5 is described as, “excellent in sunny conditions and very respectable under good artificial illumination.” This is most likely due to Panasonic use of a 3CCD system in the camcorder. However, in low-light the quality suffers because of how small the sensors are (a smaller surface means less light is able to hit each sensor) and because of the way AVCHD compression works.
Overall, though, the Panasonic HDC-SX5 looks like a winner of a camcorder if you are looking for a hybrid HD camcorder.
