Panasonic SD60

Invasion

Invasion

Invasion

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I have been looking for a HD camcorder and came across the Panasonic SD60 for £300 think it is 458 most places. This is £50 over budget as i wasnt going to spend more than £250

Really would like opinions on this or the Sony HDRCX115EB at around £400

Also can somone explain what 50i/60i/ or progressive is :confused:
 
50i is interlaced at 25 fps.
50p is non interlaced at 50fps.

Other difference between sd60 and newer and more expensive sd600 and sd700 series is that the sd60 has a single sensor and the newer ones have the 3mos sensors which are supposed to be a little better in low light.

Big price jump, so I don't think you'd go wrong with and sd60.
 
thanks for the help much appreciated:)

Yeah the price jump on the 3mos sensor cams is a bit of a jump :eek:
I cant really justify that price jump..getting tight in my old age :D

I have reserved a SD60 if I want it I have to collect by the end of today. At £300 it seems a good cam
 
Invasion said:
thanks for the help much appreciated:)

Yeah the price jump on the 3mos sensor cams is a bit of a jump :eek:
I cant really justify that price jump..getting tight in my old age :D

I have reserved a SD60 if I want it I have to collect by the end of today. At £300 it seems a good cam
Click to expand...

SD600 is around £100 more so not 'much' more.
 
Invasion said:
Anybody ?? Really dont want to make a mistake and get the wrong thing.
Someone must have the SD60 ??
Click to expand...

I have an SD60.

In this price range it is the best there is.

The Sony HDRCX115EB has the same size sensor as the SD60 but the SD60 wins with extra features over the Sony. Mic level control and advanced manual control of the aperture and iris - of which normally aren't found in a camcorder of this price and are very useful to have.

I've had mine since July 2010 and it is a solid performer with great video quality.
 
It's the same old story isn't it.

SD700 if you have the money (viewfinder, 3mos)
SD600 if you have a little less money (no viewfinder, 3mos)
SD60 if you have even less money (no viewfinder, no 3mos)

I reckon they're all pretty damn good though when it comes down to video quality.

I always aim for the very best I can afford, and then splash out on the model that's over budget ;)
 
cochoc said:
It's the same old story isn't it.

SD700 if you have the money (viewfinder, 3mos)
SD600 if you have a little less money (no viewfinder, 3mos)
SD60 if you have even less money (no viewfinder, no 3mos)
Click to expand...

don't think the sd60 does 50p either, though considering it's a **** to edit, is that so bad.?

The prices of the 600 and 700 series are already dropping with the pending release of the 800 and 900.
 
Reality Bites said:
don't think the sd60 does 50p either, though considering it's a **** to edit, is that so bad.?

The prices of the 600 and 700 series are already dropping with the pending release of the 800 and 900.
Click to expand...

You are correct the SD60 doesn't shoot in progressive format - Only 720i and 1080i.

It is a love/hate thing at the moment I think. We are trapped between these two formats interlaced (720i/1080i) and progressive (720p/1080p). Progressive video is the clear winner each frame holds twice the detail of an interlaced image. Progressive is also far superior when it comes to fast moving shots.

As much as I like my SD60 I do wish it could shoot progressive as the hassles of de-interlacing interlaced video can be such a pain in the arse. I am still experimenting with the best method

Not sure really about the problems with editing 1080p. I think the main issue is that the AVCHD format isn't really ment to go up to 1080p and some video editing software is having a hard time with this this out of spec video format.

I am also noticing the price of the 600 and 700 series is falling which is great news, I hope they continue to fall. :)
 
2StepSteve said:
You are correct the SD60 doesn't shoot in progressive format - Only 720i and 1080i.

It is a love/hate thing at the moment I think. We are trapped between these two formats interlaced (720i/1080i) and progressive (720p/1080p). Progressive video is the clear winner each frame holds twice the detail of an interlaced image. Progressive is also far superior when it comes to fast moving shots.

As much as I like my SD60 I do wish it could shoot progressive as the hassles of de-interlacing interlaced video can be such a pain in the arse. I am still experimenting with the best method

Not sure really about the problems with editing 1080p. I think the main issue is that the AVCHD format isn't really ment to go up to 1080p and some video editing software is having a hard time with this this out of spec video format.

I am also noticing the price of the 600 and 700 series is falling which is great news, I hope they continue to fall. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info :)I am going to go with the SD600 next month
Mainly from what you have said about hassles of editing with non progressive.

Is the format AVCHD on all the HD cameras ?
 
Invasion said:
Thanks for the info :)I am going to go with the SD600 next month
Mainly from what you have said about hassles of editing with non progressive.

Is the format AVCHD on all the HD cameras ?
Click to expand...

The AVCHD format is being used on quite a few cameras now. But I believe only Panasonic and Sony are pushing the boundaries with AVCHD and have cameras which can record at 1080 50p in AVCHD.

I think what I wrote came out wrong, what I meant to say was editing non progressive files are easier as the demands on a PC and editing software are lighter. But the results when playing back interlaced video on a progressive platform (anything other than your HD TV - which knows how to handle interlaced video) such as your PC monitor can vary depending on how your computer is dealing with the interlaced nature of the video.

It's quite brain aching! This is quite a useful link which explains interlaced video quite well a long with the problems and limitations of it and explains the benefits of progressive video. http://www.digitalphotographywriter.com/2010/08/hd-1080p-vs-1080i-videos-progressive.html

You will need a very decent PC to edit progressive video since the editing software will need to process twice the amount of frames compared to an interlaced video.

The SD600 has had a little criticism by some for the noise generated by it's cooling fan to cool the 3 sensors. This fan can be heard on recordings in quiet rooms and since there is no mic input jack it is impossible to use another an external microphone to isolate the noise.


It might be something that would bother you.

I believe that the SD600 is soon to be replaced by the SD800.
 
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2StepSteve said:
The AVCHD format is being used on quite a few cameras now. But I believe only Panasonic and Sony are pushing the boundaries with AVCHD and have cameras which can record at 1080 50p in AVCHD.

I think what I wrote came out wrong, what I meant to say was editing non progressive files are easier as the demands on a PC and editing software are lighter. But the results when playing back interlaced video on a progressive platform (anything other than your HD TV which knows how to handle interlaced video) such as youtube and your PC monitor etc can vary depending on how your computer is dealing with the interlaced nature of the video.

It's quite brain aching! This is quite a useful link which explains interlaced video quite well a long with the problems and limitations of it and explains the benefits of progressive video. http://www.digitalphotographywriter.com/2010/08/hd-1080p-vs-1080i-videos-progressive.html

You will need a very decent PC to edit progressive video since the editing software will need to process twice the amount of frames compared to an interlaced video.

The SD600 has had a little criticism by some for the noise generated by it's cooling fan to cool the 3 sensors. This fan can be heard on recordings in quiet rooms and since there is no mic input jack it is impossible to use another an external microphone to isolate the noise.


It might be something that would bother you.

I believe that the SD600 is soon to be replaced by the SD800.
Click to expand...

Really appreciate your help with this :)
I agree it is t is brain aching..going to have a good read tonight see if I can make some sense of it all :eek:

Thanks for telling me about tha fan noise..not sure if that would bother me or not ?? Do you think the 800 will suffer from the same thing ??
The SD 800 is £698 pre order. I could maybe push to this if it would be would be worth it.

Thanks again ;)
 
Invasion said:
Really appreciate your help with this :)
I agree it is t is brain aching..going to have a good read tonight see if I can make some sense of it all :eek:

Thanks for telling me about tha fan noise..not sure if that would bother me or not ?? Do you think the 800 will suffer from the same thing ??
The SD 800 is £698 pre order. I could maybe push to this if it would be would be worth it.

Thanks again ;)
Click to expand...

No worries :) it really is a minefield with video and video editing. I can see myself upgrading from my SD60 sometime this year to a 1080p video camera as it looks like prices are starting to fall.

With the fan noise issue: Even Panasonic's last years flag ship model the TM700 suffered with fan noise and it put many people off from buying. Panasonic are due to update their entire range this year. Hopefully the fan noise issue will be resolved perhaps by damping the noise created by the fan.

£698 sounds expensive for the SD800 I would definitely wait for some reviews before pre-ordering.

There seem to be very few differences between the SD600 and SD800 which is quite surprising. By quickly scanning through Panasonic's site it looks like the stabilisation is different and the LCD screen is slightly larger.
 
the SD800 will most likely have the same fan setup although most I've read have said you can't hear the fan in the sd600.

If you look, you can get the sd800 for around £570 (a little more off if you go through quidco).

You have to ask whether it's worth the extra £170 over the SD600 when the only real benefits appear to be the ability to add the 3d lens on later.
 
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