Panasonic HDC-SDX1 Camcorder-cum Webcam launched

Panasonic HDC-SDX1 Camcorder-cum Webcam priced $499.95

Photo: Panasonic HDC-SDX1 camcorder priced $ 500

With mid-range compact camcorders in great demand by consumers, Panasonic has introduced a mid-level compact camcorder, the Panasonic HDC-SDX1. The key feature of HDC-SDX1 is that it offers web video chatting capabilities, allowing users to use the camcorder as a webcam too.

Weighing 0.41 lbs, the Panasonic HDC-SDX1 features a new 35.8mm wide-angle lens with 23x zoom and optical and electrical hand-shake reduction. Its flip out 2.7 inch LCD monitor features touch screen operation and it supports full-HD AVCHD recording capabilities with 1920 x 1080 image quality.

The Panasonic HDC-SDX1 has a single 1/4.1-inch MOS sensor with 3.32 mega pixels doing the video capture duties; however Video mode will give the user only 1.44 of those mega pixels while Still Image mode will offer only 2.08–mega pixel. It can record in iFrame mode at 28Mbps (960 x 540/30p), as well as MPEG-4 (H.264). Controls are limited to Auto/Manual, OIS, Video Light, Power, and Photo buttons.

Chris Rice, Senior Product Manager, Imaging, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company said that with the addition of the SDX1, now customers had a versatile camcorder that could not only do high-quality video shooting, but also sharing those clips with friends and family.

The Panasonic HDC-SDX1 camcorder has a low-light tolerance of 4 lux in the Low Light Scene mode. Video is recorded at 1080/60i or 480/60i and the max bitrate offered by the camcorder is 17Mbps. SDX1 also supports the Apple iFrame video format, to upload video clips to YouTube or Facebook.

The HDC-SDX1 camcorder has a 16.8x optical zoom with 23x Intelligent zoom. There is also in-built Hybrid OIS and OIS lock. HYBRID O.I.S. provides more accurate hand-shake correction with its four-axis blur detection that helps the user to steady images even when zooming or shooting a moving subject.

Its Intelligent Scene Selector detects the situation and switches the scene mode accordingly and the Intelligent Contrast control helps to retain images with proper contrast ratios. Face Detection tool captures faces even in dim light and the Face Recognition tool locates the registered faces of subjects and automatically optimizes the focus and exposure, while continuously tracking them as they move around within the LCD frame. Its 35.8mm wide-angle setting is helpful while shooting portraits or landscapes and even helps in recording voices clearly at a far distance.

HDC-SDX1′s 2.7-inch LCD comes with a 230,400-pixel resolution that offers touchscreen operation. An interesting feature in HDC-SDX1 is that it records to SD/SDHC/SDXC cards.

The camcorder will be available only in black color this September in United States, retailing for $499.95. So, for them who were planning to buy a camcorder and a webcam separately, this product is a good combination in a decent price. We hope to get this camcorder in India too at an affordable price soon afterwards.