This isn’t the first video camera we have had; it is a replacement for a 15 year old Panasonic (which still works by the way) which weighs 10 times as much and is probably 10 times as big and uses the record onto videocassette method of storage!
We waited quite a while before buying a new one mainly so the prices would come down so allowing us to buy a decently outfitted video cam. We have had this a few months now and are very pleased with it. We have just returned from a few days away (yes... we really did manage to pick a very weathery few days too) and took this away with us.
The Panasonic VDR-D220 is a very good unit. It is small light and compact. Weighing in at 510 g, it is 9.1 cm high x 6.7 cm wide and 14.3 cm deep. It is a widescreen palm video camcorder with image stabilisation. The image stabilisation being a major buying point for us and it suppresses hand-shake in both moving and still pictures and as its filming system is optical, there is no image quality degradation. When you're shooting a still picture,
the MEGA O.I.S. system automatically activates, doubling the corrective power which is actually superb. Until these last few days we hadn’t used it much for still pictures as we have a very decent digital camera but this is actually just as good.
The VDR D220 features 32x optical zoom which is incredibly powerful and also features low distortion and because it's optical, there is no loss of image quality or degradation. The colour reproduction is superb even when the zoom is at its maximum due to Panasonics “Pure Color Engine”. The technical details related to this are rather complicated dealing with luminescence and RGB signals and are over my head I’m afraid but however it works the resulting colours really are incredible. It also has 1000 x digital zoom but this does have some image degradation that increases the further you zoom in but as I’m not intending to be a paparazzi and record celebrities in their backyard I don’t mind and wont be using it much as the 32x optical is more than adequate.
The cam apparently records the differences in each frame and is good at rendering fast, complex movements: probably meant for recording sports but in our case we have tremendous footage of the kids and the dogs on the beach (yes we really did go on the beach- it wasn’t that bad honest).There is no jerkiness or blurring it records smoothly whatever is happening in front of it.
It has a very clear, but small, colour LCD monitor which is 2.7" Widescreen format. The microphone picks up sound really well close up but deteriorates the further away from the cam you are unless you use the sound zoom which does help. We found wind noise to be a bit of a problem as it was whistling and howling around us most of the time and the cam did pick this up despite the wind noise reduction but on a calmer day it does much better as it does inside. Its worth mentioning (for others like me) that this cam also has a small viewfinder.
It works very well at low lights, the booklet states 2 lux is its minimum, and although I don’t think we got anywhere near that low what we did record in low light was very good. It’s “Colour Night View” gives you images with colour even in poor lighting and as it says allows you to take pictures of the kids while they are sleeping.
The VDR D220 is easy to operate; pressing the centre of the joystick displays the menu. The most commonly used controls are on the right of the monitor; you can change settings or operate the camera without looking away from your monitor. There is a dial which you rotate with your fingertip to select the icon that corresponds to the mode you want which is really easy and infallible. When you open the LCD the power switches on and when you shut it the power goes off. This cuts down the time required for starting up the camera so it is very quickly ready for use. We have only used the camera on fully automatic so far but there is a facility to input your manual settings which would probably be good for a more enthusiastic photographer with more abilities than I. There are various presets to make life easier such as White Balance Modes: Auto, Indoor, Outdoor
It saves its still pictures as JPEGs with a choice of picture sizes; 640 x 480 and 640 x 360 and can store up to 999. It supports PictBridge for ease of printing and the image quality is excellent.. its memory storage selection is wide with supported choices being: MMC, SD, SDHC - Mini DVD-R/-RAM - 3" DVD-RAM, 3" DVD-R, 3" DVD-RW. The battery lasts ages with this video cam and has really impressed us Included with the Panasonic are: • AC Adapter • AC Cable • DC Cable • Battery Pack: Lithium-Ion • Video Component Cable • AV Cable: AV/S Multi • Lens Cap • PC Cable • CD-ROM containing software (this automatically updates Active X and isn’t compatible with a Mac)
Warranty: 1 year parts (6 months on CCD Image Sensor)
I feel this video camera is incredible quality for its cost; it has exceeded our expectations and the end results both are stills and in video are truly superb. This camera only cost around £250 yet the quality and results would make you think it cost much, much more. We haven’t got a bad word to say about this cam. Its build quality is good, even though its light it feels solid and well put together and not at all flimsy. Every control is in a perfect place to reach it is so well designed and the stabilisation makes a hell of a difference- you can turn this on and off and its amazing to see the difference
All in all this was a couple of hundred pounds very well spent.
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