Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I did a lot of research before buying this camera. We could have bought a higher quality digital camcorder for less or higher quality MiniDV camcorder for the same price. What led to our final decision to purchase this camcorder was the fact we could record straight to a 8cm DVD-R, finalize the disc on the camcorder, and play it directly on our DVD player or DVD-ROM player on our computer. We didn't want to deal with sticking cables and wires into the TV, electrical outlet, and camera to playback footage. And we also didn't want to deal with the cost and trouble of transferring footage onto DVDs to keep in our video library for the future.
For those of you who like to edit, re-record, create effects, etc., you need to purchase special software separately, but with a DVD-RAM disc, you have the ease and convenience of doing it all from your DVD-ROM on your computer. You can also download it with the USB cable, but it is nice to be able to just pop it in the DVD drive and get started.
If you are only interested in playback, DVD-R discs are sufficient; however, you can't erase or record over footage on DVD-Rs, only DVD-RW and DVD-RAM discs.
The picture quality of the camera is adequate. It isn't grainy, but smooth and actually very nice in the right lighting, especially outside on a sunny day. It doesn't have a built-in light, so you have to be aware of the right surroundings and environment for recording. I would give the picture quality a 3.75 out of 5. If you want better quality, you will need to buy a more expensive DVD Camcorder. Considering how far we have come over the years with home video technology, it definitely beats those days images were out of focus and grainy. You can't compare it to TV and movie camera quality, but I think it is pretty darn good for home videos. The zoom is good, but of course it takes some time to focus if you zoom in or out too quickly. The stabilizer is pretty good, but I keep it off for the most part to get better picture quality. If you plan to move around a lot, use the function, but expect to lose a little quality in the process. What basically happens when using the stabilizer (with most cameras, I believe) is that the image movements are slightly delayed. The sound quality is adequate, but if you are recording when it is windy, you will pick up a lot of the wind sounds unless you block the microphone with your hand.
The only problem I have had so far is with the discs. We bought Panasonic DVD-RW discs and can't get them to play on our computer or in our DVD player. We ended up purchasing Sony DVD-R discs and they play with no problem. When I called Panasonic about their DVD-RW discs, they didn't have a good answer. The representative told me to make sure the DVD-RW discs are compatible with my players. I told her they may not be compatible with my DVD Player, but it should be with my new computer software. The representative just repeated herself and eventually said there isn't any difference between Sony and Panasonic discs (interesting). They make the claim that Panasonic discs work the best in the manual, but now I know better.
Overall, this camcorder is a great value (you can't beat the price for this DVD technology), average to good quality picture and functions, is excellent for the ease and convenience of DVD playback and storage, and is really easy to use.
**UPDATE: We were having trouble with playback of a few discs again, so we took some of these discs to a video recording shop to have them transferred to a regular DVD. The manager there explained that with this DVD Camcorder technology, people are getting errors on their discs when they move around too much when it is writing. For example, you film and then you either shut off the camera or switch it to playback mode, right? Well, apparently during that particular time if you jostle the unit too much, you may get a disc error that could be unrecoverable. He recommended keeping the unit very still when you switch to playback mode and wait for it finish writing to avoid this problem. Unfortunately, their company has had to transfer many camcorder DVDs to regular DVDs and this is not a problem unique to this Panasonic camcorder, though higher quality and higher priced ones may have less problems. Bottom line is that DVD camcorder technology in general is still developing and improving and there are still a few bugs in it.
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With the Panasonic VDR-D100 DVD camcorder with 30x optical zoom in your hands, you'll have some of the most exciting technologies to be found anywhere in a home-video camcorder. Featuring a powerful 30x optical zoom, an advanced optical image stabilizer, and Panasonic's pure color engine and MPEG2 engine, the VDR-D100 will give you the results and performance that have previously only been possible in professional camcorder systems.A Powerful 30x Optical ZoomWith one of the most--if not the most--powerful zooms offered in any home-use camera, the VDR-D100 will make those distant images you've long been craving to record yours for the asking. While many camcorders can offer 30x of digital zoom or more, the image degradation of digital zoom renders most distant images virtually unrecognizable. Digital zooms basically enlarge the dots at the center of the image, producing grainy images. In fact, the larger the zoom, the grainier the image. An optical zoom, on the other hand, not only offers magnification without the image degradation, it also focuses quickly, so you're ready to shoot right away. (But if you really insist on zooming in on your distant subject, the VDR-D100 also has the ability to achieve up to 1000x in digital zoom mode.) And while cameras with high-powered zooms typically require a big and complicated lens, the VDR-D100 is light and compact enough for you to carry with you easily.Reducing Hand-Shake with Panasonic's Optical Image StabilizerAnyone who has ever recorded home video knows how difficult it is to take perfectly stable shots. Hand-shake is one of the biggest problems with home video. Panasonic has created a unique solution to this problem--an optical image stabilizer system that corrects the problem before the CCD imaging stage, so that it has virtually no effect on image resolution or field of view. With this one-of-a-kind system, you'll get automatic hand-shake correction every time you shoot. Panasonic's Advanced Color Engines and High-Quality OpticsAt the heart of the system is a 1/6-inch CCD, Panasonic's innovative Pure Color Engine and MPEG2 Engine that together offer superb color reproduction and performance. In short, the Pure Color Engine converts the CCD output signal from a complementary color signal into an RGB signal at an early stage and extracts the low-frequency luminance component from the RGB signal. This innovative process will help you achieve superb color reproduction for all your shots, including your high-zoomed pictures. Panasonic's MPEG2 engine is a wide-range, high-precision search engine that produces smooth, beautiful motion pictures. By using the same variable bit rate technology that Panasonic developed for its high-end Diga DVD recorder, the MPEG2 engine will enhance your LP recordings with nearly twice the resolution captured with standard video cameras.But none of this technology would be worth a hoot if Panasonic didn't outfit the VDR-D100 with some of the finest optics you'll find in any camcorder. Leica AG of Germany is the manufacturer of fine cameras and lenses revered by generations of photographers. The Leica Dicomar lens featured in the VDR-D100 was developed specifically for digital video cameras. Drawing on Leica's renowned optical technology, this advanced multi-coated lens captures clear, crisp, finely nuanced images with outstanding detail and contrast.Straight to DVD: No Computer NecessaryOne of the VDR-D100's most exciting features is its ability to record directly to DVD-RAM, DVD-R, and DVD-RW discs. With a DVD-RAM disc, you can record up to tens of thousand times and view your results without any finalizing process. You can also record repeatedly on DVD-RW discs. While you can record only once on DVD-R discs, they can be played back on almost any kind of DVD player or recorder. The camcorder automatically finds a blank section on the disc for recording. You never need to search for blank disc space, and there's no worry about recording over a previous recording by mistake. With this versatility, you'll have the option of recording on whichever kind of disc works best in your DVD player or recorder.With DVD's high-speed data transfer, you can dub your recordings--even large volumes--quickly and easily onto a DVD video recorder's hard disk drive for the editing process. You can also do some polished editing using just the camera itself. For example, you can delete scenes right on the spot or change the scene sequence to create your own scenarios. It's also easy to change the sequence of the scenes you've recorded, and then play them back. And the camcorder's USB 2.0 compatibility means that you can upload a motion picture data to a PC at high speed over a single USB cable. Even if your PC has no DVD drive, you can transfer the data to a PC seamlessly and quickly.The Finer DetailsThe VDR-D100 has a shutter speed range of between 1/60 and 1/3000 second. With a 0 Lux Color Night View feature, you can shoot video in total darkness. This function shoots four frames per second using the LCD monitor as a light source. Pictures are clear and sharp, thanks to the hand-shake compensation provided by the O.I.S. Light from the LCD is gentle and easy on the eyes, so you can snap shots of sleeping children without waking them up. Automatic functions, such as several scene modes, make it easy to take the perfect video shots, and a 2.5-inch LCD monitor makes it easy to keep track of your subjects. A built-in stereo microphone lets you record in Dolby Digital stereo, giving your video a true theatrical touch. What's in the Box VDR-D100 camcorder, battery pack, AC adapter, strap, AV multi-cable, USB cable, lens cap, and software CD-ROM.
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