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Panasonic SDR-S15 Flash Memory Camcorder With SD Card Slot - Black
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| List Price: | £269.99 |
| Price: | £169.97 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details |
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk
3 new or used available from £169.97
Average customer review:
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #2239 in Consumer Electronics
- Brand: Panasonic
- Model: SDR-S15EB-K
- Released on: 2009-02-10
- Dimensions: 1.85 pounds
Editorial Reviews
Manufacturer's Description
The new SDR-S15 is a stylish model with an ultra-compact, go-anywhere design. It offers a small size, light weight and superb mobility made possible by SD/SDHC Memory Cards, letting you shoot video with the same casual ease and carry-about convenience they enjoy with small digital camcorders. For occasions when in the past it may have seemed a bit awkward to pull out a camcorder, such as on short outings or business trips, the SDR-S15 is ideal.
Quick Start function
The Quick Start function allows the SDR-S15 camcorder to begin recording just 0.6 second from the time the LCD is opened and this around a third of the time that it takes for a camcorder that records onto DVD discs to start, making it easier to catch those special moments that come with no warning. All in clear MPEG2 DVD quality.
The SDR-S15 camcorder offers a function that simplifies the process of copying recordings from the Memory Card or hard disk drive to a DVD. Simply connect the camcorder to a VW-BN1 DVD Burner (optional) and press the button. No PC is required. A DVD disc created this way can be easily played directly from a DVD player.
Intelligent Auto (iA) function
Panasonic’s highly acclaimed Intelligent Auto (iA) function detects shooting conditions and automatically selects the most suitable shooting mode, to record stunning images without the hassle of adjusting settings.
These functions include Face Detection, which adjusts exposure settings in order to capture faces perfectly; and the Intelligent Scene Selector, which determines shooting conditions and selects scene settings accordingly.
Face Detection
The Face Detection function can find faces in the frame adjusting the focus, and automatically senses the ambient lighting and adjusts the exposure accordingly. The results are clear, sharp images every time, even with several people in the picture.
Intelligent Scene Selector
Intelligent Scene selector automatically selects the best mode for the scene you are currently shooting. No need to worry about which setting you have, just point and shoot for easy, perfect video each time.
Convenient for travellers, the new World Timer function eliminates the need to manually reset the camcorder time when crossing time zones. The user simply selects the destination from the displayed map, and the time is adjusted automatically. Time can be set for two different locations, such as home and a destination. The user can switch between them by simply pressing a button.
YouTube Uploader
All new Panasonic Camcorders come with VideoCam Suite software, which makes it easy to upload video clips to the YouTube website. You simply connect the camcorder to the PC using the USB interface and the software automatically starts up. Then, the user just follows the specified procedure to upload a video clip to YouTube. Once again, Panasonic camcorders have come up with a truly unique style to expand the fun of video shooting even more.
Box Contains
Customer Reviews
A good value "real" camcorder
This unit is quite small, it will fit into a shirt-pocket, albeit a little bulky. It is well-made in a black sparkly plastic with some texturing on the back where your hand goes, this would have been better in a rubberised finish.
It doesn't have the traditional camcorder hand-strap, instead it has a camera type lanyard, luckily with a sliding bar to tighten to your wrist.
To hold the camcorder you make a fist with your right hand and the zoom buttons fall under your first and second fingers and your thumb falls on the start-stop button on the back. To hold at waist height there is another stop-start button at the front of the camcorder for your first finger and the zoom can operate with your thumb. I'm left-handed and I still found it easy to use.
Panasonic don't supply an SD card and their current (May 2009) offer of a free 16MB card with this camcorder was returned to me with a letter saying Amazon purchases aren't eligible.
A 4GB card will hold 50 minutes of video at the highest quality; needs to be Class 2 or better. The battery lasts around 40 to 45 minutes and takes 2 and a bit hours to charge. The battery was the same as my Panasonic Lumix FX33 camera so I could charge it in the camera charger. The camcorder is supplied with a power-supply to charge the battery in the camcorder.
The 10X zoom is more than adequate for most people's needs and is totally silent in operation. There is a lens cap operated by a switch and a video light.
In use I found the LCD viewfinder viewable in bright sunlight and the image quality is impressive considering this is a standard definition, DVD quality, camcorder. The camcorder has Panasonic's iA mode which has face recognition which works impressively well to focus on your subject. I was surprised how good the sound was, really crystal clear. In dim conditions the grain does come up a bit but not unduly so.
The camcorder has 16:9 and 4:3 modes. It takes stills but as expected these aren't brilliant.
The supplied software is simple but has all the basic needs.
For the money this is an impressive camcorder and I would recommend it.
Superb
This is my first camcorder.....and I did a lot of looking and reading on here before deciding what I purchased. This little beauty fits the list perfectly......price wise. User wise...I wanted something not fiddly, this fits the bill, ease of use. A read up on the booklet....charge of battery and 2 and a half hours later, there was I walking around the lounge playing. Just wonder now why I waited so long before purchasing one......lots of holiday views to capture next week. You won't be disappointed with this.
Small, lightweight but utterly brilliant
This is so small and light it's great to carry around all the time "just in case".
DO NOT be misled by other erroneous reviews, this little baby is uttery brilliant as it records in a number of modes: XP (top quality which, when used with an 8GB SD card will give you one and a half hours recording), SP, LP and EP. Hoewever, if quality is what you require then avoid LP and EP modes as the deterioration in quality is substantial.
Set this up to use in automatic mode, set face recognition on, set anti-shake on and that's all you'll ever need. I use this semi professionally and it's been a breeze with the quality of a level more than expected of a non High Def. camera.
