Location:  Home » Camcorders » Panasonic SDR-H80 SD and HDD Camcorder (Black)  
Site Links
Business Verified Seal

View Cart
Checkout
About Us

Contact Us

Privacy Policy
Returns Policy
Shipping Information
DSLR Camera Features
Depth of Field Explained
Digital Camera Forum DSLR Camera News

Best of the WEB 2009

Newsletter
Subscribe to our newsletter
Nikon D5000
Subcategories
Flash Memory
Hard Disk Drive
High Definition
Professional Camcorders
Analog 8mm & Hi8
VHS-C
Digital DVD
Digital MiniDV
Digital8
Nikon D80
Categories
DSLR Cameras
Point and Shoot
Digital Frames
All Cameras
Camcorders
Accessories
Lenses
Optics
Photo Software
Printers & Scanners
Books
Webcams
Featured
Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF

Panasonic SDR-H80 SD and HDD Camcorder (Black)

Panasonic SDR-H80 SD and HDD Camcorder (Black)

Other Views:
Brand: Panasonic
Department: Cameras & Camcorders

List Price: $399.95
Buy New: $334.99
as of 9/3/2010 00:46 CDT details
You Save: $64.96 (16%)



New (16) Used (12) Refurbished (3) from $149.00

Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars 46 reviews
Sales Rank: 16048

Color: Black
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: Yes
Optical Zoom: 70
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 4.6 x 2.6 x 2.8
nv:Sensor: CCD
Size: 1/8" CCD
Image Resolution: 640 x 480
Movie Resolution: 704 x 480
Recording Definition: Standard Definition
Memory Included: 60GB Internal
Storage Media Type: Memory Card
Storage Media Type: Internal Hard Disk
Flash Memory Card: SD/SDHC
Compressed Format: JPEG
Movie File Format: MPEG2
Optical Zoom: 70x
Digital Zoom: 3500x
Focal Length: f = 1.5 - 105mm
LCD Monitor: 2.7-inches
LCD Pixels: 123,200 pixels
LCD Coverage: 100%
Shutter Speed: 1/30 - 1/8000 sec.

MPN: SDR-H80-K
Model: SDR-H80-K
UPC: 037988982769
EAN: 0037988982769

Release Date: April 15, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days

Features:
  • 1CCD camera system
  • Records to 60 GB built-in Hard Disk Drive or SD memory cards
  • 70x optical zoom; 100x digital zoom
  • Intelligent Auto Mode automatically selects Face Detection, Scene Selector, Optical Image Stabilizer and Intelligent Contrast Control
  • 2.7-inch widescreen touch-panel LCD

Accessories:


Similar Items:


Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
This 70x zoom lens Panasonic SDRH80 has the power you need to take dramatic close-ups or get remarkable shots of even distant subjects. But with long-distance zoom shots, even a tiny bit of handshake has a huge effect on picture quality. That's where optical image stabilization comes in. Panasonic's Advanced O.I.S. shifts a corrective lens as you shoot to help eliminate the effects of hand shake, so you get clear, sharp shots even at high zoom levels. It's an essential feature for getting the most out of this incredible zoom lens. With the H80, you can use the iA function whether you're shooting in motion or still images. In iA mode the camera detects the shooting situation and automatically activates whichever functions - such as Advanced O.I.S., Face Detection, and Intelligent Scene Selector - will deliver the optimal results. Forget about bothersome settings during important scenes and trust iA to give you the optimal shots. Anyone can enjoy easy, video uploading! Easy Uploading to YouTube - with the included software "VideoCam Suite" Step 1: Shoot. YouTube limits videos to 10 minutes. In Web mode the camcorder uses a 10-minute countdown system, so you're assured that the recording won't be too long for YouTube, and you won't have to edit it down after shooting. Step 2: Connect. The Upload mode in the VideoCam Suite is automatically activated as soon as the camcorder is connected to the PC. Step 3: Upload. To upload, simply choose the image file you want and click the Upload button. Encoding is no longer a hassle, as the software does all the work for you. Recording Format - MPEG2 (Motion Image); JPEG (Still Image) Focal Length - 1.5-105mm 35mm Film Camera Equivalent - 45.6-3194mm [4 - 3], 37.3-2610mm [16 - 9] [Motion Image]; 45.4-3180mm[4 - 3], 37.0-2592mm [16 - 9] [Still Image] Filter Diameter - 37mm Still Picture Recording - Yes; 0.2 M [640 x 360] [16 - 9


Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 46
1 2 3 4 5 6 ...10Next »



1 out of 5 stars The picture quality of a '90s cell phone   May 25, 2009
D. Joseph (New Hampshire, America)
92 out of 101 found this review helpful

I bought the Panasonic SDR-H80 digital video camera from Best Buy yesterday (May 23, 2009). It cost $399 + extra for a backup battery and a warranty.

The Good Stuff:

The optical image stabilization feature is quite adept at stabilizing a shaky image.

The 70x zoom is kinda cool, though you really need a tripod for anything over about 30x.

The camera looks attractive, is light weight, and has a relatively easy to use interface. The buttons are mostly positioned well, except the zoom lever, which I couldn't easily reach without jostling the camera.

The Bad Stuff:

The image quality of this camera is utter trash. Pure garbage. My picture phone literally takes better quality video at a higher resolution. I was absolutely stunned at how bad the image quality is. It looks like some kind of highly compressed late 90's webcam or something.

And it gets even worse in low light. And here, by "low light", I mean anything less than direct sunlight. My first attempts with this camera last night turned out so bad that I couldn't see anything.

I did have the camera set to the highest quality, and I followed the instructions for the different lighting types (fluorescent, mercury, etc) with no luck.

The camera claims to have an intelligent auto (iA) feature, but I didn't notice it doing much but fiddling with the white balance at odd intervals.

There is also a special low-light feature called "magic ..." something or other. I forget. But it reduced the frame rate to 1 or 2 fps, which makes it completely unacceptable as a video recording device.

I am surprised at how good the reviews are for this piece of equipment. Really, people, set your bar just a little bit higher.

I returned this product this morning to Best Buy. I brought my laptop, and while I was there, I tried out other cameras of this model to make sure that mine was not simply defective. They were all trash.

I ate the $60 Best Buy restocking fee, but that's okay because I'd rather be out $60 than $400 for a camera that won't do anything but sit in my closet.



4 out of 5 stars Upgraded to HDD   June 18, 2009
AV Guy (USA)
32 out of 33 found this review helpful

Bought this a couple weeks ago as my old Sony MiniDV camera bit the dust.
So far so good - excellent zoom, audio quality, nice to have so much recording time to the HDD.
Didn't notice till I got it that it does not have an eyepiece - only the LCD screen - other than that I couldn't be happier.

Note, I originally tried to save money by buying from one of those New York Electronics dealers - guy tried to convince me it only came with a 30 minute battery and I needed to spend the extra $100 with him to upgrade. Looser -

It's good for at least a couple hours.



1 out of 5 stars Grainy Image Quality   June 2, 2009
Sanjeev Vashist (San Jose, CA)
26 out of 27 found this review helpful

After some research and because I own a Panasonic Camera. I decided to buy this camcorder. First impression it looks good (small and very light), the optical zoom 70X and 60GB hard drive make it very impressive.

The biggest downside to this camcorder is the video quality. I shot a couple of shots in the morning under daylight and the image quality was very good. However, with no sunshine the image quality is very shady and bad. Imagine even with a house that is brightly lit the image looked very grainy and not good quality. The backlit feature does not help either.

Am going to return this camcorder and would advice you to stay away.



5 out of 5 stars Just What I was looking for   October 24, 2009
F. Cirksena (Iowa)
13 out of 13 found this review helpful

First off, I was looking for a replacement for my JVC mini-DV camcorder which I used extensively last year. It worked well until one day, it fell to the floor and since then, I would get errors while recording after 30 minutes of use. If I used a cleaning tape, I could get it to work somewhat. But, the biggest thing I disliked about it was that it would take 1 hour to transfer to my computer 1 hour worth of video using firewire.

So, I was looking for a good Standard Definition camcorder which would either use a hard-drive or flash memory card to transfer video to my computer for further editing and DVD authoring. And, this camcorder does that and very elegantly as well. I tried out some HD quality camcorders but to edit those would require a new PC, better software which doesn't seem to be available right now and more frustrations than I was looking for. I was looking for an easier way to do what worked.

I read where some do not like the quality ( primarily of photos ) which I'm not concerned with. The video quality to me is as good as my old JVC mini-DV. I have captured snapshots from the video taken on this camcorder and, considering all, they're not too bad but if I want a good photo, I'll use my digital camera. The software supplied with this Panasonic transfers the .mov files from the camcorder to the PC and renames them .mpg files. The files are identical so I'm assuming the camcorder records in mpeg format using a .mov file extension on the camcorder itself. I have thought I might just copy to my PC directly but the software is fairly straight forward enough, I use it. For editing video ( and photos ), I use my regular video/photo editing software once the files are on my PC. I used Sony Vegas Movie Studio 8 Platinum for video and PSP X2 or Photoshop Elements for photos and they work well.

What I like most about the camcorder are:
1. the zoom -- I recorded our son's football game and from across the field up in the video booth, I could zoom in on players and see their face quite easily zoomed in,
2. optical stabilization -- at zoomed in level, the stabilization worked very well. I held the light camcorder in my left hand as steady as I could and used my right index finger to zoom and thumb to record/pause the video. This worked very well,
3. audio -- I picked up audio from below, close up and far away while recording and was truly impressed with the resulting DVD I created from the captured video,
4. transfer to PC -- instead of 1-to-1 time transfer with a mini-DV, I could send 15 minutes of video over to my PC in 2-3 minutes max time -- and I didn't have to view/listen to the video being played while transferring.

What I like least about the camcorder are:
1. it is light -- almost too light but I'll get used to that,
2. the battery only lasts about 2 hours before charging so I've bought a longer-lasting battery which should help there,
3. the AC adaptor plug and file-transfer USB cable plug in under the battery. Somewhat awkward yes, but to do file transfers properly, I should be using AC anyway so it's impossible to mess that up using a low battery and losing power in the middle of a file transfer,
4. there is another feature called aI which I haven't completely figured out yet but from what I can tell so far, it may be something I would add to what I like Most about the camcorder. If I find this is so, I may wish to update this review.

So, for my purposes, this is a great camcorder!



5 out of 5 stars Worth every penny   November 23, 2009
consumer (central us)
14 out of 15 found this review helpful

I've read the other reviews and have to say, the one's that claim the image is bad quality or grainy need to go to school. Just read the manual and learn how to adjust the settings to the surroundings. It's a camera, not a box of ready to eat cereal..... it takes a bit of talent and practice to make a good video.

I also have a Laptop that's running 64 bit Vista and had no problem with the software, as well as on my 32 bit desktop with XP. I'm not sure what her problem was.

Take the bad revues with a grain of salt, these people probably can't tie their shoes right.


Showing reviews 1-5 of 46
1 2 3 4 5 6 ...10Next »


camcorder  easy to use  hard drive  hard drive camcorder  panasonic sdr h60  
CERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON SERVICES LLC. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED ‘AS IS’ AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME.
-
Nikon D3000
Canon Rebel XSi
Sony Alpha A200K
Nikon D300
Canon Rebel XTi
Nikon D60
DSLRCamera.com is a CyberSpot, Inc. Company © 2003 - 2010