Nice HD hard disc camcorder. Small, lightweight, and easy to use. SD card makes simple and cheap recording media. Would like a speed for zoom, but basically a good easy to use digital camcorder. Also, Hard Disk recording is a breeze and easy transfer to editing software.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Came with dead battery would.t charge ad $30 for new battery. Fun looking at 2008 images and video from initial user. I think the stills are blurry as reviews confirm. It'll do
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
The camera is just the right size for an adult hand, not too small or bulky. I like this camera because there are no disks or tapes to change out, you simply record directly to a built in hard drive. I like being able to put the recordings into separate folders on my computer and then build DVD's. It is easy to use and easy to transfer files to my computer. The only thing that I might call a dislike is the fact that it can do way more than I need it to do, which is really not a bad thing, I just don't need all the extra features.
I bought this to do recordings of live classical music concerts. I like the HD, as it eliminates the need to deal with memory cards. I've used this for 2 concerts and am actually more happy with the audio quality than the picture quality. I haven't tried recording with the higher-quality picture setting yet, so maybe that will improve the picture quality. Transfer to DVD is very easy with imovie '08 or '09 (I have a Macbook). However, if you do any editing with the camera itself, the camera records .mod files which do not automatically open in imovie. You have to convert the files to mp4 first. (I use Handbrake.) The camera is very lightweight and easy to use. Eventually I'll probably get a Hi-def camera, but this is a great camera for the price.
I am a loyal customer of Panasonic products and when considering a camcorder decided on the SDR-H40 hard drive model. The camera itself is a jewel and performs very well, that's the good news. Now for the reservations, I have owned the camera now for about a month and have yet to be able to get any data OUT of the camera's hard drive and into a PC for editing. Have thrown alot of extra money at the issue that stands unresolved as we speak. Panasonic tech told me that my PC operating system (XP Media Center Edition 2005 on a Compaq PC) was not compatible with the VideoCam Suite 1.0 that comes with the camera. So decided to purchase a refurb PC with Windows XP Professional OS (recommended) and dedicate it entirely to my photography hobby. Loaded the VideoCam software and STILL the camera is not recognized! Neither Corel VideoStudio Pro X2, Pinnacle Studio Plus 9.3, or the Windows Movie Maker will recognize the camera either! Am awaiting help in resolving the issue from Panasonic and other software techs as well as my local PC tech at the moment. The movies on the camera's hard drive played directly on my HDTV from the camera are wonderful. The 5.1 surround sound and 16:9 aspect ratio video through the Home Theatre system are great. Will get the issue of getting the data OUT of the camera resolved eventually I'm sure, but at the moment am totally frustrated and at a dead end. The main trouble with tech support of any product is that the blame for the problem is always the other guy's fault.Read full review
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