Panasonic SDR-S7 Flash Memory
Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom
(Black)
Excellent Compact Camcorder.
The S7 is a camcorder you can take just about anywhere, as you would a
small digital still camera. The S7 fits nicely in the palm of the hand. This
outstanding mobility makes the S7 an ideal choice for business use. Just
slip it in a suit pocket or handbag and carry it anywhere.
The power turns on or off as soon as the LCD is opened or closed, and
Quick Start recording begins in only 0.6 seconds. This combines with the
cameras handy compact size to help catch those sudden and immediate
shooting opportunities.
If your TV has an SD card slot and can play MPEG-2 files, just slip your
card into the slot and get ready to watch beautiful motion or still images on
a large screen.

Panasonic SDR-S7 Highlights
Small enough to fit in a pocket or bag Compact Size and Cool Styling
The SDR-S7 is small enough to slip in a pocket or bag. Cool enough to
take everywhere you go. This is one stylish camcorder youll never want to
be without.
Easy Shooting at High of Low Angles You can freely adjust the angle of
the LCD monitor for comfortable viewing no matter how youre holding the
camera. The SUB REC button on the side makes it easy to shoot when
youre holding the camera low. The buttons are laid out simply and logically
for easy one-hand operation.
High Picture Quality with a 2.7-inch Viewing Screen This model offers
the High-Picture-Quality Wide Mode, which produces images that make for
beautiful, dramatic viewing on a wide-screen TV. The image is processed
on 16:9 area of the CCD. Because the image decoded has the same
proportions as your wide-screen TV, there is virtually no picture quality
degradation. You get beautiful images and all the excitement and
dynamism on either a wide 16:9 screen TV or a conventional 4:3 TV. This
model also features a wide 2.7-inch LCD, making it easier to frame shots
when youre shooting in 16:9 mode. You can enjoy shooting wide, and
viewing wide.
Pure Color Engine 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 engine also achieves truly superb color
reproduction for high-zoomed pictures.
High-quality MPEG 2 Engine Panasonics MPEG2 engine is a wide-
range, high-precision search engine that produces smooth, beautiful
motion pictures. Because it precisely records the differences in each
frame, it can render fast, complex motions - like those of athletes in the
thick of the action - with exceptional precision. The MPEG2 engine also
uses Variable Bit Rate technology that Panasonic developed for the high-
end DIGA DVD recorder. Giving LP recordings nearly twice the resolution

captured with previous Panasonic camcorders, this lets the camcorder
record clear, smoothly flowing pictures.
10X Optical Zoom Distant subjects can be enlarged so they appear to be
right up close. This allows dynamic shots of both motion and still pictures.
Shooting Functions
Pre-Record Function (Images are Recorded Before you Begin Shooting)
This clever new function records three seconds of images even before you
actually begin shooting. The images are held temporarily in the
camcorders internal memory, before recording onto the SDHC/SD Memory
Card begins. This helps ensure that you wont miss the start of a moment
you want to record, such as when an event begins all of a sudden. For
example, if youre waiting to snap a shot of a jumping dolphin, you can
press the REC button after youve made sure that the dolphin has cleared
the surface of the water. The camcorder will record the entire scene, from
the instant of the dolphins jump until it disappears again into the sea.
Power LCD Simply press the Power LCD button and the LCD becomes
brighter, making it easier to see outdoors or in other bright locations. Also,
a new scanning technology allows the LCD to show diagonal lines more
sharply.
Select the Recording Mode to Match your Needs This unit records in
VBR. VBR is an abbreviation for Variable Bit Rate. VBR recording
automatically varies the bit rate (amount of data in a fixed time) depending
on the subject being recorded. This means if a subject with sharp
movements is recorded, the recording time is reduced.
One Touch Navigation and Easy Operation The cursor makes the
camera much easier to use. You can handle a number of operations
quickly and easily. Easy to use Design You can do most operations
with a single finger. Direct Mode Dial Just rotate the dial with your
fingertip to select the icon that corresponds to the mode you want.
Simple Cursor Operation Press the center of the cursor to display
icons on the screen. Quick Search and Access with Thumbnail View

Unlike videotape, you dont need to rewind or fast-forward to search for
specific scenes. The camcorder LCD screen displays a list of the recorded
scenes for quick and easy searching.
Easy On/Off reduces the time required for operating the camera. When
you open the LCD, the power turns on. Shut it and the power turns off.
Quick Start mode helps shoot videos on the spur of the moment. This
mode lets you shoot those not-to-be-missed scenes by turning on the
power just 0.6 seconds from the time the LCD is opened.
Color Night View gives you smoothly flowing pictures even in dark
places, where its normally difficult to capture good shots.
World Timer Handy for travelers, this function makes it easy to set the
camcorder time when you cross time zones and again when you return
home. Simply select your destination from the displayed map, and the
camcorder is automatically set for that time zone. The time for two different
places can be set -- such as home and destination -- and you can switch
between the times by simply pressing a button.
Editing and Networking
Storing on a DIGA If you have an MPEG2-compatible DIGA DVD
recorder with an internal hard disk and SDHC/SD memory card slot, saving
your images on the hard disk is as easy as inserting an SDHC/SD memory
card into the slot. This saves space youd otherwise need for storing the
recording media, and makes playback easier. And once the data is on the
hard disk, its easy to copy it to
Personal Review: Panasonic SDR-S7 Flash Memory Camcorder
with 10x Optical Zoom (Black)
I bought the SDR-S7 to use as a compact, always-with-me tool for
recording video blog entries. I wanted something compact that shot good
quality video (not HD, just good SD). The Panasonic has lived up to that

task very well. It produces good quality video for a consumer camcorder of
this type, it's incredibly compact, has optical zoom and a useful array of
manual controls, and it uses standard SD cards instead of some weird
proprietary format. The built-in microphone records in high-quality stereo,
it does pick up some environmental noise but there's not much you can do
about that on any device at this price level!
I use a Mac, and I've had no problem importing the video files into iMovie
for editing. The trick is to have iMovie '08 or '09 and to plug in the camera
or card reader *after* you start iMovie. That has worked 100% of the time
for me and I've been able to import with no problems. I haven't used the
Windows software so I can't comment on it.
The only downside to this camera is a result of the size - the battery life is
limited to a little over an hour, and there is no cold shoe, microphone input,
or auxillary lighting. If you need lighting you can buy a light bar that will
screw into the tripod mount, that's probably your best bet. If you need an
external mic then you won't find that option on *any* camera at this price
level.
Overall, I'm very satisfied with this camera.
Pros:
small size
good quality video
uses standard SD cards
replaceable battery
optical zoom
Cons:
no mic input
relatively short battery life
no on-board light
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