Since HD came to the world of domestic cameras I thought the 3 chips versus 1 battle would be over. Surely the brilliant images captured by the new gen cameras would do the business. The 3ccd SD cameras were really good, my favourite being Panasonic’s GS400 which I only reluctantly sold to get the Canon HV30 – which is of course miles ahead. So when I saw the SD700 at Absolute AV I wondered whether the war was over. Paul kindly lent me one off the shelf to test drive. And I’m impressed.

The good stuff…

The immediate thing, or things actually, are the three chips. Ccds have given way to Cmos but numbers might still matter. Three ¼ inch chips separate the colour into red, green and blue elements. In theory this means much better resolution and richer colours. In SD land you could easily see the difference and it set cameras apart. More on that later. The engine runs at a very fast 28mbps in full 1920x1080. It records in the AVCHD format.

The next good thing is the multi-function front ring. Panasonic pioneered this a few years ago and it’s great. It can be focus, exposure or shutter at the press of a small button at the front. Very easy and fast to use on the run. It’s better than the small function rings Sony and Canon have employed on their cameras.

Of real importance to home film makers is the width of the wide angle lens and the length it can get to. In SLR numbers is a very useful 35mm at the wide end and around 450mm at the far end. This is at the 18x zoom length so gets you an excellent landscape width to a very cool long length in one lens. The optical length is 12x but Panasonic claim an additional 6x of useful digital. After that you’re on your own all the way to 700x nasty pixels. At the wide end the Leica lens is fast at 1.5 and 2.8 at the far end.

Staying stable…

Clearly there’s stable and then there’s stable. Both Canon and Panasonic now have powered stabilisers on their better cameras and both work very well. Even though the camera is very light at just 375 grams you can get away with a long shot hand held but don’t sell the tripod just yet! The power function corrects the slow movement caused by that irritating breathing thing you do while shooting. That’s after the initial vibration has been taken care of! It works well but the shot has to be static. Try to pan and there’s a lag as the stabiliser catches up.

Strength…

The SD700 records to SD/SDHC cards only so is totally solid state. There’s a big brother that has a huge internal drive as well. Having no moving parts makes the camera very sturdy despite the light weight. That makes it very cool for a holiday camera. Great for home snapping too as it fires up and runs ridiculously quickly.

To make sure you miss nothing you can set the pre-record function that permanently records for three seconds to a buffer until you hit the rec button. Solid state means low power and long battery life too so no need to hang a monster on the back of this kit. It will last days before you fill it up again. It wakes up faster than a bucket of water to the face. 

Screen scene…

Like most new gen cameras the LCD is touch screen. It’s a standard 3inch screen. It’s very clear and easy to use. The menus are nicely designed and easy to get around. Thankfully this unit also has a viewfinder. Thanks goodness they’re coming back. In bright light you just can’t see the screen well enough to be sure about what you are doing.

The menu driven tools and functions are all conventional. There’s no party trick here but a reliable bag of the normal goodies. The brightness of the LCD will adjust itself which is a neat trick. In bright light it’s a third of normal and in the dark ramps up to double the normal power.

The proof is in the pictures…

So how good are three chips? Very good as it happens. Images are sharp and the colour is vibrant. You can shoot professional programs on cameras like this. Is it better than a single chip? It’s too close to call. I compared it to the Canon HFS21 that has a single 1/3 inch cmos chip. Unlike the SD days the difference is too minimal to call. So I wouldn’t buy this camera just because of the three chip selling point. There are lots of other reasons to like though.

Sounds like…

The SD700 has a multi-function microphone built in. It’s 5.1 surround sound but can be menu changed to be a zoom, focus or normal stereo microphone. The zoom takes it from omni (wide) to uni directional (narrow) so the sound will follow the vision. Very nice. Levels can be auto or manual with AGC added. You can add an external mic too if you wish.

Turbo charged…
The SD700 has a speed burst function that can shoot 180 frames in three seconds – so 60 frames a second. This function is designed for capturing fast motion and allows the camera to snap up to 60 consecutive 2.1-megapixel still images per second for a total of 180 continuous images. Should be very interesting and fun to play with.

Still life…

The SD700 takes excellent stills at a whopping 14megapixels that are 4864 x 2736 pixels big! This is very large – bigger than most DSLRs.  You can make them lower res but than why would you? Like all video cameras though it does not pretend to be a DSLR. That’s because getting the manual settings right can be done but it’s fiddly and takes a too long.

The verdict…

This camera will appeal to the shooter wanting a light weight, fast starting and easy to use camera. The versatility of the wide angle lens and the possibilities of the manual controls make for a very nice all round camera. Panasonic will sell a load of these. Expect to shell out around $1200 for this version.

 THE TECH STUFF

Recording format : 1080/50p : AVCHD format compliant

Image sensor  : 1/4.1z 3MOS image sensor : Total: 3050 Kk3

Lens Auto Iris, :  F1.5 to F2.8

Focal length : 3.45 mm to 41.4 mm

35 mm equivalent: 35 mm to 420 mm (16:9)

Still picture: 38.8 mm to 466 mm (4:3) : Filter diameter 46 mm

Zoom : 12k optical zoom, 18k i.Zoom,

Monitor : 3inch wide LCD monitor

Microphone : 5.1 channel surround microphone (with a zoom microphone/focus microphone function)

By Steve Turner

I started in TV as a videotape operator for Channel Nine in 1980 and went to News editing in 1984, becoming Senior News editor for Nine Adelaide.

In 1988 moved to production editing (doing everything from sport to station promotions and programs) and then in 1989 moved to London to work for Sky News UK. This was just starting up and I helped set up the news editing operation.

The highlight of this year was covering the fall of the Berlin wall (where I location produced and edited continuously for five straight days and nights - grabbing sleep here and there). The best bit was interviewing people crossing the wall for the first time in years.

I returned to Adelaide in 1990 and freelance vision switched and also did graphics for news and production. Left again in 1991 to backpack the planet for 12 months with my partner Rochelle.

Back in 1992 and returned to production editing and graphic design for Channel Nine. I worked on all the Adelaide Formula One races (1985-1995) bar 2 (while away) doing foreign broadcast editing - packages for overseas networks in their languages.

Began Directing news in 1997 and started my own production business doing weddings and corporate work. This was followed quickly by producing science films for Flinders University and the setting up of our web business selling science related videos, CDroms, and now DVDs.

Started writing for Australian Video Camera in 2003 then Auscam when it started. Produced and shot news features for the Ten network and worked freelance on the Athen's Olympics in 2004 for Seven.

Left Channel Nine to join Channel Seven in 2005. Involved in the setup and operation of Seven's new news operation and regularly direct the six o'clock news. Directed and produced Seven's Anzac day telecasts for 2005/6 and independently produced the 13 part series "Fishing and Boating" for Channel Seven.

Produced and shot a documentary on drug abuse with an Indigenous Elders group as well as a two part docco with the RAAF. Current project include a docco on Alzheimers and another on the lives of siblings of disabled people.

I have three gorgeous small children and am a part time stay at home Dad...

...It's a busy life!!

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