It was sunny (but cold) on Saturday, so I did get a chance to get outside and shot some bright daylight footage.
The color was excellent, the motion quality was very good.
With adequate lighting I don’t think you can touch the quality of this camcorder for twice the price.
I purchased a Panasonic HDC-SD10K High Definition Camcorder from B&H a little over a week ago for $299.00 delivered. The K suffix means black; which is I believe the only color available in the US.
I had originally found this model camcorder on Amazon for the same price as a customer return, but I was a little hesitant to purchase it, and by the time I decided it was worth the asking price it was no longer available; but as luck would have it a few days later B&H was offering brand new units for the same price. The B&H price is good through 16 January 2010 while supplies last.
First, let’s keep in mind that $299 is less than half as much as the nearest comparable camcorder; so if it doesn’t seem like this is a Rolls Royce, perhaps that’s because you’re paying Yugo prices.
The HDC-SD10 was announced last year at CES, but didn’t ship in the US until this past Summer, and it was never really a very popular model since Panasonic offered an almost identical model with 8GB of internal memory (the HDC-SD10 has no internal memory) for $50 more. Other than the internal memory, these models are identical.
A quick overview of the HDC-SD10 (for those who don’t want to just look up the specifications for themselves).
1920×1080i MPEG4-AVC/H.264 video, 2.1MP JPEG stills, 1/6″ CMOS, 16x optical zoom, 2.7″ touchscreen LCD, image stabilization, auto focus, built in light and flash.
When the unit arrived, I opened the box and allowed the battery to charge for a couple hours before trying it out.
While the batter was charging I looked over the unit. It seemed reasonably well constructed, and it looked like a good deal of though had been put into positioning the controls. The only thing I don’t care for is how the cover on the SD slot opens — I’m very partial to how Nikon did the SD cover on my D40, and this just seems far less well done.
I popped a 2GB SD card into the camcorder (I expected it to complain about the slow speed rating, Panasonic recommend Class 6 SDHC cards); but to my surprise it worked. I would recommend that you use at least Class 4, and that you use at least a 4GB SDHC card. But if you have other cards around, try them.
Unfortunately, by the time the battery had charged, the sky was cloudy and I was robbed of my opportunity to get some bright daylight shots — but I figured taking shots in overcast would give me an idea of how the camcorder worked.
I took two videos outside at the second highest quality setting (that’s the default); and I snapped about a dozen still images. Then I went inside and did pretty much the same test.
The two video tests were:
Both tests involved using the zoom in and out (both moving and stationary).
I should note here that I did all of my initial testing without reading the documentation — this should be considered a testament to how easy this camcorder is to use for anyone who’s used a camcorder (or digital camera) before. The controls were easy to find and use and there was simply no confusion about how to accomplish my task (which is good; my old JVC camcorder always seemed awkward to use, even after having it for several years).
With my test data collected I sat down and the computer.
I didn’t bother installing any software on my computer, I just popped out the SDHC and slipped it into the computer.
The digital stills were easy to find; same directory structure as most digital cameras. The images are JPEG files, and contains EXIF data.
The video sequences took a little more looking to find, and they are standard AVCHD (MTS) files. Both Windows Media Player and Live Movie Maker are able to deal with these files.
Let me pause here and remind you that what follows is my first impressions of the HDC-SD10; not a complete review. My personal feeling is you need to use a camera or camcorder for several shoots before you’ve got a good feel for what it does and how well it does it.
The outside stills were good. Certainly they don’t compare with either of my DSLRs or my high-end point-and-shoot… but then again, this is a camcorder, not a camera. The only weakness I found with the digital still was that focus cycle requires a few seconds and the shutter release is not locked out during the focus cycle. Which means you can snap a picture that is out of focus fairly easily if you’re not patient. You can snap a still image when the camcorder is recording or when it isn’t.
The outside video was amazingly clear. The color was very good, and the motion was acceptable. Quickly panning produced some motion artifacts, but normal movement was far clearer than on my JVC miniDV camcorder. I will have to say that my feeling is that the zoom is too fast; but I guess it’s better to be too fast than too slow; and for most people I would expect they want a fast zoom.
The inside still images were fine. The flash works very well. The colors were about what you expect from a mid-range point-and-shoot. Nothing to write home about, but acceptable if you need to snap a still and you have the camcorder in your hands.
The inside video was actually quite impressive. The reviews I had read of the camcorder indicated that low light performance wasn’t very good. From what I saw low light performance was quite good. In rooms with no lights on the camcorder was able to register a moderate amount of detail just using its built in light. In reasonably well lite rooms the level of detail was quite good. However, the color under LED lights or CF lights was definitely off (I don’t have any incandescent lights in my house, I suspect the color balance would have been better). Comparing the performance of this camcorder to my JVC miniDV it is definitely better. Better detail in low light, and equal or better color. Obviously if I wanted to shoot any video that I was going to show someone I’d turn on some incandescent lights (bounced off the ceiling).
The sound quality on the recordings were fine. There was quite a bit of wind outside, but the camcorder didn’t seem to be able to deal with it. Obviously the stereo separation on any camcorder without external microphones is poor — and not a metric I’d concern myself with.
At this price point, the HDC-SD10 seems like a keeper. You’d pay as much for a standard definition digital camcorder, and half this much for a standard definition miniDV camcorder; or twice as much for a camcorder with substantially better specifications.
I’m hoping the weather here warms up some so I can get out on a sunny day and really shoot some footage to fully evaluate how the camcorder works; and I’d like to do some shoots on the river and at the beach as well. My expectation is that this camcorder will be fine for me, and I’ll be looking to purchase a few accessories in the near future.
If you want a really high end camcorder; this isn’t for you. If you want a good quality high definition digital camcorder for hobby use and your not foolish about throwing your money away, perhaps it is worth consideration.
Microsoft is offering students Windows 7 Home Premium (well, Windows 7 Professional if you say you must join a domain) for $29.99.
The offer requires that you have an email address ending in .EDU (which of course many schools provide lifetime email addresses for their students; my Alma Mater [GaTech] only started doing that in 2003 [a little after my time]).
So if you’re interested in Windows 7 at a good price, and have an email address in the .EDU domain follow the link below; but hurry, the offer is only good until 3 January 2010
Which will redirect you to a Microsoft page
I got two calls from the local Lowes store regarding my ceiling fan issue, and I have to say I was quite impressed by how efficiently the local store handled the issue.
They had a replacement fan ready for me when I stopped by, and they actually had no problem just putting the purchase price of the fan onto a gift card so that I could select a different model.
I would say the greatest failing of Lowes in this entire incident is that the corporate offices has put together an online system that poorly reflects on the ability of local Lowes management to handle problems; perhaps the best thing for Lowes to do is simply forward online request to local management and not ever try and resolve issues at a corporate level…
NOTE: I actually purchased a Hunter ceiling fan at The Home Depot since Lowes didn’t have a suitable replacement fan in a brand I trusted. The Hunter fan’s motor is easily three times the weight of the Harbor Breeze’s motor, and like the other Hunter fans I have (and have had in the past) it’s totally silent (and was much easier to install).
If you’re a savvy consumer you can save a great deal of money at BigLots! (of course, that’s true of any surplus store, dollar store, clearance sales, etc).
And while I’m not going to stay away from BigLots! because of what I’m about to tell you… I’m just going to continue to watch the prices that are rung up on the register (and you can easily watch while they ring up each item there — not like some stores where you can’t see the price they actually charge until you get the receipt [which is after you sign the credit card slip]_.
At the end of each and every season, BigLots! further reduces seasonal merchandise; however, they don’t actually change the prices on the items (for the seasonal reductions – though they do sometimes change prices for items they’re clearing out) they just post a sign that says extra XX% off such-and-such items.
What they don’t make clear (nor do I really think they want to) is that only some of item in that class are marked down; not all of them are. And there’s really no way to know what’s marked down and what isn’t except to either find an employee that will check (or happens to just know) or take it up to the cash register.
I found this out a while ago; but it bit me again the other day when I was going to buy a pack of LED Solar lights, the sign said “30% off Patio Lighting”, and sure enough the package I liked the best (well — I really wanted ones made from metal not plastic — but at least these had the solar cell under the lens so that it was protected) wasn’t marked down at all… and I certainly wasn’t going to pay that price for an item that wasn’t really what I wanted.
So, remember, always watch what you’re charged for items, and go over your receipt — and don’t be the least bit shy about asking why it’s more than you expected, and having them void out the item (or the transaction) or returning the over-priced item. Retailers in general do what ever they can get away with — and my advice to you is not to let them get away with anything ever.
Just a quick post to follow up on my service issue with Bed Bath and Beyond.
First, the replacement parts for my order arrived in about a week (which means they processed the outbound replacement order within 48-hours). The parts were packaged extremely well and there was no damage. I, of course, haven’t installed the replacement parts yet — but it’s on the list.
Second, the return I made to the store was handled equally well.
No doubt about it, Bed Bath and Beyond knows how to treat customer’s right — and they’ve certainly earned my repeat business.
You think those CF (Compact Florescent) bulbs you’ve been buying are green???
Well — think again!
CFs do use considerable less energy than a comparable incandescent bulb, but they (like all florescent bulbs) contain a number of hazardous materials that negatively impact the environment when disposed of improperly (no — you can’t just throw them in the garbage can).
What’s a better choice?
Easy… technology from the 60’s comes to the rescue — LED based bulbs. They’re made now in a number of configuration and bases to replace virtually any bulb you might have in your house.
OUCH — they’re kinda expensive.
I knew you’d say that… yes they cost substantially more than CFs (especially if you’re in an area where the utility companies are subsidizing CFs); but the thing you need to keep in mind is they consume substantially less energy than a CF and they last much longer.
I would love to tell you that if you factor in the energy savings and the longer life that they’ll work out to be less expensive than a CF; but if you’re buying subsidized CFs that’s not going to be the case. One question to ask is why are utility companies subsadizing CFs and not LEDs?
LEDs have a much lower impact on the environment; and if enough people start using them we’ll see the prices come down… but doing what’s “right” often has a slightly higher price tag than what’s in “vogue”.
You can purchase LED bulbs at Sam’s Club. They are selling “Lights of America” (see the link below) and “GE” LED bulbs — it’s rumored that a new Sam’s Club located near Cape Kennedy will use LED lighting throughout the store!
For the best pricing, check your local retailers and wholesale clubs as well as do a search online (consider sales tax and shipping when you compare).
And maybe we should not only bring pressure on our utilities to subsidize LEDs rather than CFs (or at least in addition to); but get them added to the energy tax credit.
__________
For background information on LEDs (Light-Emitting Diodes) you can checkout the article on Wikipedia or do a search.
NOTE: LEDs lower power consumption make them the ideal choice for a home solar lighting system.
I’ve been looking at several solar lighting products to potentially light my driveway, my walkway, and areas.
The first thing you notice is that prices are all over the map — for products that have very similar specifications.
You will find that some of the products have plastic housing, and some have aluminum (or even stainless steel) — but interestingly enough, that doesn’t seem to track their prices. In fact one of the least expensive models for driveway/walkway lighting I’ve found is in a stainless steel case (now you do have to buy a six pack, but that’s actually about the right number even for short driveways).
For area lighting there’s a huge different in styles; and these are much harder to compare. The biggest disappointment thus far with the area lights is the amount of light (Lumens) that they produce — they’re so low, in fact, that they seem like they’d be fairly useless without a backup light (run from AC). In fact since I can run AC to all the locations I want area lights I’m considering just putting in motion/photo sensors and using outdoor LED lamps (that will use electricity, but it’s fairly energy efficient, and produces much more light). One thing’s for sure, if you like the light your HID (like the sodium lamps I have) gives off, you’re not going to be happy with what you can get from a solar lighting system (or even an LED lamp).
I’ll do a little more “testing” and provide some brands (and where I found them) that you might want to consider; but keep in mind that everyone will have a slightly different set of requirements and there’s likely not going to be one model that’s right for every need.
If you want to buy something right away; make sure that you shop several different vendors before you decide — it’ll surprise you how much essentially the same item varies in price; and the “discount” stores don’t always have the best price!
I can tell you what the Beyond is in their name… that would be their service.
First, I’m not much for “assemble yourself” furniture… I prefer well made, solid wood furniture (which generally means I buy turn of the century — that would be circa 1900; and have no problem paying for it).
Unfortunately I wanted a piece of furniture for my bath room, and I wasn’t having much luck finding an older piece (I guess bath room furniture wasn’t very popular 100 years ago), so I looked around a found a couple places that had at least solid wood frame furniture that seemed relatively well made.
The local Bed Bath and Beyond didn’t stock the piece I was interested in (they had a similar piece, and another piece in that collection — but the piece I wanted was being discontinued — figures), so I had to order it (the upside was that it was about $50 less).
I placed the order, got a confirmation, and a shipment notice the next business day (all of which I expect from any decent e-Tailer).
The piece arrived, and the UPS person delivered it and for the most part the box looked like it was in pretty good shape, two of the corners were a little dented — but no reason to assume that item was damaged.
As I started to assemble the piece, I noted that one side piece had a very small chip, but I felt that it probably wouldn’t be noticed, and it would be easy to touch up. Then I got to the top — damn — the back right corner must have been right where one of the packages corners took a hit, it was slightly deformed, and with light shining on it it was going to stick out like a sore thumb.
I wasn’t sure what to do, but I figured I’d call customer service before I continued the assembly.
I called, and the hold time was much longer than I would have liked — and the annoying message that I could leave a message (over and over) was beginning to get on my nerves just as an agent picked up my call.
She was polite, and immediately made what sounded to be a genuine apology for the inconvenience. She would have been happy to have the warehouse ship me both parts, but as I told here I’d probably cause more damage replacing the side piece, and really only the top was a “must replace”.
I haven’t seen the confirmation of shipment of the replacement parts yet — but I have every confidence that there won’t be any issues…
Now, we’ll see if the local store is as easy to deal with doing a return of another item.
I spend a fair amount of time researching the window coverings I wanted for my home; and I’d decided on cellular blinds.
Like most things I don’t know a great deal about, I read up on a topic and ask questions – and window coverings was not exception. It took me the better part of two months to educate myself to the point I felt comfortable making decisions [well, my office and the master bed room I'd chosen Plantation faux wood blinds for before I moved in -- but partially out of necessity].
I learned the questions to ask about blinds, and detemined the options I was interested in, read reviews and got several quotes.
I decided to go with American Blinds; their prices were certainly not the absolute lowest, but they seemed to have a product that was very high quality at a reasonable price.
I ordered blinds for all the remaining windows in the house except the garage (that I could get for less locally, and I certainly wasn’t putting a cellular there) and the guest bed room (it has a perfect arch, and I haven’t decided what to do there yet).
It took about two weeks for the blinds to arrive; and the first window I was going to hang was the master bath room (also the smallest window).
I opened up the blind’s packaging (they were each labeled for the room / window they were intended), and immediately noted that the blind wasn’t finished — the pull string hung down over five inches below the bottom of the blind, then I noticed that the brackets were made of PVC not metal (as promised), and that there were no instructions to hand the blinds in the boxes (as promised).
I brought up a chat window with customer service who immediately provided me with the wrong instructions for hanging the blinds (I already knew how to hang blinds with metal brackets — in fact I already had the instructions for the blinds I was supposed to be getting); it took me close to an hour to get the right instructions for hanging the blinds, and then I had to download them from the manufacturer’s site (using the retailer’s log in information). They couldn’t explain why the blinds weren’t finished, nor could they provide me with any written instructions on how to properly finish the blinds.
I’d had enough — I didn’t order a build-it-yourself blind project; I’d paid (via credit card) for a product, and this wasn’t it… so I told the customer service representative I wanted a refund — that these blinds wouldn’t do.
I did finally get a RMA from them; and they said that the manufacturer had changed the blinds and that they would be updating the information on their site (I have no idea if they have, and really don’t care).
All I know is I’m out $35 return shipping and quite a bit of my time– unfortunately I can’t get that back from my credit card company (who I filled a charge back with while I was on the road to UPS to drop off the blinds).
If you’re going to order blinds on line, make sure that they have a 100% satisfaction guarantee, and order one (small) blind to start with to make sure you’ll be happy with the quality.
Personally I’ll NEVER do business with American Blinds; and I highly recommend that EVERYONE avoid them — I find their ethics a little questionable at best.
