The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

Cloud based data management

Panasonic HX-DC1


RH Numbers
RH Editor's Choice

If you like the look of Panasonic’s HX-WA20 but don’t need splashproofing, then consider the HX-DC1. An officially licensed Olympic Games camcorder – just think, it may become a collectable – the model comes in London Games livery with a bright 3in display and tips the scales at just 181g. The HX-DC1 records sharp MPEG-4 iFrame compliant 1080/50i, 1080/25p and 720/50p to SD, SDHC and SDXC cards or the modest built-in memory; it will also snap digital stills up to 14Mp, interpolated from the 11.9MP sensor.

There’s a 6x zoom, which doubles to 12x digitally, plus basic image stabilisation. HDMI and USB jacks are provided in the grip itself, however battery life is relatively short at around an hour per charge. While everything runs under Intelligent Auto, you can manually adjust things such as ISO and exposure. There’s also simple in-camera editing available, along with a webcam mode.

Panasonic HX-DC1
 camcorder

Reg Rating 85%
Price £159
More info Panasonic

Panasonic HX-WA20

RH Numbers

Panasonic took over Sanyo's interests a couple of years ago and this Xacti-style model forms part of an expanded range. A handsome action-cam this Panasonic is waterproof down to 3m and sports a beach-proof shell. The HX-WA20 is fronted by a 28mm wide-angle lens with a 15x digital zoom, supported by an Active E.I.S. image stabiliser.

Extra features include a slow-motion mode, which records 15s clip at either 240fps (640 x 360) or 480fps (320 x 180). There’s a choice of recording modes: 1080i/60, 1080p/30 and 720p/60 MPEG-4 plus iFrame compatible H.264 video at 960 x 540. You can also take digital stills interpolated to 16MP (the sensor is just over 8MP effective pixels). There’s no internal memory, the HX-WA20 records direct to all flavours of SD card.

Panasonic HX-WA20
 camcorder

Reg Rating 80%
Price £299
More info Panasonic

Regcast training : Hyper-V 3.0, VM high availability and disaster recovery

Next page: Samsung HMX-W200

Re: No GoPro?

In fact, not one really 'active' cam in the review: none can be mounted on bike/helmet/....

6
0

No GoPro?

Seems a glaring omission. They have mounts for attaching to pretty much anything, waterproof to 60m and used often by TV shows to film their action content. 3D kit, wifi streaming/remote control available to satisfy the geek in you too.

5
0

Vegas can do a Bob and Weave deinterlace to produce double framerate footage.

Agreed though, anything 25 based needs to be shot. Let us move on from differing framerates, nonsquare pixels, PAL and NTSC as quickly as humanly possible. It was a horrible nightmare best left in the past and made things confusing for non-savvy consumers.

3
0

More from The Register

Samsung Galaxy Note 8: Proof the pen is mightier?
Sammy’s iPad Mini killer has a stylus to stab other rivals too
Microsoft lures buy-curious vixens, corduroys with a cheap fondle
Surface slab sales latest: Will no one rid Ballmer of these turbulent tabs?
First look: iOS 7 for iPad
No, Apple hasn't released it yet, but that doesn't stop intrepid devs
 breaking news
Curtain drops on Apple Store ahead of WWDC: What lies behind?
Steve Jobs watching from on high. No pressure, lads
 breaking news
Cold, dead hands of Steve Jobs slip from iPhones: The Cult of Ive is upon us
Billionaire biz baron's death clears way for uber-shiny iOS 7
Airbus imagines suitcases that find themselves
Point your mobe at your smalls to track their every move
Surprise! Intel smartphone trounces ARM in power trials
Tests show equal performance while sipping significantly less juice
Samsung plans LTE Advanced version of Galaxy S4
1Gbps download capability could stiffen drooping S4 sales forecasts
Apple said to be 'exploring' 5.7-inch iPhone
Who's the copycat this time, Mr. Cook?