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Introduction
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01.Product Tour
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02.Colour & Noise Performance
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03.Motion & Sharpness Performance
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04.Low Light Performance
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05.Compression & Media
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06.Manual Controls
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07.Still Features
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08.Handling & Use
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09.Playback & Connectivity
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10.Audio & Other Features
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11.3D Features
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12.Canon HF S21 Comparison
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13.Sony HDR-CX550V Comparison
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14.Panasonic HDC-TM700 Comparison
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15.Conclusion
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16.Specs and Ratings
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17.Comments
Panasonic HDC-SDT750
Previous: Part 2
Colour & Noise PerformanceNext: Part 4
Low Light Performance
Motion & Sharpness Performance Summary
• Very solid numbers in our motion and sharpness test—particularly when using the 50p record mode.
• The camcorder also has a 25p Digital Cinema mode, but you can only record at 50i with the 3D conversion lens attached.
• 3D content wasn't nearly as sharp as regular footage shot with the camcorder.
Motion (10.9)
The Panasonic HDC-SDT750 is one of the best camcorders on the market in terms of motion capturing. The quality of its 1080/50p mode is stunning and the camcorder shows minimal signs of artifacting and blur. There was some trailing with the 50p mode, but overall the camcorder produced impeccable results in our motion test. Even with the SDT750's regular 50i mode things looked fairly good—although it's the 50p mode that puts the camcorder over the top. (More on how we test motion.)
| Panasonic HDC-SDT750 | Canon HF S21 | Sony HDR-CX550V | Panasonic HDC-TM700 | |
| Frame Rate(s) | 50p, 50i, 25p Digital Cinema Mode |
50i, PF30, PF24, 25p (native) |
50i | 50p, 50i, 25p Digital Cinema Mode |
| Artifacting | Artifacting was essentially absent in 50p mode, much like what we saw from the TM700. | Minimal artifacting; one of the best consumer camcorders in this category | Slightly more artifacting than the other cams in this set, but very good overall. | Almost no artifacting noticeable in 1080/50p mode, but 50i settings show some artifacting. |
| Smoothness | Motion was crisp and smooth in 50p mode and was also quite good in 50i mode as well. | Motion video was very smooth, although not as good as Panasonic's 50p mode on the TM700 and SDT750. | Video was usually smooth, but we saw some choppiness every now and then during playback. | Extremely smooth video, particularly when using 50p mode. |
| Trailing | Trailing was present and noticeable—no different than what the HDC-TM700 offered. | Some trailing was present, but it wasn't a big problem. | Trailing wasn't much of an issue in our motion test. | Trailing was noticeable in all shooting modes. |
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Frequency Interference |
There was minor amounts of interference in our motion test. | Some minor interference with tight vertical and horizontal lines. | The random bits of choppiness were noticeable during playback. | We noticed some interference in the black and white pinwheel in our test. |
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Slow Motion Mode(s) |
Time Lapse Record (also works for 3D recording) | None | Smooth Slow Record | Time Lapse Record |
The one downside of the HDC-SDT750's performance in our motion test (and Panasonic cams in general) is that its 25p Digital Cinema mode doesn't look as good as Canon's 25p options. The Canon HF S21 also has a native 25p setting that uses a similar MPEG-4 compression system as Panasonic's 1080/50p mode.
In addition, we also weren't too crazy about the motion quality when shooting 3D video with the SDT750—particularly when the we panned or moved the camcorder quickly. Motion looked disorienting and wasn't pleasant to watch in 3D when we shot sample video like this.
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Panasonic HDC-SDT750 click here for large HD version |
Canon HF S21 click here for large HD version |
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Sony HDR-CX550V click here for large HD version |
Panasonic HDC-TM700 click here for large HD version |
Video Sharpness (13.57)
Just like the HDC-TM700 before it, the Panasonic HDC-SDT750 did much better on our video sharpness test when we shot using its 1080/50p mode than with its 1080/50i mode. Shooting 50p video, the SDT750 measured a horizontal sharpness of 1000 lw/ph and a vertical sharpness of 900 lw/ph (the same numbers we got from the HDC-TM700). Switching things over to 50i recording, and those numbers drop signficantly, down to 900 lw/ph horizontal and 600 lw/ph vertical (which are still very good scores). (More on how we test video sharpness.)
We should also note that shooting 3D with the HDC-SDT750 significantly reduces the sharpness level for the recorded image. We don't have the exact numbers, but the camcorder's 3D image is far less sharp than what we saw from the SDT750's regular 50i video. This is especially true when you record moving subjects in 3D.
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1Panasonic HDC-SDT750
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4JVC Everio GZ-HM1
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