This tiny camera was attracting a lot of attention at the NAB Panasonic booth. Very sexy looking, all black finish, HDMI output. I hadn't heard of this model before, but admit I haven't been following these small AVCHD cameras. It's a bit smaller than the Canon HV20

Boyd,
It is basically the same camcorder as the consumer HDC-SD1 with a different body decoration and 'pro' color saturation and gamma. Panasonic has already superceded these camcorders with new ones being introduced in Japan later this month.

Guy, have you seen an SD3 equivalent replacement for the HSC1U yet?

Erik

I'm pretty happy with mine btw, I think it offers a good balance of a number of things I'm looking for - size, ease of handling, great ois, good auto-focus, convenient storage format, relatively solid state--the picture quality is pretty good too, but could use some improvements. However, it still beats any SD cam I've seen, with the rest of the package I think its a great little HD camera. Whether it is truly worth the extra money above the SD1--maybe not, but the extra 40gb hard drive provides easy offloading of content from the SD card, and in my opinion the exterior look and feel of the camera is 10x better than the SD1 (though exactly the same shape and size as the SD1).

Erik

Erik,
I have seen nothing from Panasonic Broadcast on an SD3-like replacement for the HSC1U. However, I would expect them to bring out the new model to take advantage of the extended battery and full 1920x1080i image.

This is the original thread by the way:
http://dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=85746

I’ve tested it at a professional video show in Massachusetts before it was released and it truly is a remarkable camcorder for that size. I agree with Guy Bruner that the camcorder should be upgraded like the SD3 and I’m hoping Panasonic do the right think and add a focusing ring. It may sound annoying that I keep bringing that up but if Panasonic can offer a focusing ring in the GS250 than there is no excuse not to include it in the successor of the AG- HSC1U.

Here is an old picture of their concept AVCHD camcorder. You can clearly see a focusing ring around the lens.
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20050905/ifa6_09.jpg

Guy will be the first one to tell me (Adjudicator from other forums) to just shut up, be happy with my cam, and go out and enjoy it. I'm really trying to do that--I just don't want buyers remorse so soon after I purchased this one.

I do think it is a very nice cam. And I know there is always something better on the horizon and it is impossible to keep up all the time, but I don't purchase relatively high ticket items like this that often, so I like to be as future proofed as possible each time I do.

I was hoping all I needed to do was settle my mind on whether the JVC HD7 was going to be the one to get, but I've put that to bed--only to have Panasonic come back and compete with themselves in the first month after this cam even got to market! (and please no plugs for the Canon HV20, I'm just not interested in tape right now--but, yes it looks to be a great cam).

Erik

I am considering getting one of these to act as a "C" camera in our office. I mainly work with 2 DVX cameras, with an occasional HVX rental for higher end material. I need a third camera (to act as #3 in a studio) for a local cable talk show. The cam. seems well placed between the two models we usually use, gives me a small cam. and the price is right for me - but I have a few questions that some of the owners might be able to answer.

1. Does the camera has LANC, or other remote zoom/focus options? I haven't seen any that say they work directly with this cam. I would be using it as a studio cam and this would be important.

2. Is there an option for NTSC monitoring?

3. Does it have one of those damn "stand-by" functions that turns the camera off if it is not recording for x number of minutes?

Thanks for any info.

Well, I did my own bit of research comparing HSC1U, SD3 and HV20.

In my opinion, SD3 delivers more colour than any other of those. However there is another "drawback": Panasonic interpolates signal from three 500k chips, and thus, the actual resolution is much below the standard set by Canon HV20 and Sony HC7 with their nearly 3,000k CMOS (actually, from this point Panasonic doesn't stand somewhere nearby) .

And, of cause, all three cameras demonstrate all the same weakness - pure dynamic range (I would say 150%, or less?). But this is typical for any small chips based camera.

And the bottom line, I would actually buy SD3, because it suits my current project. However the Panasonic guys totally ignored us, the pals from PAL countries (thanks for your info Guy). So, we'll have to wait for SD5, or whatever comes next.

http://www.scribemedia.org/2007/12/21/gear-review-panasonic-aghsc1upy-hd-camcorder/

I reviewed the camera for our "Gear Review" spot - let me know what you think, please! :)

~Drew

Andrew Ravani
www.scribemedia.org
www.prometheanfilms.com
NY, NY