Panasonic SDR H280 Camcorder

I chose the H280 because I wanted good quality images without the excessively large files produced by HD camcorders. The camera is a replacement for my analogue camcorder. I went for the H280 because it featured an integral wind noise/zoom mike, Optical Image Stabalisation, and three CCD sensors. I used Amazon because they have proven to be most reliable if not always the cheapest.

Delivery
Paid first class and camcorder arrived the next day. Well packed in a box that gave plenty of "crush room"

What you get in the Box
In addition to the camera and the usual paperwork you get a mains lead, a charger that doubles as a transformer for running off the mains, a USB lead and AV/S cable (for connecting to a TV/video player) battery, remote control and a CD-ROM containing Panasonics editing software. What is missing is a case (especially important in view of the danger of damaging the Hard Drive if the camera is dropped) and a neck strap.

Features
Although the camera is at the top end of Panasonics SD range it seems to have a more restricted range of features than cheaper options and certainly the HD models. The optical zoom is a measly 10 times magnification compared to 50 in the SDR-H60. What is more the instructions with the H280 warn against fitting a conversion lens as it will cause vignetting; why then include a thread for a lens and a leaflet advertising conversion lens? The pre-record function featured on the HDC-HS9 would be nice too. What it does feature is a 30Gb hard drive sufficient for 13 hours in normal mode and slot for an SD card (no SD card included), facility to take still pics, auto and manual mode, tele macro and night function, video light, a direct to DVD recording facility and the wind noise reduction and zoom mic features. It has lots of features to make sure you don't leave it on record accidently; a clear on-off switch and light, a separate switch that turns the camera off when the LCD monitor is closed and an optional Anti-ground shooting feature which turns the camera off when it is held upside down. The hard disc is protected by Anti-shock shield which detacts if the camera is falling; I've not tested this feature!!

Use
The camera is nicely designed and fits comfortably in my (large hand). I can reach all the controls with the thumb and finger of my right hand while filming. The position of the battery on the back of the camera covering the USB socket is clumsy and looks like they designed the camera and then realised they had to fit a battery. The menu accessed by a menu button and the joystick control and is pretty intuitive to operate. The LCD monitor is nice and bright (the brightness can be adjusted) and is a lot better than squinting through a viewfinder. The zoom is nice and smooth.

Results
After initial testing I used the camera to film two trains on my local railway on normal mode. The weather was bright but windy. I'm very pleased with the results. The microphone all but elimated wind noise and picked up nicely the sound of the first train; a steam special. The pictures are nice and bright and commendably sharp even on a large screen TV. Still pictures look pretty good on a PC though I don't suppose they would compete with a real camera if they were printed. The camera is nice and light and fits on a monopod or tripod.I found that I couldn't edit using the MS Movie maker and had to download Video Cam suite found on the disc. This is a bit of a pain as I'm used to Moviemaker. You can however copy files direct from the camera onto the PC and thence onto a disc using your own software.

Conclusions; I'm very pleased and only marked it down a star because of the measly zoom, lack of features and clumsy battery arrrangement. However picture and sound quality (certainly compared to analogue) more than makes up for this