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DV that's solid (state)
By Sean Carruthers, posted 1/14/2004 2:29:31 PM

D-Snap SV-AV100
http://www.panasonic.ca/
Estimated price: $1,649

Gadgets get smaller all the time, but one thing that's kept DV cameras from shrinking too much is... well, where would you put the video tape? Sony has introduced a DV camera that uses the MicroMV format, but why not just get rid of the tape altogether?

Panasonic has done just that with the D-Snap SV-AV100, a tiny camera that saves video to a SecureDigital memory card. True, there have been other gadgets that store video to removable memory, but the SV-AV100 is the first to actually capture and save MPEG2 video/audio to memory cards. That's the same quality found on DV cameras and DVD, which is a big step up from the quality other solid state media video cameras offer.

The downside is you can't save that much MPEG2 video to the card: only 10 minutes of video at full quality can be saved to the 512 MB card that comes in the box. You can bump that down to "normal" MPEG2 recording mode, but that halves the resolution, which isn't so good if you're after quality. The good news is that if you're putting together a large project, 10 minutes will probably get you one or two scenes, which you can offload to your notebook PC, then move to the next scene.

If you're using it more for fun than high quality, you have the option of saving in the more common MPEG4 format. The 512 MB card will store up to an hour of highest-quality MPEG 4 (320x240 resolution at 1 Mbps).

and as much as 10 hours at economy setting (176x144 at 100 Kbps, which would be OK for the Web but not much else). Even better, the camera also takes still pictures at resolutions up to 704x480 pixels, which means you can take about 3,250 shots on the included card.

The camera itself is quite compact, about the same width as two DV cassettes, and a couple of centimeters taller. When using it, a 2.5-inch flips out then spins into the orientation you want, depending on whether you’re shooting someone else or yourself. The back edge of the camera is pretty minimal, with the record button, zoom control (10X optical and up to 100X digital) and the power switch. Menu control buttons are on the side panel, hidden under the LCD panel when the camera’s not in use. (Because of the orientation of the screen to the menu buttons, using the menu can be awkward, especially if you have larger hands; thankfully the controls are tilted about 45 degrees to make it slightly easier.)

The SV-AV100 comes with a charging cradle, but it’s not as simple as just dropping it in; you actually have to flip open a small door on the rear of the camera, then slide the whole thing over until the connector locks into place.

That connector also provides an A/V output, allowing you to playback your video on a television screen. OK, OK, so the main question is: it’s small, but what’s the quality of the video like? Under ideal lighting conditions, the quality of the MPEG2 video is quite good — the throughput to the card keeps the data flowing, and the onboard image stabilization means a reasonably shake-free picture despite the small size of the camera. As soon as you get into darker rooms, the picture can get quite grainy, so don’t expect to be shooting your masterpiece in dimly lit areas unless you bring along lighting, too. Of course, the lower-quality settings will give you lower-quality video, and the digital still pictures are less than 1 MP, so these other modes will be fine for Web use but not for printing out . . . either to film or paper.

It’s also worth noting that the camera will not shoot MPEG2 video to anything smaller than a 32 MB SD card, and full-quality MPEG2 requires a 256 MB or higher capacity card. You also need an SD card that’s capable of saving data at 6 Mbps, which means most non-Panasonic SD cards won’t work in this camera for shooting MPEG2 (though they’ll be fine for MPEG4 or photos). Since the camera ships with a 512 MB card (which accounts, in part, for the camera’s high price) you’ll already have a compatible SD card.

Additional cards are $160 for 256 MB and $350 for 512 MB Panasonic cards.