Others say...

"No Brain Purchase...brain needed for software"
This is a great camera for the price. Right out of the box it is ready to go and the video is easy to shoot, view and edit on the camera. Playback is easily done using a modern TV. The picture and sound are of good quality and there is not anything to really pick on with the camera itself. One of the best features is the stability button which makes for an extremely stable picture especially for those far away zoom shots.

The problem that I encountered was with the software. I would recommend downloading the update directly from the Panasonic site and bypass the disc (it helped me resolve an issue). The video is downloaded using the software and then can be played on the Windows Media Player. The other issue that I had was that the camera catalogs the scenes by date and there is no obvious way to let scenes stand on their own as a seperate file. To fix this I used the playlist feature on the camera to make a playlist of one scene and then when I open the file using the software I view playlist instead of video and then just import the individual scene to the harddrive. Using the camera, you can only make four or five playlists at a time. I also found a program to then convert those clips to MPEG4 so that I could imput the video into Itunes and then onto the Ipod Touch. I filmed my kids playing sports and loaded their Ipods and the playback is great. What I would love to find is a one stop program that recognizes and edits the video from the Panasonic format and then converts it to MPEG4.

I have yet to use the DVD burner feature, but from what I have heard it is a lot easier than the software. The still camera is decent, but I prefer a regular camera for a much finer picture.


"Good product"
Despite its low price, this Panasonic camcorder seems to do everything we need it to do with reasonable quality. We are using it to conduct interviews and general classroom events. We use a lapel microphone hooked to an amplifier to capture full sound quality (an audio input is only available on Canon but the picture quality is not as good as the Panasonic). So far, it seems to be a good value if you don't need high definition or special effects. The harddrive is useful. It is so nice not to have to play with tapes, sd cards, and discs.

"Battery in bundle pack is not for SDR-H40"
I purchased the SDR-H40 in november of 08' and the bundle pack was a great price but the battery was too small for this model, so make sure you double check with a representitive before purchasing any extra accessories. As for the camcorder and camera the quality was great for video and taking pictures with good lighting provided. The sound was great, I was recently at Greenfield Village at night outside, video and sound was good but pictures not so good there is no flash on lamp on the SDR-H40. Overall it was worth it for the money and the battery that came with the camcorder was only low by one bar after 30-45 minutes of recording video and pictures. Programing was a little involved but if you have adobe reader 9.0 all you do is load provided cd-rom and follow the steps. Taking pictures of old pictures and loading them into the PC or Mac is simple, I took 153 pictures for my mother's 7" digital frame I'm storing them on and they were clear as the real thing. No more tapes or mini dvd's to buy just put on DVD recorder PC or Mac, and enjoy and save your history.

"Great video camera... for the price"
Let me start off with a complaint: accessories for this camera are not cheap!

That being said, the camera is great. It doesn't shoot high-def, but it does take otherwise great pictures and the features on this product are pretty great.

However, in hindsight and with further research (and a little more money) I would now get the upgraded version with a 60 gig and 50x optical zoom. However, this camera is great for the price I paid and I can assure you the camera has some amazing features.

The 42x optical zoom is enhanced even more by the digital zoom, but I can assure you you can read what someone is doing at least 25 feet away on a computer screen with clarity! My dad took a shot of his license plate at 75 yards and was able to read it easily.

The 40gig hard drive is also an excellent plus, but keep in mind that memory is getting cheaper and a 16 gig SDHC card on amazon only runs you about 30 dollars at the moment. That just means that expansion is easy and a 60 gig isn't necessary anymore--but an increase in optics isn't as easy to come by (hence the 50x/60 gig recommendation).

Either way there isn't really anything bad worth saying about this camera. I did get the Lumix FZ-28, though... and if you're into serious photography just go ahead and get that instead of this one. If you're serious about optics with that you can always get an extra lens or two!

Regards!

"Great Camera"
Great camera. I am very happy with it. Picture quality is very acceptable along with the battery life. Sound is very sensitive. Overall I am very happy with it and give it a 2 thumbs up and highly recommend it.