D100 manual panasonic vdr

These can be opened with picture software that supports JPEG pictures. If this occurs, try the following procedure. If there are multiple drives, a drive other than this unit may be selected.

Can do Playing back on a computer Saving motion pictures on a Operation is not guaranteed with any other USB cables. The installer setup screen appears. Page Reading The Operating Instructions Of The Software Applications Reading the operating instructions of the software applications For details on how to use the software applications, read the help. The folders on the SD card are displayed. About recovery It is possible that the system cannot complete writing of a file normally when, for example, power is turned off for some reason during recording or editing.

The table below shows examples of functions restricted by various conditions. Can discs with a cartridge be used? Can double sided discs be used? Can I record continuously from one side of the disc to the other on a double sided disc? Can DVD-R only be recorded to once only? Page Frequently asked questions Is it possible to copy data to a computer Windows?

Is playback possible on a computer Macintosh? Is editing possible on a computer Macintosh? Is it possible to save data to a computer Macintosh? This unit is turned off automatically. This unit does not stay on long enough. Battery runs down quickly. This unit cannot be operated though powered up. This unit does not operate normally. Page Troubleshooting Problem A function indication such as mode indication, remaining time indication, or elapsed time indication is not shown.

Recording does not start although power is supplied to this unit and the disc or card is correctly inserted. Recording starts but stops immediately. Page Troubleshooting Problem The indication disappears. The screen is frozen.

No operation can be performed. Page About The Battery Cautions for use About the battery The battery used in this unit is a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. It is susceptible to humidity and temperature and the effect increases the more the temperature rises or falls. In cold areas, the full charge indication may not appear or the low battery indication may appear about 5 minutes after starting use. Keep the AC adaptor 1 m 3. Page Explanation Of Terms Explanation of terms Automatic white balance White balance adjustment recognizes the color of light and adjusts so the white color will become a purer white.

The unit determines the hue of light that comes through the lens and white balance sensor, thereby judging the recording condition, and selects the closest hue setting. Page Auto Focus Explanation of terms Auto focus The lens is moved forward or backward automatically to bring the subject into focus. Auto focus has the following characteristics. Never put Button-Type battery in mouth. If swallowed, call your doctor. CR only. Use of another battery may present a risk of fire or explosion.

Caution: Battery may explode if mistreated. Cierre firmemente la tapa de la ranura de la tarjeta. Pulse el joystick. Mueva el joystick para obrar. This manual is also suitable for: Vdr d - palmcorder camcorder - kp Palmcorder vdr-d Print page 1 Print document pages. Rename the bookmark. Delete bookmark?

Cancel Delete. Delete from my manuals? Sign In OR. Don't have an account? Sign up! This means that you are on page 1 of 2 pages in the manual control menu. More on those in the next section. When zooming from a wide angle with varying subject matter to a telephoto setting where black was the predominant tone, the camcorder usually needed to readjust levels and settings once the zoom depth was set.

This made for a few seconds of tonal breathing before the camcorder settled on an appropriate setting. The manual controls for the D allow control over zoom, aperture, focus, shutter speed, gain, and white balance - a very large amount of control for such a low priced camcorder.

We of course, love manual control so we applaude Panasonic for this choice. The manual control menu is entered by pressing the joystick twice so that a transparent screen is displayed on the left side center of the LCD. The controls for manual mode appear extensive, and once activated users will find that they provide even more opportunities than originally anticipated.

For example, the gain scale has numerical settings for seven different settings. Once this scale is entered, users will find that there are intermediate steps which although not represented with a number are visually distinguishable. This same situation exists within the aperture scale, providing users with a plethora of manual settings for these two parameters.

These modes are located within the Basic submenu section of the administrative menu. There are two menus provided when the joystick is pressed inward, which is a stark contrast to the six menu sections found with the 3 CCD MiniDV camcorders from Panasonic. The first menu contains information and controls over soft skin, fade, and backlight compensation.

If the user presses the joystick a second time they will find themselves entered into the second menu. This is a definite drawback in terms of navigational ease of use for this camcorder. This manual control menu can only be cycled through by pushing down on the joystick. Pushing up does nothing, which some may find both irritating and surprising. Pushing down allow users to select among manual focus, white balance, shutter speed, aperture, and gain. The manual controls found on the VDR-D are not unique to this camcorder, and consumers who love manual options will find that both the MiniDV and DVD camcorder lines by Panasonic are equally resplendent and should more than satisfy the manual control user.

If a user is less comfortable with manual controls, the DVD line by Sony is a wiser choice. The 30x optical zoom for the VDR-D is controlled by a sliding zoom toggle located on the top of the camcorder. This control is not the best design seen this year on consumer camcorders, though it is sadly common to all Panasonic consumer camcorders released so far in The sliding zoom toggle made it hard to engage the camcorder in multiple variable zoom speeds and it tended to limit the range to two speeds: fast and sloth-like.

The control is also placed awkwardly for many users with larger hands; my index finger had a tendency to overshoot this feature and I found myself controlling the zoom often with the second joint on the index finger rather than the fingertip. Although it is possible to get slower zoom speeds one-handed with this camcorder, it was usually easier to employ the left hand in combination with the right to acquire those rates.

The Panasonic VDR-D features an impressive 30x optical zoom lens which is controlled via a sliding zoom toggle on top of the camcorder. This optical zoom will provide users with an impressive zoom range, although using the Electronic Image Stabilization will be necessary when higher zoom levels are used. The important thing to note about electronic image stabilization is the slight reduction in resolution which occurs with this process.

Along with optical zoom, the VDR-D comes with digital zoom. The relationship between higher digital zoom levels and image quality is one of inverse proportions, so the higher the zoom level, the lower the image quality. This will be visually noticeable even with fairly low levels of digital zoom. The digital zoom can be capped at three different settings: off, 50x, and x levels. Of course, we recomend turning off your digital zoom and ignoring it for the life of your camcorder.

Unlike other manual controls which demand that the user press the joystick for every shift within their respective control ranges, the manual focus on the VDR-D allows the user to engage a sliding scale which quickly shifts focal depth with ease. The only setback to this control is the lack of a numerical or visual symbol to designate the level of focus used by the shooter. But the exceptionally quick speed of the manual focus will make settling the focal depth complicated.

By the time the user reacted to the proper focal depth, the camcorder had already shot past it and was instead providing a final image which was out of focus. A smooth external focal control would permit users to snap the camcorder concisely into focus while operating against enough resistance and control to avoid over-shooting the depth. Manual control over aperture is another one of the pleasing inclusions which set Panasonic apart. The aperture settings are accessed by pressing the joystick into the camcorder.

This action will then display the joystick diagram menu, and one more press allows access to the manual controls. Once into the second menu, users are able to select between white balance, shutter speed, aperture, and gain control.

While there are these numerical listings for F-stops, users will find that individual numerical settings have a number of steps which may be visually recognized on the LCD. Other stops show one or two degrees of separation between settings, but overall the total number of settings number far more than those found on similarly priced DVD camcorders by manufacturers like Canon.

Like the shutter speed discussed below , the major problem with this manual control is not in the actual settings, but rather movement between them. To switch to a new F-stop, the user needs to push the joystick for each displayed and hidden F-stop level.

If this was a sliding navigation like the focal control, then Panasonic would have a great overall manual control layout. As it is, the navigation of these controls impedes and hinders the otherwise great manual control set-up. The shutter speed can be controlled manually as well. The shutter control is located within the same manual control menu which provides control over white balance, aperture, gain, and focus and which is accessed by pressing the joystick twice.

The only problem with this manual control is that it unfortunately requires that the user press the joystick left or right each time a new shutter speed setting is selected. This means that moving from one end of the scale to the other will require the user to press the joystick thirteen times, which makes manual control over shutter speed anything but timely. The white balance settings are located within the joystick menu and allow users to make adjustments to this feature when the camcorder is in manual mode.

The white balance settings for the Panasonic VDR-D are: auto; indoor, which is suitable for incandescent and halogen lights; outdoor, which is suitable for clear skies; and finally, manual adjustment, which should make up for the shortcomings of both the preset and auto mode.

Manually setting the white balance is a hit or miss practice, relying in large part on the camcorder properly gauging a white tone in the light levels of the scene. The user manual warns that this feature may not be able to properly set the white balance if attempts are made in "lower light" conditions.

But that being said, the camcorder struggled to set the white balance in a number of interior situations with fluorescent office lighting. This is a surprising disappointment. If any manual control ought to be responsive and accurate, it ought to be the white balance. Always charitable to the common good of camcorder owners, Panasonic has given users a manually controlled gain feature which rounds out a bevy of manual controls that outdo the competition in both the DVD and MiniDV camcorder markets at this price.

The gain scale is located in the same menu as iris control and shutter speed when the camcorder is placed in manual mode. There is one step located between each numerically represented gain level, which will provide users with even more precise levels of gain adjustment control. Like shutter speed and aperture adjustment, gain adjustment requires the user of the VDR-D to push the joystick for each step within the gain scale.

Panasonic no doubt hopes you enjoy pushing the joystick over fifteen times to get from one end of the scale to the other. There are no other additional manual controls. However, with the number of manual controls found on this DVD camcorder, it would be definitely hard to find an equivalent DVD model on the market which is able to outclass it in this arena. With no opportunity for still image capture on the Panasonic VDR-D, it is not possible to judge still performance.

There is, of course, the laborious possibility of dragging clips into an editing program like Premiere or Avid and extracting stills to use as photos. The quality will be poor, though, compared to even the cheapest point and shoot. When set in full auto mode, the controls are straightforward and relatively impossible to accidentally alter.

The only thing missing from this camcorder found on more expensive Panasonic models is an info setting, which describes what each of the icons mean in the manual control menu, which would be helpful for users shooting without a manual.

The administrative menu is the same straightforward logical list structure with full text descriptions for each submenu. The only design flaw comes with the fourth submenu, the language menu. Once users enter this submenu, they must exit the menu system entirely to access other sections of the administrative menu. And because the language menu is the bottom feature, it often gets accidentally highlighted when scanning quickly, and if entered inadvertently users will waste time figuring out how to exit it.

Other controls on the camcorder are straightforward in auto and manual mode with clear symbols or text descriptions for each control feature. The manual mode was basically clear and logical with a few inconsistencies which if fixed, would allow fast navigation and control.

The first odd menu design appears when navigating the manual control settings which appear on the left side of the LCD. Users are restricted to only scanning down the list; the up arrow is not useable in this menu, which is odd since the up arrow has no function within manual mode at all.

The next unfortunate setback is that when the auto white balance is selected in manual mode, it disappears off the LCD and will only appear if the user scans over the blank space where this setting is. Be prepared to press the joystick at least twenty times to move through the aperture settings; this design makes the joystick design less than joy-filled.

By comparison, Sony camcorders are typically easier to use, with a big, fat Easy button that glows blue, beckoning the beginner into its electronic embrace. Canons, in general, are comparable to Panasonics. They offer an Easy mode as well, but the auto controls are not as good as Sony.

There are only a couple of handling concerns relating to the VDR-D Panasonic has placed manual controls within LCD menu structures which are navigated with the joystick control on the back of the camcorder.

For some reason, Panasonic has equipped this camcorder with a right hand strap that is vastly undersized and not wide enough to provide comfortable support. Rushmore in North by Northwest, the camcorder had a tendency to flop around and feel as if nothing is really stopping the D from slipping off my hand and breaking. After I had finally crammed my hand into the, the second problem arose.

It was nearly impossible at this angle to touch the zoom toggle in a way that provided consistent zoom speed. I found myself contorting my hand into a number of positions, although none successfully managed to garner the elusive zoom rate I desired. In order to attain variable speeds the use of both the left and right hands was necessary. However, reaching and manipulating the mode dial, joystick, and other controls was comfortable and with so few external controls, it was hard for Panasonic to go wrong in these areas.

This control is sticky and visually regressive in terms of design and aesthetics, and users will find that there is a slight sliver of space between the LCD screen and the edge of the camcorder which allows the user to manually open the screen.

Page 6 Operation is not guaranteed with any other USB cables. The installer setup screen appears. Playback is not possible on a computer. Print page 1 Print document 12 pages. Rename the bookmark.

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