Panasonic VDR-D310 Camcorder Review
By David Kender
Reviewed.com Editorial Staff
Published on August 14, 2007
The VDR-D310 is Panasonic’s top standard definition DVD camcorder, sparring with the Sony DCR-DVD508 and the Canon DC50 for best of the year honors. The VDR-D310 upholds Panasonic’s core strengths — manual controls and handling — while attempting to fulfill the ease-of-use expectations placed on DVD camcorders. The result is a product that retains powerful camera tools but may be too complicated for beginners.
Video performance, as always, is the chief concern for any camcorder. In bright to moderate light, the Panasonic VDR-D310 is more than capable. Inside are three 1/6-inch CCDs, with a gross pixel count of 800,000 each. Three-chip construction, as opposed to single-chip, generally means great colors in adequate light, but noisy or dark low light performance. The VDR-D310 is a textbook example. The video looks clean and sharp, with excellent color, until the lights dim. After that, the colors dimmed considerably. It gives a laudable effort for staving off noise, but the chips are simply too small to capture the necessary light.
Panasonic is generally recognized for equipping its camcorders with the most powerful manual control suite, though Canon has become a close (some might say superior) contender. The most notable controls are manual shutter speed and manual aperture, which can be adjusted independently to give users room to stretch their creative toes. Also included is a manual gain tool that allows for extra control over sensitivity and noise in low light. The flip side is that some people have no desire or clue as to how these tools function. Unfortunately, the camcorder and guidebook do little to explain. Worse yet, the camcorder lacks a simple exposure compensation tool to allow you to, in the simplest terms, “make it dark” or “make it bright.” No other major manufacturer makes this oversight.
There are, of course, features for the beginner. The VDR-D310 comes equipped with the expected one-touch controls like Auto Exposure modes for Sports, Spotlight, Snow, and other tricky lighting environments. For absolutely basic point-and-shoot, flip a switch to Auto mode and the camcorder takes over all exposure, white balance, and focus control. The auto responses are not as good as comparable Sony and Canon models, but they will suffice in most situations. Keep an eye on focus in low light, as it has a tendency to waver.
The Panasonic VDR-D310 records video in the MPEG2 format to 8-centimeter DVDs, also known as miniDVDs, in the DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM, and DVD-R DL (dual layer) formats. Check your home DVD player’s manual before you assume it can play back all these disc types. DVD-RAM is conveniently reusable, but has limited compatibility. While easy playback is high on the list of a DVD camcorder’s benefits, editing is not. Importing and working with files can be tricky due to a DVD’s file structure. Support is getting easier to find, but you may need to update your editing software if it’s a few years old.
Unlike the Canon DC50 and the Sony DCR-DVD508, the Panasonic VDR-D310 includes a universal mic jack, greatly expanding your audio options. A camcorder’s onboard mic is almost always poor quality, so take advantage of this feature and upgrade to a handheld or mini shotgun mic.
The Panasonic VDR-D310 may not be the best choice for the typical DVD camcorder owner whose chief necessity is ease of use. But the powerful tools contained within make it an excellent camcorder to grow with. You may not be familiar with how aperture affects depth of field at the time of purchase, but in a year’s time you could be kicking yourself for not purchasing a camcorder with higher levels of control. Know thyself as a shooter first, and the buying decision will be that much easier.For a more in-depth review, visit the Panasonic VDR-D310 Review at our partner CamcorderInfo.com
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