Panasonic has given us the 32GB SDHC card, and clearly sees cheap and plentiful SD cards as the memory format of choice for casual camcorder users. The SDR-SW20 -- pictured -- and SDR-S7 use SD and SDHC cards and could well be worth making room for in your suitcase, next time you head off on your hols.
Both camcorders boast a 10x zoom and a 69mm (2.7-inch) LCD screen. A secondary record button means that they can be held in the standard elbow-bent fingers-pointing-up eye-level camcorder grasp, or in a straight-arm fingers-down grip.
Each shooter comes with a selection of features to make shooting quick and easy. A quick-start function has the SW20 and S7 shooting half a second from flipping out the LCD screen. Holidaymakers will also benefit from a time-switching feature that allows you to set the time for two different locations, such as home and holiday, and switcheroo between them with a single button press. There's also a one-touch button for transferring footage to DVD, but you do have to buy a Panasonic DVD burner.
The SW20 is the choice of the more extreme holidaymaker, as it's waterproof to a depth of 1.5m and shockproof to up to 1.2m. It's also dustproofed for "worry-free shooting in places like the beach, or any place with a lot of dust". Like a Crave reviewer's wallet, perhaps. Speaking of which, the SW20 is available now for £220, and the S7 for as little as £180 online. -Rich Trenholm
Update: Read our full Panasonic SDR-S7 review.
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