Panasonic SDR-H40 40GB Hard Drive Camcorder with 42x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
by Panasonic
Our Price: $899.95
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Category: Digital Camera
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: PanasonicRelease Date: 2007-01-31
Model: SDR-H40
Color: silver
Product features:
- Capture video to hard disk drive; 40 GB storage for up to 36 hours of footage
- 42x optical zoom
- Anti-Shock Shield for hard drive protection
- Panasonic's Advanced Mega OIS technology
- Compatible with SD/SDHC memory cards
- SanDisk 4GB SDHC card
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Panasonic SDR-H40 40GB Hard Drive Camcorder with 42x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
Customer Review: NOT COMPATIBLE WITH MACS or some PCs
Summary: 1 Stars
It claims to be compatible with a Macintosh.
HOWEVER the enclosed software states that it does NOT work with a Mac. When I called Panasonic support, I was told it IS compatible with a mac, but, by the way, they said, only for still photos. In fact, when I tried to transfer movies from the hard drive on the camera to my mac, my Nikon picture project software opened automatically and brought the movies across as still photos.
The very same support person at Panasonic who told me it WAS compatible with the mac at the beginning of the phonecall, then said that I should have read not just the Amazon website, but also the Panasonic website, where it says that while it is compatible with a Mac, that is only for still photos. In other words, you take videos with the camera, but when you transfer them to the Mac they come over as still pictures [the first instant of the video] [my Nikon picture project software opened up when I plugged in the camera and brought them in as Jpg files--- I could not change the suffix to mov]
Panasonic "support" then said that there was software I could buy that would make this work with the Mac but that she could not recommend other software. When I said I wanted not a recommendation but some kind of hint, she could not tell me what that software was. Upon being pressed to give me the name of the software that she said I could purchase that would make this work with a Mac, she checked around and no one else there could tell me the name either. ALSO, she said that since some people view videos taken by this camera on various models of TV, Panasonic can't support all the other equipment that everyone wants to use to view their movies--- in other words, she dismissed Macs [and also incompatible versions of PC] as yet another vendor that Panasonic can't be bothered to support.
I did call Mac. They tried to get the camera to work with ilife but in fact when I opened ilife and plugged in the camera and turned the camera on, the ilife software said that no camera was attached.
I dragged the files from the HD of the camera onto the mac and tried quicktime, but quicktime said it was not a movie file. I also tried to open files from the panasonic HD from the ilife menu but they all were grayed out.
IN SHORT: DO NOT BUY THIS CAMERA IF YOU HAVE A MAC. If you have a PC, check the fine print at the Panasonic website to find out whether your version of PC software works.
My feeling, after dealing with panasonic support [they would neither take it back nor help me nor even accept my helpful suggestion that their product information, rather than claiming compatibility with Macs, very prominently feature lack of compatibility]: do not buy this camera or anything else from Panasonic.
More Panasonic SDR-H40 40GB Hard Drive Camcorder with 42x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom reviews:
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Description of Panasonic SDR-H40 40GB Hard Drive Camcorder with 42x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
40GB hard disk model for extended shooting fun with up to 36 hours of recording time, plus 42x zoom power and image stabilization.Camcorders
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