Panasonic VDRM50 DVD Camcorder with 2.5-inch LCD w/18x Optical Zoom | 
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| Brand: Panasonic
Category: Photography
List Price: $899.99
Buy New: $368.50
You Save: $531.49 (59%)
New (2) Used (4) Refurbished (1) from $185.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 6342
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Floppy Disk Drive: None
Optical Zoom: 18
Display Size: 2.5
Maximum Focal Length: 37.8
Minimum Focal Length: 2.1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 5.8 x 3.7 x 2.3
MPN: VDRM50
Model: VDR-M50
UPC: 037988251209
EAN: 0037988251209
ASIN: B0001E4240
Release Date: April 30, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Brand new. Comes with 30 day exchange and one year warranty against defects. No shipments to PO, APO/AE, AK, HI addresses.
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| Features:
| • | DIGA Palmcorder DVD Camcorder records on removable 3-inch (8cm) DVD-RAM and DVD-R discs | | • | 18x optical zoom lens (digital zoom to 500x) and image stabilizer | | • | 2.5-inch LCD and color electronic viewfinder | | • | Low-light mode, built-in digital still camera, and cold shoe for accessories | | • | Rechargeable Li-ion battery pack lasts for up to 2 hours and 15 minutes |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Panasonic introduces a sleek and compact VDR-M50 DVD camcorder that is as full featured as it is easy to use. The DVD camcorder records high-quality digital video and still images onto removable 8cm DVD-RAM and DVD-R discs, allowing for non-linear editing and within the camcorder.The VDR-M50 DVD camcorder weighs 1.15lbs and has an 18x optical zoom for dynamic shooting. It has a 1/6" 680, 000 pixel CCD which allows sharper and vibrant recording. And the unit's 240x digital zoom allows users to capture that perfect moment, no matter how away they are.The VDR-M50 slim, compact design camcorder has a 2 1/2 inch color LCD monitor for easily capturing or playing back images. This DVD camcorder uses either DVD-RAM or DVD-R discs and offers a variety of recording and playback selections. The Digital Electronic Image Stabilization helps compensate for unintended hand and/or camcorder movement.
Amazon.com Product Description
The stylishly small Panasonic VDR-M50 marks the next step in DVD video camcorders. As full-featured as it is easy to use, this compact camcorder records high-quality digital video and still images onto removable 3-inch (8cm) DVD-RAM and DVD-R discs, allowing for non-linear editing and within the camcorder. The VDR-50 features an 18x optical zoom, 240x digital zoom, a 2.5-inch LCD, and SD memory card compatibility. Optics and Resolution
The VDR-M50 DVD camcorder has a 1/6" 680,000 pixel CCD, providing sharp and vibrant video. In addition to the 18x optical zoom, the 240x digital zoom allows you to capture that perfect moment, no matter how far away you are. DVD Format
The VDR-M50 combines all the technological benefits of the rewritable DVD-RAM format with the compatibility of write-once DVD-R media. DVD-RAM offers the highest quality in digital imaging, huge storage capability--capturing up to 120 minutes of digital video and 1,998 still images to DVD media--and rewritability up to 100,000 times, with virtually no degradation of picture quality no matter how many times the disc is played back. The DVD-R format offers the ability to record onto affordable DVD-R discs for sharing with friends and family, and archiving memories for everyone to enjoy. With the DVD-RAM format, you can access recorded scenes quickly and easily. Indexed thumbnails are displayed on the 2.5-inch color LCD. In addition, the camcorder will automatically find blank space on the DVD-RAM disc whenever a recording begins, eliminating the possibility of recording over what you've already shot. Camcorder editing features include delete, rearrange, fade in/out, wipe, divide, and splice. Recorded video and still images captured by the VDR-M50 can be played back on DVD-RAM and the majority of DVD-R compatible MPEG2-conforming devices. Just slide the disc out of the new disc cartridge and place it into the DVD recorder or player, or into a PC or laptop computer equipped with DVD playback. More Features
In addition to video, the VDR-M50 can capture still images up to 640 x 480 pixel resolution, good enough sending to friends and family via e-mail or posting to the Web. (A DVD-RAM disc can store JPEG photo data and video together on the same disc.) You can save images either to the DVD or to Secure Digital (SD) or MultiMedia (MMC) memory cards. The VDR-M50 uses a USB 2.0 connection for high-speed transfer of content to a PC--a step forward from the slower USB 1.1. Other features include: - Digital Electronic Image Stabilization helps compensate for unintended hand and/or camcorder movement
- Thumbnail scenes display lets you select scenes recorded on a disc and arrange them to play back in any order the users want
- LUX rating of 12 LUX
- Low-light mode available for shooting in near-dark situations
- Cold shoe connector for accessories
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Lost memories and no help from Panasonic July 14, 2008
I have had this camera for about two years. I have gone through about 20 CDs and today the second one errored out and lost the data. No more video of my son's birthday. Just like that. The discs are working fine and then they come up with an error and that's it. Throw away your disc and your memories. I have used two kinds of media and both have had the same problem. Go to Panasonic's support web and site and there is NOTHING. Their FAQ on camcorders is a short marketing piece, so you're basically on your own. There must be a thousand better products than this one. Don't buy it unless you don't mind losing your video.
Average camera in its day but now obsolete April 20, 2008
The VDR-M50 was an average camera around 2005, but is now obsolete. If you are buying this second hand then be warned that Panasonic supply no drivers or tools for Vista, so you need third party tools such as Roxio Creator to extract your movies from the DVD-RAM disks - probably not worth the trouble. Picture quality is just OK even on the highest quality setting. The VDR-M50 has some nice features including in-camera editing facilities but these are not enough to redeem it.
Not what I hoped for May 11, 2007
I bought this camcorder back in September of 2004 for the birth of my daughter and this is one technology that just didn't pay to be an early adopter. Here's a quick summary of my experience
Pros:
1. Navigating thru recordings is significantly easier (and timelier) than MiniDv or tape.
2. Camera size is nice
3. Outdoor recordings have good quality (not great)
Cons:
1. Have to use Panasonic DVDs for recording. We tried buying other brands which were significantly cheaper and the camera started rattling. Customer service thru Panasonic was horrible and after sending in the unit for repair, they sent it back saying nothing was wrong and we just have to use Panasonic DVDs (why didn't they just say that on the phone????)
2. Inside recordings are poor quality due to low light limitations. We purchased an external light which helps, but adds to the cost and also makes it more of a hassle to use
3. DVD-ROM software is proprietary and not readable on most DVD drives. We actually had to purchase an external DVD-Rom burner
4. Actual time to create a DVD can be as long as 4 or 5 hours for a 1-hour DVD. It only takes about 10 minutes if you record with a DVD-r disk but that also comes with problems (many of my files didn't transfer properly and you have to deal with the format and finalize process).
Overall not a total disaster but definitely not a good technology experience. Hopefully Hard Drive based units will be better but I'll wait it out a little while to let them work out the kinks.
Unable to intergrate with Vista (NEW PC) April 9, 2007
The camera functioned well, but is in no way compatiable with Vista or and newer systems. Drivers are not available, so thusly this camera is an peice of junk. Would never recommend it or Panasonic to any one.
 Not bad at all if you know what you're doing December 14, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
PROs: Very easy to operate, even my wife handled it well :). Using DVD-RAM disks saved my budget since I've used a single DVD-RAM disk (app 20CAD$) for the last three years. Software that came bundled ('DVD Movie Album SE' and 'My DVD') is easy to install and easy to learn. Battery life could be better, but it works fine for me (about 1-1.5 hours, screen was on all the time). All cables (TV connection, PC connection, charger) are nicely marked, no confusion here. They even included an S-video cable for TV, so you have a choice of composite or S-video connection. Neat. I like that I can put the small DVD-RAM disk in my laptop, and do all the editing, I don't need to daisy-chain the camera itself to my laptop.
CONs: As you know, DVD-Ram disks need cartridges. For many people this is a hassle, but I'm used to it. I love the additional protection that cartridge offers. Original recordings are in 'raw' DVD format: .vro and they need to be reformated to .mpg. Not a big deal with DVD Movie Album SE, BUT: the size of finished movie in MB is huge. A 2-minute movie takes well above 100MB if you keep the default settings in the software. The price of recordable DVDs keeps dropping, but anyway, the movies could be smaller in size.
Overall, this is an excellent camera if you are an average computer user and know how to get around with movie encoding/decoding.
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