The HDC-DX1 represents Panasonic's first tentative step into the world of disc-based High Definition Video (HDV) camcorders, though its track record with cassette and hard-drive HDV camcorders suggest that this shouldn't be anything less than an impressive debut.

Recording onto DVDs - 8cm DVD-R discs to be precise - the DX1 is able to store a maximum of 30 minutes of top notch footage per disc, which means that you'll have to carry around more than a handful of discs if you're planning on shooting a minor epic, but for the serious videomaker this should pose no great problem.

The DX1 pretty much ticks all of the important boxes that serious filmmakers expect a worthwhile videomaking tool to do, and a few more besides. Like all camcorders, it offers fully automatic operation out of the box so that even complete beginners simply have to point and shoot.

For those that want to take a bit more responsibility for the main controls, there's a choice of five Program AE modes and four white balance settings, but for the serious videomaker it's the manual options that really matter, and the DX1 doesn't disappoint.

Overrides include everything from focus and white balance through to shutter speed and iris control and these are made using the small joystick on the LCD screen surround (more on this later).

Footage can be captured in HF, HN or HE modes, with HF being the highest quality setting (capturing just 14mins of 1080i footage to a disc), while HN and HF offer increased shooting time at the expense of image quality.

Further features that you won't find on run-of-the-mill camcorders include shooting guide lines to help frame a shot, zebra patterning for highlighting poorly exposed areas of the image, colour bars to help set up your TV or monitor and a manual focus assist mode that enlarges the central part of the image so that you can make sure that it is correctly focused.

Elsewhere on the DX1 is a dream team line-up when it comes to socketry. As well as the usual analogue composite video outputs and microphone input, there are component video outputs for outputting to an HD Ready TV and, more importantly, an HDMI for connection to a suitably equipped LCD or plasma screen.

There's an SD card slot (although you'll have to invest in a card as one isn't supplied) for storing stills and an accessory shoe for adding an additional light or microphone to the top of the camcorder.

Serious stuff

An initial inspection of the DX1 very quickly reveals that this is a camcorder aimed much more in the direction of the serious film maker than towards the camcorder user who simply wants to capture their own hilarious You've Been Framed calamities or film their mates down the pub.

For starters, it's big, really, really big. With its 680g weight, this massive brick of a camcorder has more in common with the analogue models of yore than those fiddly fag packet-sized digital cams you currently find dominating the market.

Of course, this is no bad thing. That extra bulk ensures that the DX1 is better balanced in the hand and so easier to hold steady when shooting without a tripod.

Meanwhile the larger chassis ensures that there's plenty of room for all of the controls. Pleasingly, these fall easily to hand and, like previous Panasonic camcorders, are dominated by the thumb joystick, which is used for both navigation of the onscreen menu and adjustment of the extensive range of manual controls.