Review on Panasonic HDC-SD80R HD Camcorder (Red) - SD Card technology (Discontinued model) by Robert Hunter

Bought this camcorder as a Christmas present in anticipation of planned summer trips to California and Kenya. It was in the box until July (we have other cameras) and then went on a long journey. At first it was great, handy and small, with a strong zoom and also took surprisingly good photos. By the second week of our trip, however, it had an annoying zoom that soon got so bad that it went to full zoom as soon as it was turned on, rendering it virtually unusable. I sent it back very disappointed. Panasonic Factory Service Centers in North America await repair or replacement. To my great surprise they called and said the parts were covered (one year) but the labor was not covered (only ninety days) so the labor cost would be $111. I went back to Panasonic customer service and explained that the camera was only used on one trip while waiting for some sort of mount but got no help. In fact, I had to call them ten days later when they didn't even answer even though they promised to call back within 24-48 hours. Under these conditions I did not pay for the repair and kept the camera for myself. Not only would I recommend staying away from this particular model of camcorder, I would also advise everyone to stay away from Panasonic camcorders in general given the terrible customer service in North America.