Camcorder HDD
Panasonic HDC-HS300
Executive summary about Panasonic HDC-HS300 by Lori Grunin
hard drive camcorders
The good: High-quality video; solid performance; electronic viewfinder; full manual feature set.
The bad: Touch screen not responsive enough.
The bottom line: A very good prosumer HD camcorder, the Panasonic HDC-HS300 still isn’t as good a deal as the similarly featured but flash-based TM300 and has the same annoying touch-screen interface.
Specifications: Video input type: Camcorder; Optical sensor type: 3CMOS; Optical zoom: 12 x.
Price range: $1,264.95 - $1,499.00
Panasonic’s trio of top-of-the-prosumer-line HD camcorders-the flash-based HDC-TM300, and hard-drive-based HDC-HS300 and HDC-HS250–in many ways vastly improves over older models such as the HS100 and SD100. While the company replaced the awkward ring-based manual operation with an equally awkward touch screen, the improvement in video quality and performance make these a far better bet.
The three models incorporate the same 12x zoom f1.8-2.8 lens–the same lens as the HS100/SD100–as well as the same trio of 1/4.1-inch 3-megapixel 3MOS sensors, with an effective resolution of 2.07-megapixels each for 16:9 video. The real 3-megapixels for the predawn sampled AVCHD video finally break the resolution barrier; normally, 3-chip systems use lower-than-HD resolution sensors, which don’t seem to produce terribly sharp HD video.
The TM300 and HS300 share the same higher-end features as the HS100–manual focus ring, EVF, accessory shoe, and microphone input–while the HS250 trades those for a more compact design. Both the HS250 and HS300 have a 120GB hard disk.
Weighing 1 pound, 2 ounces, with dimensions of 2.9 inches wide by 2.8 inches high by 5.5 inches long, the HS300 is the heaviest and largest of the three and is larger than competitors like the Canon Vixia HG20.
In contrast to the older models, only the optical image stabilizer button lives inside the LCD recess, and most of the controls have been replaced by a hybrid button/touch screen interface. (Panasonic recommends a Class 4 card.)
Above the LCD on the body are the Intelligent Auto and 3-second prerecord button; on the LCD’s bezel are zoom and record controls, a delete button, and Q(uick) Menu and Menu buttons. Through the Quick Menu you choose video quality, time lapse, picture size, onscreen display options, LCD brightness, and guidelines. Via Menu you select options such as where to record (hard drive or SD card) and choose from a handful of scene modes. Plus there are options for Digital Cinema (24p) mode, mic options (surround, zoom or focus; bass settings; and levels), and display options like Zebra and histogram. Pressing manual focus switches the lens ring operation between zooming and focusing. The Function button brings up three options on the touch screen: white balance, shutter, and iris.
In auto mode, there’s spot AE and AF, backlight compensation, intelligent contrast, fade, soft skin mode, telemacro, and MagicPix night mode. The video quality is quite good, showing none of the artifacts that plagued the older models. Low-light video looks a bit soft, though not nearly as soft as we’ve seen in previous models, and remains quite noise-free.
