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Home » Cameras » Camcorder » Panasonic HDC-TM700 » Video

Panasonic HDC-TM700 video review

Panasonic HDC-TM700 front angle
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Overall, the HDC-TM700 produces a killer combination of consummate manual control and best-of-breed image quality. And with a price already similar to the outgoing models, you should look no further than this if you're in the market for a top-end HD camcorder with semi-pro capabilities. Read full review

Overall

10/10

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By James Morris
Reviewed 22 March 2010
Updated 26 May 2011

Price as reviewed

£709.99

Simply Electronics USA $1090 Buy now
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  • Review
    • 1: Panasonic HDC-TM700
    • 2: Panasonic HDC-TM700
    • 3: Panasonic HDC-TM700
  • Video Review
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  • Reviewed by James Morris
  • 22 March 2010
Read the full Panasonic HDC-TM700 review
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Awards

  • Editors choice

Panasonic HDC-TM700 details

Value
9/10
Image Quality
10/10
Features
10/10
Overall
10/10

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • First 1080/50p-capable camcorder
  • High quality 35mm lens
  • Excellent video quality

Cons

  • Expensive

Price as reviewed

£709.99

Manufacturer

Panasonic

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Jai

11:44 AM on 22 March, 2010

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excellent review, thanks very much.





i was in the market for a camcorder for teh last few months, been waiting for the announcement of the TM700 as i was hoping the TM300 would go down in price. I eventually bought the SD200 as it has very similair functions of the TM300, it just doenst have Lense Ring (which i would never use), doenst have a 32gb internal drive (prefer to use removable storage media any way) and doesnt have external mic option, which i can live without.





Been using the SD200 for the last week, its FANTASTIC! quality is amazing. only issue it low light, but in the house, as long as the lights are on the picture quality is acceptable, well acceptable for me any way.





Also SD200 is great as i can just take out the SD card, stick it into the PS3 and watch the video's instantly, no need to worry about plugging in the camcorder via HDMI to view the video.

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Mike337

12:03 PM on 22 March, 2010

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"The video is recorded as H.264 running at 28Mbits/sec. Strangely, Panasonic hasn’t taken this opportunity to implement the top AVCHD option, and instead the maximum AVCHD data rate available is still 17Mbit/sec"





So if I understand this correctly, if I want to record at 28Mbits/sec, it can only do it in H.264, otherwise if I want to record as AVCHD, it can only do it at a max rate of 17Mbits/sec? and by the way, I thought AVCHD was H.264??

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James Morris

1:00 PM on 22 March, 2010

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AVCHD is a specific profile of H.264, with more limited options. The video is also encoded into a transport stream file. With the TM700, the 28Mbits/sec mode uses a more generic version of H.264 (although it's still encoded into a transport stream). The main issue is that Full HD recorded at 50P and 28Mbits/sec is not AVCHD, so for example you can't pull a memory card out from the TM700 containing this video format and play it on your PS3 directly, as Jai has with the video from his SD200.

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Jai

1:42 PM on 22 March, 2010

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PHEW! glad i got the SD200 then!

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spsmiler

4:42 PM on 22 March, 2010

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Its a toss-up between the HDC300 and HDC700. One of the things I want to do is digitise a lot of super 8 cine films (family holidays, etc) which date from when I was a babe in arms until I bought my first camcorder, the Panasonic MS50. Do these new camcorders include the option of filming in 4:3 format, as widescreen would not be right for the old films?





Another reason for asking this is that I want to revisit places, etc which I filmed using my MS50, film them 'as they are now' and create compilation films showing the changes. OK, the newer machines will provide a much better image quality (although the MS50's S-VHS was excellent for the day) but mixing widescreen and 4:3 will look 'wrong', so at times I will want to film in 4:3 format.





I am also concerned about how good the cameras are in low light, as some of the time I will be using the camera on underground railway stations where additional lights is strictly forbidden.





Thanks for you advice,





Simon

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DadHav

5:33 PM on 22 March, 2010

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James, Mike. I can understand why the 50P on an SD card won't play back, but the other lower formats will play back from the card as the SD200 does, or is this not correct?


John

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DadHav

5:37 PM on 22 March, 2010

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Hello, Does anyone have a link where there are some full size still images from any of 200, 300 or 700 cameras. I would like to download a file and have a look for myself.


Thanks


John

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RobertWebb

11:54 PM on 22 March, 2010

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On the 300 the lens ring could be used for focus or zoom. Looks like the 700 allows its use for a few new things, but what about zoom? Can it not still be used for zoom?!





Thanks,


Rob.

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James Morris

10:15 AM on 23 March, 2010

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Simon: I'm afraid the Panasonic HD camcorders are HD only, so they only shoot footage in 16:9. Sony's camcorders usually still do SD, so they will have 4:3 shooting (but not in HD, which is exclusively widescreen). But all the top-end Panasonic HD camcorders are excellent in low light.





DadHav: If you shoot regular AVCHD, the SD card will play on the likes of the PS3.





Robert Webb: The TM700's lens ring only operates the zoom in auto mode. It can't be used for zoom in manual mode.

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Glyn Martin

10:23 PM on 23 March, 2010

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Hi James,





I am interested in the HDC SD700 rather than the HDC TM700. I was wondering would any SDHC card (Class 6) be able to cope with being able to record at the highest quality of 1080/50P? Or would you need to buy a fastest type card to be able to record in this format (1080/50P).





Many Thanks


Glyn

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