Panasonic HDC-HS300 Comments

And again a Panasonic recommendation... what a surprise!

Singularity, here we go again...

Maybe a disaffected (former) Panasonic employee...?

I never used to like Panasonic products in the past but it seems they are bringing more and more quality products nowadays. I recently purchased their most recent camera the G1, and I never leave the house without it now! Awesome camera!
This camcorder sure looks tasty but it sure is pricey too, bought one of the first Sony HD camcorders when we were in Hong Kong 2 years ago and we're very happy with it. Had the Panasonic camcorder been less expensive, we would have probably upgraded.

Singularity - I'm not sure what you have against TR. They are as objective a review site as I have found. Yes, they give good reviews to Panasonic products - when they're good products. Equally good reviews are given to equally good products by any other brand.

"Impartial" is not the same as "Agrees with you" or "Pleases everyone". Impressions of product quality, from design to performance, can never be completely objective. I will oten disagree with aspects of the reviews here, but they are never so far removed from reality that I suspect it's simply fanboyism or advertisers' money talking - which is what sets TR apart from many of the sites and magazines out there.

If you can convince us why the HS-300 is not worth it's rating, then please do. Similarly, if you can provide some proof of the TR/Panasonic/Apple conspiracy, then please do so... otherwise I will continue to assume that TR can be trusted - after all, they haven't stopped you from repeatedly posting your insinuations.

This should be compared to Canon's new and upcoming models when they are released (meant to be in April) to get a proper comparison.

Have to say considering my own experiences with Panasonics recent products that I in no way find TR's reviews even the slightest bit bias, purchased one of their 32" LCD TV's and one of their HDD recorders a few months ago and it has been fantastic - great picture/sound quality, easy to use (my dad managed to record something, which he has never been able to do - he couldn't even figure a VCR out) and solid build quality, as the remotes are still working after more then their fair share of drops. I also recently bought one of their digital camera's and found the same quality and ease of use.

@James Morris

Thanks for the review. This one sounds like a keeper, but I'm interested in how you match this up against the Canon HF S100 (Rel. 04/09). I know it's not out yet, but based on (a) the released specs and (b) your experience with the HF100, I think an educated guess is possible. Also wondering if you care for any of the Samsung cams?

Cheers,
Anthony

Thanks, James. I'll definitely be holding off until early summer so I look forward to seeing your reviews on the aforementioned models (in comparison). Personally, I think one big sensor is probably superior to three smallish ones, but I suppose it's all in the execution. Cheers.

What's missing here? Oh, one of the first things you need to know about a camcorder:

INTERLACED or PROGRESSIVE?

If it's not progressive, it's crap. Seriously.

So I calculated the difference in the sensors between this and the canon hf s10, and I think its 37%. So do you think this will be significant for the Depth of field? I am really interested in producing cinematic effects and I care a lot about the depth of field. Thanx

Canon just dropped the MSRP's on their 2009 lineup. S100 for $1100 in March - get your review on!

@James. Hey fantastic review as usual! I think im sold with HS300.
Out of curiosity, how do you judge the quality of the video when you review? Do you look at the pixel count then watch the video taken on an HD screen? I havent bought a camcorder in 8 years so HD camcorder is a new to me. Thanks again.

Hello James, great review. I've signed up on the back of it. Does this camera record sound very well at high volumes? I'm looking for something to put footage together from club nights and I need something that can cope with very very loud levels of music, Techno, House, Dubstep...that kind of thing. Hope you can help!

James,I've really appreciated your Camcorder reviews as I've been considering buying an HD model but having decided that the Panasonic TM300 was ideal for me, I came across the following review of it's bigger brother. http://www.infosyncworld.com/reviews/camcorders/panasonic-hdc-hs300/10147.html Can you comment more on the video quality of these machines? Thanks.

Oh, I hope they had a faulty model, because I had really high hopes for that model... Maybe I will wait to see for the HFS10 and the Samsung HMX-H106 which has wider lens.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLnX_R7zfoI&feature=related

I'm relieved to hear you didn't have the same bad experience as the infosyncworld reviewer did. I really want the HS300 because I need the Time Lapse features, and the Canon doesn't have that. I'm wondering if the reviewer for infosyncworld has the camera's saturation and contrast set really low - that might result in those horrible sample images.

I did find a very large review of the HS300 on a Japanese web site - it was all in Japanese and the online translators didn't do a good job, but from what I could tell they liked it. They had a bunch of sample movie files to download, but none of them would play for me. The still shots from the movies on the site did download, and they looked good, but the test material wasn't really all that good for determining the camera's quality.

It would be great if this review here had some sample images or footage.

Thanks for this interesting review, James. I am just about to get a new cam as my old Sony is broken down now - and the hottest candidate is the Panasonic HDC-SD300. Anyway, I have got one question: Have you got any comments on the little system fan that is placed on the camera side ? I fear this can create noise, especially after a while of using, blows dust into the cam and persuades possible system temperature issues.

For all here:
http://www.slashcam.com/ have got a very positive review of the new Panasonic with some reference screenshots on the German site - on the English one not yet available. Its rated as the best in class on that site - also compared with the Canon HF (S)10, due to usability and usable features. Best picture is still with Canon HF10 according to them - the S10 lost in picture quality.

Cheers,
OsZ

James, any chance of posting some actual raw sample footage as a downloadable file? Even just 5 seconds would be nice to see for quality.

Thanks,

-Brian

Thanks James, looks like there are some different pictures around. Wouldnt think this one is a fake but please have a look to this page where I have got this info from - almost last picture in this article, side view with opened monitor. Was the announcement from January, maybe changed since then.

http://www.videoaktiv.de/200901082149/News/Camcorder/CES-2009-6x-AVCHD-Panasonic-HDC-SD20-HS20-SD200-HS200-SD300-HS300.html

Still about to check and read reviews... still my candidate though

OsZ, I agree that the photo makes it look like a mini fan but i think it's the speaker.

James, did you see any (better video quality - measurable or visible) difference with the HG20 and it's higher bit rate? Sony announced the XR 520VE, what are your gut feelings about that camera being able to match the HS300? You said quite early that this must be "camera of the year" 2009. What else is in the pipe that you know of?

Well I am so confused between this Panasonic, the HS100 from Canon, and the Samsung H106 (because of the 37mm lens). Is it really a great difference from the 43 of the other two? Will it be obvious in the playback? Will it be like using a wide lens adapter? thanx

I found the instruction manual for the HS300 on the Spanish/European site for Panasonic: http://www.panasonic.es:80/html/es_ES/1967291/index.html?trackInfo=true

Ends up that thing isn't a speaker. I page 15 of the manual it shows it as a heat vent ("El ventilador gira para prevenir el aumento de la temperatura interna")

Apologies to OsZ, you and Brian are right - it's a cooling fan. The English version of the user manual is available from the Panasonic website and says 'The cooling fan rotates to prevent the internal temperature rising. Take care not to cover the
inlet when using this unit.' I wouldn't have thought it would be noisy.

OK Thanks. Will most likely get one and just test the cooling function at my next Egypt trip.

For the guys that wanna see some movies. Check out this Japanese site.
http://av.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/20090218/zooma399.htm
There are some native .mts files and some more - but converted to - .mpg. Unfortunately interlaced, no 25p. Looks very nice, especially the one with low light called "room.mpg"

Reading through your reviews, I notice you do not really test the battery, i.e. does it last as long as the manufacturer claims. I have decided to go for the Panasonic HS-300 (just ordered) but from reading the manual, which is available online at Panasonic, I see the battery life is rather poor, so will have to buy a new, longer lasting battery.

It would also be great, considering you are reviewing a video camera, to get 15 seconds or so of real footage, so we can all see if the quality of the video is as good as you think (your video review, as you have stated previously, is not the best delivery method for this).

Thanks.

Has anyone (i.e. any normal punters, not journo's or trade people) actually managed to get hold of one of these yet by normal retail purchase (whether online or high street)? I was told by campkins in cambridge (www.campkinsonline.com) that these are still 2 weeks away from getting into the country!

It seems to me that amazon.co.uk has them on stock. I have not ordered yet, I am waiting for more reviews and some reviews of the Samsung HMX H106, but thats irrelevant...

James - I'm looking for a HDD camera and having a quick look the Canon HF S10 which has 32GB Flash, and that's all. When I go abroad I'm happy to leave my macbook at home so the XR520 and 250GB appeals more - it has a GPS, which can be fun (or totally useless).

It comes at a price tag of €1350 in Sweden and the HS300 is around €1600. Then I'll have to live with all the Sony accessories (because of the Sony accessory shoe) - but at least it has a manual focus ring (configurable knob).

Finally I'm looking at the HG21 at €900, which is actuallay a quite nice price drop (€300 from Jan 2009), then again there's no manual focus ring. As I said before - I consider the higher quality LCD screen and the bigger HDD to be enough reason to get the HG21 over the HG20.

Having that said I have two questions:
1. When will you get your hands on a XR520?
2. Considering the €700 price difference between the HG21 and the HS300 - would you say it's worth it the way You are using your cameras? A short comparision of image quality wouldn't hurt either.

Just received my HS 300. From the limited tests I have done, the quality of the video does seem good. Not sure I would give it a 10, as I think all HD cameras have a long way to go before the video quality is superb. I assume the 10 mark is relative to the current crop of devices, even though the technology is not what I would class as mature.

Anyway, the problem I have now is finding spare batteries. It seems very difficult to find genuine Panasonic batteries on the web. I want to buy a couple of VW-VBG260
batteries. Any pointers to where I can get them would be much appreciated. Considering the supplied battery lasts under an hour, a couple of higher capacity ones are, in my opinion, a must.

I did post the website where I bought my camera from on this site yesterday in response to the post from zorba11, but I guess it was moderated (perhaps as it is not a sponsor). I bought the camera for £930, so a pretty good price I think.

James, you mentioned in an article about digital cameras that you know about some exciting things that are coming and you are not supposed to talk about them. So I need to ask, are these cameras what you were talking about or should I wait a little bit more to buy something? I really need to buy a good camera but I am willing to wait a little more if something much better is to come in the very near future....(I am thinking about the hdc hs300 for the ring, the xr520 for the low light or the hmx h100 for the wide lens)
Thank you

James - interested to read your generally favourable remarks about the HS300. Wondered if you had any idea why this review seemed so very much out of tune with your own. They seem to be singulalry unimpressed.
http://www.infosyncworld.com/reviews/camcorders/panasonic-hdc-hs300/10147.html

Hi James, I am going to buy my first ever camcorder and I find your reviews too technical for someone who is not an expert on camcorders. For instance, you say that Panasonic HDC-HS300 uses 3 sensors as opposed to 1 large sensor that other brands use but you do not say if this is a good thing or not. I was thinking of buying the HS300 but after reading your review, I began to think that you believed Canon was a leading brand on camcorders and Panasonic had only just caught up with this HS300. So, I decided to consider Canon. However, I got really confused now as I have not been able to compare the HS300 with a similar Canon model. Your review of Canon HG21 seemed so different from the review of HS300, I have not been able to tell which one would be better for me. Also, when you click on 'compare specifications', there is no option to select camcorders. I would be grateful for a comparison of HS300 and HG21 or HG20. Could you include the battery life in your comparison. Also, I already have a Panasonic TV and DVD player. Would it make any difference whether my camborder is the same brand or nor? Many thanks

orchid, you just have to do the homework. I was in the same situation as you this day last week. It took a good three days of reading and asking questions to be in a position to make a choice. And you know what? one can never be certain. So far I'm happy with my Panasonic HDC-TM300, which I ordered Thurs via Red Onion, and it arrived Friday (BTW Red Onion get my vote: good price, UK designated stock, and delivered on time).

A really good site is avforums.com - I registered and asked lots of questions, like you have above, look for my questions by searching on "zorba11". There a lot of really generous ppl on that site who will help you. James is a journalist and has to pick a certain "level" at which to pitch his articles at, and he would lose a lot of credibility with more experienced readers if all his articles were "camcorders for beginners" style.

Good luck !

Zorba, thank you very much for your response I will try that website.

James, I thank you very much for your response. I would be very grateful if you would comment on the battery life of Canon HG21 and Panasonic HDC-HS300.

James,

Thanks for the reviews. I am really stuck between Sony's HDR S12E or the Panasonic HS300. Your review is leaning me more toward the 300. I am also interested in the new Canon Legria HF S10 as mentioned in the latest camcorderbuyer Magazine. Should I hold off? The HS300 over the S12E? I know it's personal preference and a bit of research but it's my first camcorder and i would like to get it right. Would there be anything on the new Canon that would potentially blow the other two out of the water or is it really a matter of amateur or pro skills, regarding the use of them. Can you shoot in slow motion on the 300? Sorry for all the nitty questions but any further thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks a lot and keep up the good work. Mike.

The quality of the video is superb when I burn the AVCHD files directly using Toast and playback on my PS3. I can make a couple of HD clips available on request. However, when I use Final Cut Express, the quality is really not good. I think the problem is something to do with it converting it to anamorphic aspect ratio (it cannot edit AVCHD natively, it has to convert it first to the apple format). the result is you do not get the full 1080i at all, you end up with some squished lower resolution video that needs to be stretched at playback. Does anyone know of a better editor? I like final cut as it does give you some great features, but it is not good to me as I want to be able to edit the 1080i footage to play back on my TV.

Also, it does not support 5.1 digital. It converts it to 2 channel.

DPINPARIS, I was looking into purchasing the Final Cut Studio 2, including the latest Pro 6, with whatever camcorder I eventualy choose (I am tempted by the HS300), is this the same software that you mention has some editing issues with AVCHD? I'll be working whatever I choose with a new mac pro laptop. Thanks in advance for any further information.

Mike.

I believe it will covert the AVCHD file to AIC, which is used for when you edit. I read this is quite normal as the AVCHD format is highly compressed and difficult to edit natively. I have not read FCP converts it to anamorphic aspect ratio, however, FCE is a cut down version, so perhaps it does. You can use the AIC rendered files to burn to Blu-Ray etc with Toast. I just have problems locating the fully rendered file.... I am trying to find out how here: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=7315692&posted=1#post7315692

I burnt the test project I was working on to disk yesterday (using Toast), using the quicktime movie output settings, which renders at the same aspect you import, i.e. the converted 1080i downscaled and squished to 1440 x 1080 anamorphic. I then burnt using Toast to full HD i. The results are still pretty good, though not as good as the original AVCHD file. Hopefully Apple will upgrade FCE soon, as it is pretty old now and they are behind Adobe Premiere for the PC etc (premiere is not available for the Mac, unfortunately). I will try to import ther AVCHD on my PC, then edit it with FCE. Perhaps then it will not squish it.

I have posted a sample AVCHD file here if you want to take a look at the quality. www.wasnotdelivered.co.uk

Let me know if there is anything specific you want to see. I will then try to post it.

James, great review - could you say more about the fan - is it really inaudible? An odd feature, rivals don't seem to need it. Is it necessary - presumably its not used when the LCD is closed and you are using the evf. Also is low light performance good for indoor 100W domestic lighting? Your views appreciated.

I find it surprising that another reviewer (infosyncworld.com) finds the product very mediocre. How can there be such a big difference in opinion?

infosyncworld says: "Mediocre video quality and poor photo quality. Terrible AC adapter and DC input setup. LCD screen is too small."

James-thanks for the reviews.
I just bought my first camcorder, the Panasonic HDC-HS300, Im in Japan.
The problems Im having are importing the files. They come in as mt2s (through the usb supplied). I'm fairly green but learning it all as fast as possible. The mt2s files cant be imported into WMM or Vegas, or played on media player even, only on HD WRiter (supplied).
As far as its performance, it seems great. Not noisy, easy touch screen.. will post more when I know more.

@James. Each file I have imported has 3 components, one is .mt2s, the others are .cont and .iis.

@James Thanks, I copied the files from the folder you spec'd. They were all MTS files. I have Vista, and have Sony Vegas Pro 8.0. Each time that I try to import an MTS file it freezes and has to be shut down.
Are all of the other files included with each mt2s file useless?
I'm amazed this is such a chore, and the instruction manual has nothing about this, basically just open HD writer and import them.

Thanks everybody for the input. I need to be totally convinced about 100W ie 50 lux video quality. Can anyone put on the web still frames from video shot indoors with domestic lighting? That would be a great help as this is critical and has been criticised in what would appear to be an otherwise great camcorder.

Has anybody used Canopus Edius Neo for editing footage from the HDC-HS300? This can import and edit AVCHD, but I am not sure whether full HD can be exported in this cut down version of Edius Pro.

I was dismayed by the strong condemnation of image quality of the HS300 in the review by Mike Perlman here http://www.infosyncworld.com/reviews/camcorders/panasonic-hdc-hs300/10147.html. The HS300 was absolutely trashed. In contrast, he praised the image quality of the Canon HF S10.

I can hardly believe that this is the same camera reviewed by James Morris, who has given it so much praise. His view was "This could well be the best camcorder released all year". What is the explanation of two reviews being diametrically opposed in their findings? Is this down to poor quality control by Panasonic, and a rogue example slipping by, or could this be a widespread problem? If it is that, then there is a high probability of random duff examples leaving the factory. The HFS300 seemed the perfect camcorder for me, but now I do not think I will take the risk of ending up with a bad example, with all the hassle of having to exchange it, maybe several times, until a good one arrives.

@Peter - The question about infosynchworld's review of the HS300 / TM300 has already been addressed in this thread several times. Like you, I was bothered by this review (which was put on-line 2 months before it was released in the US) but quite a few reviewers have since praised the new high-end Panasonics. Camcorder Info (who weren't that impressed with Panasonic's predecessor) have yet to do a review of this new model but they've clearly tested it. In their review of Canon's HF S100, they can compare a number of the top Camcorders and they seem to rate the TM300 highly. "Other manufacturers, however, have also made some improvements to their top-of-the-line camcorders. The result is a very close performance race between the Canon HF S100, the Sony HDR-XR520V and the Panasonic HDC-TM300—plus the sister models of each. In some cases, these camcorders are virtually indistinguishable: all three offer clear, sharp, and vivid recording" Leaving all that aside, I would certainly want to trust James Morris' judgement on this.

The more I use this camera, the more I regret buying it. I am not that impressed by the video, it is ok, but not great. It heats up when you use it (not even summer yet). Has an annoying 12 hour cut off for time lapse (why?). The video quality on my 5D MKII is so far superior, though clearly not practical to use as a real video cam. Shame, as that is the kind of quality I would like form 1k plus video cam. I see there is a long way to go before we get a good quality video camera on the market. I think I will be selling my HS300.

DPINPARIS says the Canon 5DMkII is "clearly not practical to use as a real video camera". Although this is going off topic somewhat, I wonder if I may ask here what are the drawbacks of the 5D MKII as a camcorder.

Peter King : Form factor maybe ?

I've been watching this camcorder closely for a few months now. Looking to buy my next machine & this seemed to be the one - but I've yet to hold one in my hand.
Seems strange that this industry expects people to part with the best part of a grand without so much as a sniff of the product - heck, you even get to test drive second hand cars. Local shops won't stock it because they say it will sit on their shelves too long - hmm, fair enough, but if I can't try it out, I'm not likely to want to buy it.
As it happens, I have found one retailler who, after some persuading, is prepared to get one in for me to look at - although looking at some of the other modern camcorders in stock, I'm wondering if this will be just too small to operate comfortably (I have hands like shovels so trying to operate something tiny for any length of time will be too uncomfortable).
I was wondering how the HS300 would compare to Sony's latest offering - HDR XR500 or 520?

I am a newbie, looking for HD camcorders and tried both Canon HF100 (HFS100 not available yet in Malaysia, where I m residing) and Panasonic HS200. The seller does not have HS300, I comment on what I seen on HS200. I notice power up time of HS200 is slow and zoom/focusing is slow as well. However HF100 rather quick start up and quite zippy as well.

I wonder if is hard disk required some start up and even shutdown time or simply memory card based works better (TM300 ?). Does HS300 perform similarly ?

James, I have bought HS300. After using it for a while, the start up issue is not a big problem. I think the seller overblown the issue.

Video quality is good, little noise, I suppose that's the limitation of AVCHD. Is only the still images, not so good, noisy. I tried few resolution 10, 7 and 4 megapixels for still images does not make big difference.

Hello James,

as this is my first post, I'd like to congratulate you for the quality of your reviews!

I'm looking forward to buy my first HD camcorder and I'm carefully following this model and its smaller sisters, TM300 and SD200. I read you and other reviewers (notably people at camcorderinfo.com and slashcam.de) raving about it and giving it top marks, as it has so many interesting features.
I've also downloaded many video samples (some from Vimeo and some original .mts files) and I find its picture-quality interesting and its OIS very effective.
But there are a couple of things I find disturbing and I'd really like to know your opinion about them:

1) Every single sample I've watched, either from HS300, TM300 or SD200 has a serious Video-levels issue. The most distracting is that black is not where it's supposed to be, so the image looks washed-out and totally lacks punch. Colors are also a bit off, having a yellowish tint. Interestingly this is the very problem Infosyncworld describes, but using other words.

It's very easy to check this: just grab a frame with your player (I'm using Nero Showtime for that), paste to a photo-editing program and check Levels. It's actually very easy to fix this problem in eg Photoshop or any similar program. I already did this for a couple of shots, which you can find here:

http://i421.photobucket.com/albums/pp293/alombar/Girlcopy.jpg
http://i421.photobucket.com/albums/pp293/alombar/panasonic_hdc-hs300_s04copy.jpg
http://i421.photobucket.com/albums/pp293/alombar/panasonic_hdc-hs300_s04copy.jpg

I've only fixed a part of each image so that you can see the difference with Levels fixed.

As I'm just beginning to learn how to do video-editing, so I wonder if one can automatically adjust levels in eg Vegas; I saw this program has a Levels filter, but it only seems to work manually, which is slightly more difficult than one-click "Auto-Levels".

As I said before, I've noticed this issue in every single sample, shot with different cameras in this family, by different people, so I don't think it's a faulty item or wrong settings issue. On the other hand I didn't notice it at anyone of the grabs I took from Canon HF S100: levels were always spot-on, and the Auto-Levels command wouldn't move the curves at all.
I'd really like to know if you noticed any such thing.

2) I also see some edge enhancing, like if some sharpening filter is applied by the camera's processor; did you also noticed any such thing and is there a way to turn it of?

3) Could you please upload an original .mts file from your testings to a file server? Even one a few seconds long will do.

Thanks a lot!

Ok, so here's an update: as I found out, Vegas doesn't have Auto Levels; however, someone has made a plug-in for this purpose. I tried it and it actually works quite well!
You can find it here (there's a Rapidshare link below):
http://www.vimeo.com/1197099

Here you can see some split (before/after) snapshots I took:
http://i421.photobucket.com/albums/pp293/alombar/Rivercopy.jpg
http://i421.photobucket.com/albums/pp293/alombar/Orange.jpg

You can download the original videos here:
http://www.vimeo.com/3888195
http://www.vimeo.com/4015909

There are at least a dozen other 200/300 clips at Vimeo and you can also download a raw .mts HD file from the Japanese site listed above.

But my question still remains: are Panasonic's levels off and do colors look washed-out?

Hmm, so does the 3mos chip hinder it's still photo ability? does the Canon s10/s100 take the better stills? Does the hs300 have continuous shooting option?
Thanks

Hi James, could you tell me how the HS200 compares with the HS300 and HS100? I like everything about the HS100 except the poor low light performance and prefer its lens ring functioning to the HS300's, otherwise like everything about the HS300 except the price! :) I'm hoping the HS200 is the camcorder for me, but can't find any comprehensive reviews on it...
Thanx :)

Hi James,
2 questions, 1) HS300 does it support PAL?
2) do you know anything about HS250K how does it differ from HS300, does HS250K support PAL?

Hi James, Can you tell me how this Camcorder would perform at high altitude? I'm off to Tibet in September and last time I went my video iPOD, which has a hard drive, couldn't cope above 10,000 feet (average altitude in Tibet is above that) and would switch itself on automatically or refuse to play. So, a bit concerning as I'd like to film in Tibet.

As a very satisfied previous owner of an NV-GS400, I had been looking for an HD replacement for quite a while. I initially bought a Canon HF10, but found the video quality lacking, particularly in terms of its ability to handle high contrast situations. I have now bought an HDC-HS300 and have to say, I am very pleased with it. The video quality is excellent. I beleive the 3 sensor technology provides an additional level of depth and realism to colours. My only gripes with the camera were the truly horrible plasticy covers over the accessory shoe and the headphone/mic ports. The one over the accessory shoe threatened to rattle against my permanently mounted MKE400 and the other one is just nasty. So they both got pulled off, and good riddance to them. I use the MKE400 because the onboard mics are very prone to wind noise. Besides the MKE400, (sporting a custom made dead mouse), the cam has now been fitted with a UV filter and a decent lens hood. A couple of heavy duty VBG260 batteries allow me to shoot pretty well all day, but still allow the viewfinder to be used. Mine is a 60i model, which is OK, as I have 20% more fps to play with. But it would be nice to have the choice of 30p! Some of the features I like: built in time-lapse function; pre-record; reasonable manual focus; nice ergonomics and weight. The auto focus is very good as well. All in all, this is a great camera which is capable of punching well above its weight. I think I will be keeping this until I can afford to go AVC Intra.
4.5 stars, Panasonic!

Can you tell me if it is possible to change the out put video from ntsc to pal or vice versa

I need a Hi Def camcorder that will record OFF the Computer OONTO the camera Harddrive, then back again for making animated cartoons. Can anyone tell me if this can be done. I could do it with my Sd camcorder via the firewire (i-link) cable. Thanks

Hi James, I allready bought a HS300 in Summer this Year. Your review tell us all the benefits, they all true and I'm happy with the HS300, but I like to mention some cons:
Audio recording in stereo not possible (with internal Micro's).
External micro input deliver 2,6V DC, so a dynamic micro can not be used.
The optional Panasonic stereomic is an electret type, but need a battery to work, why not use the 2,6V DC from the ext. mic connector?
Video stream and pictures are only on the same storage (HDD or SD-card), it is not possible to store pictures on SD-card, video stream on HDD (Sony can do it).
If you do pictures, they will be stored each day in a new folder started with picture number 01. After 2 week vacation you have 14 folders containing pictures with same numbers. Hard to convert them into one folder with increasing numbers.
HDD is FAT32 formated not NTFS, causing new stream after the 4GB limit. Combining this in an editing software causes a 4 frame long sound interuption.

Sorry for this con's, but I think everbody who want to buy this great camera should know some limitations.
Has anybody else similar experiece?
Jack from Vienna