The Panasonic HDC-TM300 Twin Media HD camcorder offers the choice of recording to the 32 GB HDD or SD/SDHC memory card and the 3MOS system with three full-HD sensors has one of the world's highest total pixel counts. The TM300 provides high image quality for both motion and 10.6-megapixel resolution still images. And it features high 8.3-megapixel resolution for still images when recording simultaneously with motion images. You can also enjoy a 5.1-channel surround sound system with 5 microphones featuring Zoom and Focus Mic functions.

The manual ring gives you easy fingertip control over the focus zoom and exposure settings. This lets you create images that just aren't possible with automatic functions. And the AF Tracking has been added to the iA function which automatically judges the scene and makes the best possible settings so the TM300 keeps the subject in focus even if the subject's face turns away from the camcorder.

To view recorded images as quickly as possible the TM300 features a new highlight playback function. This gives you a quick easy way to view the most exciting scenes all together. The HD Writer AE 1.0 editing software also has a new function that lets you easily upload your video clips to the YouTube website.

• Capture Full HD video; 1920 x 1080 resolution


• Records to 32 GB built-in Flash Memory or SD memory cards


• 12x Leica Dicomar lens with Optical Image Stabilization


• Capture stills up to 10.6 megapixels


• 2.7-inch widescreen touch-panel LCD

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The TM350 is a twin memory model that records Full HD images either on its 64GB internal flash memory or an SD (or SDHC) Memory Card. A 32-GB SDHC Memory Card can hold around 12 hours of recorded video clips (in HE mode). The TM350 can copy recorded video images from the SD Memory Card to the internal memory or vice versa with easy operation.

• Full HD 1920x1080 Recording


• 64GB Built-In Memory and SD card slot


• 3MOS camcorder System


• Intelligent Auto Mode and AF Tracking


• Manual Ring Electrical Viewfinder and Cold Shoe

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Almost a Prosumer Camcorder

I bought this camcorder to replace a Sony DSR-PD170. I needed to switch to from miniDV/DVCAM to HD and in the process I wanted to go to flash media. There are very few choices right now. Panasonic's AG-HMC70U is a gigantic monster compared to my DSR-PD170 and the new Panasonics and JVCs aren't getting the greatest reviews - so I looked at the consumer camcorders.



I wanted 3CCDs and XLR inputs but no XLR on a consumer camcorder so I'm using a Studio One stereo mini to XLR box. The CCD vs. MOS isn't important to me as long as I get 3 sensors. This is the only 3-sensor consumer camcorder using flash media I could find.



The quality is good and I would say it's at the top of the consumer camcorder heap at this point. AVCHD is great for good quality with a very small file size but make sure your editing software can handle the MTS format.



Panasonic supplies a utility that gives you some preformatting options when you download your video from the camera but I'm not using it.



Here's how the camera records: Each time you record it creates an mts file (AVCHD) if you pause and then continue it writes the first file and starts a new one. So you end up with a lot of sequentially numbered MTS files. I just download them to my PC without any pre-processing and import them into Premiere Pro CS4 (it reads the mts files with no problem). You just put them in order on the timeline.



I am so happy to be done with tapes. The last vestiges of an ancient era in video processing. No more capturing video from the camcorder. Just lay the files into the timeline and edit them there.



Just for the heck of it I tried to upload the mts files directly to YouTube. YouTube accepts the files and transcodes them but they are very choppy dropping frames left and right once on YouTube. So I bought a batch converter that converts them to 720p MPEG 2 files and that makes YouTube happy.



So is the Panasonic HDC-TM300 a pro camcorder? Not hardly. Is it a prosumer camcorder? Not really. But it's a good choice if you want good quality HD video at a low price (compared to pro camcorders).



On the other hand I just used this camera to record a 6-hour workshop in a hotel with not-so-great lighting. The video was very washed out - not even close to the low-light quality of my Sony DSR-PD170. The TM-300 has a manual iris/gain feature that lets you open up to 18db. Surprisingly the brightness improves significantly without getting too grainy. Still not close to the PD170 in auto mode but significantly better than the TM-300's auto mode.



I would have liked to have replaced my Sony with a Panasonic AG-HMC150 but at $3800 I just wasn't ready for the price. Although the TM-300 isn't quite good enough to cause me to get rid of my PD170 it's good enough to make it my camcorder of choice in well-lit shooting environments.



The Panasonic HDC-TM300 is a really great consumer camcorder that's well-worth the price.More detail ...