A nice camcorder!

This is a replacement for my 10 year old Panasonic camcorder so the first thing I noticed is this thing is SMALL but they are all pretty small compared to my old camcorder. Without going into too much detail I'll just note the things I found much better than I expected and the couple things I am a little disappointed in. I don't have experience with any other new camcorders so I can't say this one is better or worse than any of the other new models.



Pleasantly surprised:

- The image stabilization feature is very very good.

- The video picture quality is impressive.

- The battery lasts longer than it is suppose to (manual says 50 minutes but I get double that).

- The software that comes with it is certainly good enough for me and is easy to use. It allows you to arrange your clips into a video and write it to a standard DVD in standard definition to a standard DVD in high definition or to a blu-ray disc. You can delete portions of clips add transitions between clips add text to a clip (first clip only) and build a menu screen.



Things that are a bit of a disappointment:

- The automatic white balance isn't the greatest. Within a single lighting environment and a single shot the auto white balance will vary from a little too yellow to a little too blue to just right. I've given up on auto white balance and now use manual white balance. Manual mode is a bit of a hassle but worth it to avoid the white balance swings the automatic setting produces.

- The wind cut filter can't be turned off in auto mode. This isn't a big deal to me now that I use manual mode (because of my white balance complaint) but if I did want to use auto mode there are times you need to have the wind cut filter off or the sound will get totally messed up (like when an audience is clapping along to a song).

- Low light recording is fairly noisy. It isn't horrible. I decided it is acceptable for my use but my 10 year old camcorder did better in low light.



Everything else about the camcorder is about what I expected. It's easy to use nice zoom range still camera mode can't compete with a real still camera but that shouldn't come as a big surprise. Overall a very nice camcorder for the money. Is it the best camcorder for the money? I have no idea but I can say I'm happy with it and it is capable of producing very nice video with just a little effort as long a there is sufficient light.





UPDATE - one month later: I've had the camcorder for over a month and have shot 10+ hours of video with it. I'm still impressed with this little camcorder. It can produce some beautiful video. I'd give it 5 stars if the white balance worked a little better. I still stand by my original comments.



One software feature I discovered and like a lot is the ability to capture a still photo from the video. I'm sure all video software has this feature but it is new to me. With the still capture feature you can get a 3.6 inch x 6.4 inch 300dpi jpg from the video. The software allows you to look at the video frame by frame so you can capture a still picture at just the right moment. This is very nice for making small snapshot photos particularly of fast action subjects. One maddening thing about most still cameras is shutter lag (the delay from the time you push the button to the time the picture is taken). Many times great shots are missed because of that delay but by capturing still images from the video you can always get the shot at just the right moment! It's a fun feature.





UPDATE #2 - 2 months later: I've shot over 20 hours of video with this camcorder now and I'm still very happy with it. I purchased a sandisk 16GB card (holds about 2 hours of video) and I'm keeping an eye out for a Vw-VBK360 extra battery for use on vacations. The Vw-VBK180 battery that comes with the camera lasts at least 100 minutes of actual use yet is only suppose to last 50 minutes. I don't know why I'm getting so much time out of it! I do shut off the camera between shots (by closing the viewing door) but doesn't everybody? Seems like a natural thing to do.



I still use manual mode for white balance. I'm much happier with the results using manual white balance rather than automatic white balance. The auto white balance in my old camcorder as well as the white balance in my daughter's little Flip camcorder works fine but not in this new camcorder. It's my only real complaint.



I did a little test to compare my old camcorder with the new camcorder in low light conditions. The new camcorder produces a fairly noisy video in relatively low light but my old camcorder produces a pretty nice video under the same low light conditions. I'm not talking very dark - living room in the evening lit with 2 floor lamps. But I found a flaw in my test! What I discovered is both camcorders produce fairly good video in STANDARD DEFINITION. It is only in HIGH DEFINITION that the video from the new camcorder is noisy. Since my old camcorder only records in standard definition it wasn't fair for me to compare my old camcorder standard definition video with my new camcorder high definition video. So for what it's worth my new and old camcorders produce about the same quality standard definition video in low light conditions. Maybe you have to step up to a more expensive camcorder to get low noise high definition video.



I've got to say even though low light standard definition video looks better than low light high definition video once you've viewed high definition video in normal lighting conditions you'll never want to go back to standard definition ever again. The difference is remarkable!



I hope you found this information useful. I'd like to thank the people who took the time to write camcorder reviews when I was researching them. It's very helpful to get insights from end-users. I'm glad I bought the camcorder that I did and I'm even happier that I decided to upgrade from my standard definition camcorder to an eye-popping high definition camcorder!More detail ...

Excellent Camcorder with one really MAJOR flaw

Panasonic finally released a 1920x1080p60 camcorder to the market (Sony still refuse to add Progressive and canon max out at 1920x1080p30 or p24)



With the TM700 Panasonic did combine the smooth motion of 1080i60 with the crisp image of a progressive motion

I can not praise the footage quality from this camcorder it's basically the best camcorder i have ever used it beats my HF100 and HF S100 when it comes to sharpness and motion by far (I still prefer Canon colors though however Panasonic colors looks exactly as we see them in real life Canon colors are unrealistic but looks more fun to me)



The wide angle 35mm~ is much better than my previous canons (Canon 43mm~ a little bit zoomed in) but still not as wide as Sony latest camcorders 29mm~ The stabilization From TM700 is really groundbreaking All low hand shake are completely gone! as if you are using a tripod almost as good as Sony stabilization (Sony stabilization is the best in the market Canon got the worst stabilization from the major companies)



Now about the Major flaw with TM700... something i didn't see coming and would have properly canceled my order if i knew about it before i bought it the Audio is really noisy ! TM700 got a built in Fan on the side (Sony/Canon does not have a fan like tm700) the fan is noisy and the microphone will pick up the noise now if you think closing the LCD and using the viewfinder will eliminate the fan noise you couldn't be any wrong! close the LCD and the fan noise will be even higher ! problem is I'm afraid that it will collect dust over the months and it will properly be even louder by then or might even break.



Other than the Fan noise (It sound like older tape camcorders noise through the entire video if you are familiar with tape noise) it's an excellent camcorder you can capture low light indoors without any problem (Much better than my canon camcorders when it comes to low light) you can't hear the fan noise if you capture outdoors or in a noisy environment but for indoors or a quite environment you will hear it.



Finally about the 1920x1080p60 you really need a quad core to even playback the footage! my Dual Core 2 Duo 2.5GHZ laptop can not play the footage at all (Trust me i tried everything it's not a codec problem but you need power to play the footage) even PS3 can not play the footage smoothly the PS3 will struggle to playback the video (Will freeze about half a second for every 4 seconds of playback)



There is no 1920x1080p30 option in this camcorder it's either 1920x1080p60 28Mbps or 1920x1080i 17Mbps

The camcorder playback the footage just fine though



Some people are having trouble to edit the videos well i use Sony Vegas Pro 9 and had no problems editing the 1080p60 footage.



If you use an external microphone that only pick sound from the front you properly wont care about this flaw but for my use (Traveling etc) i need my camcorder to be as portable as possible so using an external microphone is not an option



This camcorder would have gotten 5 Stars from me if it were not for the Fan issue.



Update : Fan issue Test done by someone else [...] "Just search in VIMEO" "Panasonic TM700 indoor audio test"



Update 2 : Returned the camcorder.... the noise issue is really ruining my videos the noise is not stable it does change when you pan or change the position of the camcorder read my 6th comment in comments below for video sample since amazon wont let me post linksMore detail ...

great video camera

I was torn between Sony and Panasonic (the Canons seemed to have many recurring complaints especially with the decks) and after reading several reviews became gradually partial to the Panasonic before ever having used one based on customer loyalty and consistently glowing testimonials.



Well I've never used the comparable Sony's JVC's or the Canon XL2 (some limited experience with the GL2) but as best I can tell without personal comparison this camera does in fact deserve all the great reviews.



The image quality is excellent and in many cases looks about as good as broadcast TV video (nonHD) and the camera allows a tremendous amount of image control--manual focus ring aperture (iris) gain adjustment shutter speed zebra control for overexposure white AND black balance adjusting daylight filters etc. The electronic viewfinder can even be focused via simple diopter. There are six preprogrammed but customizable settings for image control so the user can simply dial in whatever setting they need based on the shooting/lighting conditions. So for example you shoot occasionally under weak flourescents lights--you adjust the white balance and the gain and the detail level accordingly save it as a particular "scene file"; whenever you return to that same location or a similar shooting environment you can click over to the saved settings in an instant and start recording. The first four are factory set for video 60 frames; the last two are 24 fps for a more film-like quality which this camera handles beautifully.



What actually sold me on the camera in terms of hardware were the two XLR jacks--comparably priced models didn't seem to offer this. The XLR jacks allow the user to attach professional shotgun mics and bypass the mediocre factory one taking fuller advantage of 16bit 48khz stereo recording. I use a fairly inexpensive AZDEN mic and the improvement in sound quality is tremendous. If you were willing to invest in finer mics the audio quality would be better still. Having two XLR inputs means that in addition to recording live audio (like a mic) you can also mix in input from another pre-recorded source--all in the camera!



The lens by Leica is also impressive--it is a bit wide and is not interchangeable (although I believe there is an adaptive telephoto for $$$). I prefer shooting wide but if you have need a wide selection of lenses or don't enjoy the look of wide angle look to Canon.



The drawbacks are minor--the camera is rather cumbersome--and would certainly be tiresome for handheld use as it isn't designed for shoulder-mounted use. I shoot almost exclusively indoors with a tripod and so neither of these issues are relevant for me. Also irrelevant for me are reviews I've read which have indicated lackluster battery performance--again shooting indoors I always have it plugged in and thus haven't noticed any battery problems. The little menu joystick control button used to toggle the menu screens as well as the VCR playback options can be frustrating when you're tired but that is an extremely trivial concern really.



This camera is expensive even in the $1500+ prosumer class it tends more to professional range but I feel it is a great value considering what a fine piece of equipment it is and the wealth of features it offers. It is much much more than enough camera for the consumer and probably a little more than I need actually--I've used mine for a few months and I'm still learning how to wring better and better shooting from it. Once you've used it for a while it becomes clear why this particular model maintains a devoted following. If I have to replace this camera--provided I can afford to--the next camera would definitely be a Panasonic and probably be its big HD brother the HVX.More detail ...

Mixed bag: know what you're using it for

First the two versions of this camera are identical other than the fact that one has built in memory the other does not. BUT consider how much you're paying for that memory? Could you just buy a larger card with the price difference? Probably. Considering that for the sake of convenience you will probably be recording to cards most of the time (so you can just plug them into the computer) I would probably go for the internal memory-less version.



I ran several tests on the camera for a few days to try out its features. I am not a name-brand fanboy nor am I a dedicated videophile. I'm just going to give you an unbiased impression based upon what my eyes saw:



PROS:



1.)Pretty good daylight recording. Considering what I paid for it I was surprised by the quality. It's not a Canon S10 by any means but I was pleased.

2.)It is unbelievably small and light. Shockingly so. If you are looking for the smallest possible 1080p capable camera to take on a daylight hike I'm thinking this is near the top of the list.

3.)Has a few of the bells and whistles of a larger camera including the ability to swap out memory cards a decent touch-screen menu interface where you can play with the settings (as opposed to some of these cheap-o cameras) a genuine optical zoom and an HDMI output right on the camera. Unlike most I had no problem with the touchscreen.

4.)Quick power-on/off feature works really well battery life was not a problem.





CONS:



1.)You'll notice I mentioned how surprised I was by the camera's performance in daylight? I was equally surprised by the nighttime/indoor performance. As in it was atrocious. Absolutely atrocious. We're talking awful pixelation terrible graininess significant artifacting and block-iness and a general inability to see anything. The onboard light provided little help. I'm not talking about near pitch black rooms I'm talking about normally lit indoor areas. The camera is basically useless for indoor or nighttime recording unless you're using multiple floodlights. I would walk through the house and even our well lit dining room had significant problems.



I chalk this up to the tiny sensor (less than 2 megapixels) and tiny lens. Sure it keeps the weight/size factor miniscule but it really hurts performance. I am not understating this problem at all. I tried to use the manual shuttings (such as they are) to correct the problem but playing with frame rates settings and modes made little to no difference.



2.)No built-in lens protector. Having a dangling lenscap to annoy you defeats some of the purpose of having such a compact easy to whip out camera.



3.)Screen tearing/rolling shudder is a problem on quick pans even more so than other CMOS cameras I've tried. I'm not sure what the issue is but be forewarned.



4.)The cameras awful low light capabilities make most of the individualized settings useless.



5.)If you want to make that final jump from 1080i to 1080p you're limited to the "digital cinema" mode that disables the vast majority of the manual settings. A small nitpick but somewhat annoying.





SUMMARY



Know precisely what you're going to be using this camera for before you buy it. The video quality in daylight for the price is pretty decent the form factor/size is phenomenal and the indoor/low light video quality and options are horrendous. Basically if you're only going to be using it outdoors and size is of paramount important it's worthy of consideration.More detail ...

HDC-SD60K

I just tested this camcorder for a full day and was pleasantly surprised. I bought a Canon HFS100 last year and liked the video quality but was disappointed with its stabilization wind noise and limited optical zoom. Even though the HDC-SD60K was half the price of the Canon I really could not tell the difference in video quality between the two cameras on my HD TV. In some respects such as color accuracy I think the Panasonic was better. I really liked the 25X optical zoom and the excellent stabilization even at full zoom. The wind noise cancel feature seemed to work well too. For the price I am amazed by the video quality.More detail ...

Great Camcorder still needs some improvement

I got this camcorder for about two weeks already. It's very easy to start operating it even without reading the manual. The touch screen feature is great! You can basically play on the touch screen and see the difference of the picture quality right on the screen. Here's some of the Pro & Con that I think after playing with this camcorder.



Pro:

-Easy to use

-Great video quality (I hook on my Sony 48 inches 1080p LCD screen the picture looks great!)

-Picture quality is great too if you got enough light when using indoor (outdoor no problem)

-Indoor video recording is pretty good using backlight function if indoor light is not enough.

-Outdoor video quality is excellent

-Digital zooming is great (I can basically zoom in and get so detail that I can see the pore of the person's face right across of the street with 3 traffic lane in between it.)

-LCD touch screen is great (you can flip the screen too! You can also use fingernail to touch the screen if your fingertip is too big the screen don't have any problem recognizing your command.)



Con:

-Not enough battery life (got around 90minutes of recording good thing is that you can see how much time you got left on the LCD screen for recording so you'll know when you need to charge the battery or switch to power cord or new battery.)

-You cannot charge the battery while using power cord!

-The power cord plug on the camcorder is hidden underneath where you put the battery at so you cannot use both battery and power cord at the same time (very bad when you try to record using power cord once you accidentally pull the power cord plug all of the recording stops and it takes long time for camcorder to get back to recording and it also causes temporary hard drive malfunction while the camcorder trying to recover what you just record.)

-You cannot turn on the light that came with the camcorder to do the recording (it's use mostly as flash function when taking picture)



So far that's what I thought playing for two weeks (without reading the manual.)

More detail ...

Tops for the prosumer

We used this camera to shoot our short film and it proved to be awesome. The P2 cards were a little tricky to work with but certainly less difficult and more portable than film; without the added expense of telecine.



For the cost we could not have gotten this level of quality otherwise. I believe its got the depth of 16mm plus it shoots in 24p. When we saw our final projection we were just amazed.



Great cam for the money.More detail ...