Panasonic HDC-TM300

admin — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:20:08 +0000

Panasonic HDC-TM300 is a new sleek and lightweight camcorder with built-in flash memory. The camcorder is unusually versatile: it records movies in all lighting conditions and it can also take quite high quality still photos.

Panasonic HDC-TM300 pros:
Eye-catching design
+ Little noise
+ Perfectly sharp image
+ Built-in 32GB Flash memory
+ Plenty of manual controls
+ Very good still photo performance
+ Compact size
+ Abundance of audio features

Panasonic HDC-TM300 cons:
- Inconvenient hot shoe
- Poor editing software
- Lens ring only controls zoom and focus

The design:
Panasonic HDC-TM300 measures 2.8 x 5.6 x 2.8 inches and weighs 13.6 oz. The front of the camcorder houses Leica lens with 12x optical zoom and a lens ring controlling the focus, flash for still photos, remote control sensor and the tally lamp. The right side of the camcorder houses a comfy hand strap and behind it the mic and headphone jack. Also the power button and a hot shoe (under a plastic cover) are on this side. The left side of the Panasonic HDC-TM300 features the 2.7-inch LCD chamber with USB port, playback speaker, memory card slot and plenty of controls. On the back of the camcorder you can see the viewfinder, rechargeable battery and record on/off button. The top features the 5.1 channel microphone, zoom toggle and still photo shutter release button. The bottom of the Panasonic camcorder is almost completely plain and houses only the tripod mount.

Performance:
The Panasonic HDC-TM30’s lens ring is an excellent tool for making manual focus adjustments. The camcorder has an abundance of aperture and shutter speed options for more advanced users. But also the easy mode is good so beginners will also be satisfied with the Panasonic camcorder.
The Panasonic HDC-TM300 records movies on the internal 32GB flash drive, yet thanks to the SD/SDHC card slot you can add a few GBs. The camcorder records films at 17Mbps which is not as high as competition, but does the work.

Image quality:
The Panasonic HDC-TM300 has very high color accuracy at the same time keeping noise at a very low level. Only the pink and brown hue are slightly skewed. The Panasonic HDC-TM300 camcorder produces smooth and clear motion and keeps 650-750 lw/phi sharpness. As the camcorder has 24p frame rate it also has extraordinary sensitivity. The colors are rendered very well also in low lighting conditions, yet the noise level is very low.

Still features:
The Panasonic HDC-TM300 offers surprisingly good (for a camcorder) still photo features. Not only can you take 8 megapixel photos with the camcorder, but the image quality is good. Perhaps the noise is average for a camcorder, but the color accuracy is top-notch and you get plenty of additional features and settings.

Selected Panasonic HDC-TM300 features and specifications:
Camera Flash
Effective Flash Range
3.3 ft – 8 ft
Red Eye Reduction
Yes
Flash Modes
Fill-in mode, flash OFF mode, red-eye reduction
Camera Flash
Built-in flash
Features
Flash +/- compensation
Main Features
Remote Control
Remote control – infrared
Still Image Format
JPEG
Digital Video Format
AVCHD, H.264
White Balance Presets
Cloudy, sunlight, indoor, outdoor
White Balance
Custom, automatic, presets
Exposure Modes
Program, automatic, aperture-priority, shutter-priority
Min Shutter Speed
1/2 sec
Max Shutter Speed
1/8000 sec
Image Stabilizer
Optical (Advanced O.I.S.)
Shooting Programs
Spotlight, portrait mode, night portrait, scenery, fireworks, low light, night scene, sports mode, sunset, beach, snow
Shooting Modes
Digital photo mode
Digital Zoom
700 x
Analog Video Format
NTSC
Min Illumination
1 lux
Optical Sensor Size
1/4.1″
Optical Sensor Type
CMOS
Color Support
Color
Media Type
Flash card
Camcorder Effective Video Resolution
2.07 Mpix
Camcorder Sensor Resolution
3.05 Mpix
Camcorder Effective Still Resolution
2.65 Mpix
Widescreen Video Capture
Yes
Face Detection
Yes
Battery
Supported Battery Details
1 x Li-ion rechargeable battery – 1250 mAh ( included )
Microphone
Microphone Operation Mode
Surround
Microphone Technology
Electret condenser
Type
Microphone – built-in
Microphone Features
Zoom
Software
Software
Drivers & Utilities, Panasonic HD Writer AE 1.0
Miscellaneous
Cables Included
Component video cable ¦ A/V cable ¦ USB cable
Included Accessories
Stylus
Product Type
Camcorder – 1080i
Enclosure Color
Black
Lens System
Lens Manufacturer
Leica
Filter Size
43 mm
Zoom Adjustment
Motorized drive
Lens Aperture
F/1.8-2.8
Focus Adjustment
Automatic, manual
Focal Length Equivalent to 35mm Camera
44.9 – 539mm
Focal Length
4 mm – 48 mm
Type
Zoom lens – 4 mm – 48 mm – f/1.8-2.8
Features
Built-in lens shield
Additional Features
Additional Features
Direct print, USB 2.0 compatibility, touch-screen control, built-in speaker, backlight compensation, DPOF support, PictBridge support, Dolby Digital 5.1 channel recording, takes photos while movie recording, automatic face tracking technology, face detection
Digital Still Camera Function
Yes
Low Lux / Night Mode
Yes
Self Timer Delay
10 sec
Self Timer
Yes
Display
Display Format
230,400 pixels
Display Form Factor
Rotating
Type
LCD display – TFT active matrix – 2.7″ – color
Memory / Storage
Supported Flash Memory
SD Memory Card, SDHC Memory Card
Environmental Parameters
System Requirements for PC Connection
Peripheral Devices
USB port, CD-ROM drive
Power
Power Device
Power adapter and battery charger – external
Viewfinder
Viewfinder Resolution
113,000 pixels
Viewfinder Diagonal Size
0.26″
Viewfinder Color Support
Color
Viewfinder Type
Electronic
Image Aspect Ratio (camcorders)
16:9
Connections
Expansion Slot(s)
1 x SD Memory Card
Connector Type
1 x HDMI output ¦ 1 x USB ¦ 1 x composite video/audio output ¦ 1 x microphone

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Panasonic HDC-TM300