I just received my camera today. Of course, I've been researching this little gem since it was first announced for production by Panasonic a few months ago. Along with that research, I've been playing with it now for several hours and I wanted to run by some first impressions:Pros:
* Lightweight! Panasonic touts this as the smallest, lightest HD camera available for HD recording (as of 1/2008). That's certainly no joke. You're expecting this to weigh like a brick given it relatively compact size, but it's extremely light. I'm not expecting any arm fatigue here!
* Exceptional image quality. HD recording at 17 MBPS (variable bit rate) is exceptional and image artifacting that occurred in previous generations (SD1 and SD5) are pratically eliminated. I typically burn to DVD, but I'm assuming that image quality should be good considering my eventual plan on burning to Blu-Ray through Sony Vegas Pro. The video compression uses AVCHD (Advanced Video Codec High Definition) which is based on the very efficient H.264 compression.
* Flash media storage. No more dropped frames/corrupted media on magnetic tapes! No limitations imposed by a fixed hard drive! No more wasted DVD media for footage that I want to edit anyway! More importantly for me, NO MORE MOTOR NOISE. Now I can film an art gallery in true silence. Also, with the only motor in the camera servicing the camera lens (which can't be heard at all), there will be considerably less wear and tear on the camera overall. The SDHC cards are pricey, but you can get an 8 GB SDHC Sandisk Extreme III card for about $ $ through independent sellers on Amazon, although I suspect the price for this media will be headed down. I bought 3 that way. An 8GB card will store about 1 hour of video footage at the maximum bitrate setting. Note: It is IMPORTANT to get at least a Class 4 card to record at the substantially quick bitrates. Personally, I just went ahead and got Class 6 cards (faster) since it wasn't that much more. Pony up the extra cash for the SDHC cards at the rate that I film, it will pay for itself after several usages. Try and make the same claim about using a tape more than 2 times without some noticeable degradation.
* Image advisor. Are you panning too quickly? Subject too dark? Too much backlight? Are you not holding the camera still (pops up if you have the image stabilizer off)? The advisor identifies these issues and brings a menu option up immediately to rectify the issue; all you have to do is simply accept the advice and you're good to go! I've exposed the camera to several unfriendly environments and the advisor was quick to chime in with problem identifications/solutions.
* OIS. The image stabilizer on this camera is exceptional...and I have NEVER said that about any stabilizer for cameras that I've owned in the past. Image stabilizers are typically exaggerated on most cameras (i.e., super steady-no-motion claims), but this one does a "wow" kind of job. At 4,000 times a second, the optical stabilizer does an impressive job at stabilizing an image even at the full 10x optical zoom. This is approximately 5 times faster than Panasonic's predecessor's. I've tried the system on and off and it's extraordinarily impressive. Don't expect the same results, however, on digitially enhanced zooming which I never use anyway.
* Pre-record. Ever catch yourself saying, "Man, I wished that I had hit record about a second sooner to catch my kid saying that!" Well, with pre-record enabled, the camera keeps the last 3 seconds of video buffered in standby mode so if you do hit record at the opportune time, you can "go back 3 seconds in time to capture what you might have missed!"
* Exceptional sound. Yep, the camera comes with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. I'm a bit of an audiophile, so I truly appreciate being immersed in a home movie environment that has sound around me as if I was still there filiming it. There are 3 options with the micorphone: surround, zoom mic, and focus mic. The regular surround options records all ambient noise equally, although you can actually change the gain, if you want. The zoom mic actually directs more input to the front microphone if you zoom in closer to an object further away; this allows you to "zoom" in on sound originating directly ahead. I haven't had a chance to fiddle with the focus mic, but I'm sure that it works just as well.
Cons:
* Battery life. According to the manual, the supplied battery can optimistcally handle 1 hour and 45 seconds of continuous record time (a full charge does register at 119 minutes). Realistically, the manual says, it would last about 1 hour, if you factor in zooming, switching it on but not recording for a few minutes between shots, lighting conditions (and compensation), etc.; Panasonic's predicted time is probably close. I would recommend getting the Panasonic VW-VBG260 battery from a 3rd party dealer which will last twice as long (got mine for $129.95 Panasonic charges $169.95). You could get the VBG6 battery which lasts a LOT LONGER, but it requires a separate pack to carry the power supply since the battery is so large. Not worth the hassle, in my opinion.
* No viewfinder. Minor inconvenience for me, but I prefer the old style viewfinder. However, the camera is so small and comfortable that using the LCD screen works fine. I'm willing to concede that this is a non-issue.
* No accessory shoes. You want to hook up a camera light? Forget it nowhere to put it unless you rig something to it (shoestring anyone?). Again, though, I'm fed up with trying to light a completely dark room and I find myself not really wanting it. That said, the low-light function on the camera as well as Magic Pix (full color in both modes, not the green washed out night vision with scary eyes!) does surprisingly well with 1 lux of light available.
Overall, the camera is extremely impressive for the price and the 3rd generation of HD cameras from Panasonic are a cost-effective way to enjoy high quality images. For standard DVD usage, this camera is more than perfect. However, as a caution, check that your video software is capable of using the AVCHD video format. It's still in its infancy, but an increasing number of software vendors are adopting it is a viable alternative. If you're serious about video editing, I would highly recommend Sony Vegas Pro Version 8.0 (current version as of 2/08) or later.
Video editing was a little sluggish, but that's not hte camera's fault just takes a lot of muscle to edit HD video. I started out with the included software (Pinnacle 11 trial) with a Quad-core 2.4Ghz machine with 2GB of ram, 800mhz FSB, and the computer just about died. I upgrade the RAM to 3GB and it is still sluggish but works. So definately should make sure you have a FAST computer.
I would agree with other reviewers that having the HDMI port behind the battery is bad. Also, you ahve to have the camera on AC power to move video from the card to the computer. Otherwise, you can just unplug the SD card and plug it straight into the computer througha card reader seems to be alot faster that way anyhow.
Battery life seems pretty good, especially since you are using the LCD screen all the time. Which, by the way, even in bright sunlight is very visisble.
Overall, very happy with the camera, and looking forward to taking lots of videos of our upcoming newborn. But i will definately be looking to upgrade the software package to get better editing.This camera is great! I have had this camera for 3 months... The highlights include great HD video quality, very straight forward usage, very good and easy SD to DVD transfer software and tiny size. You can take the SD card out and pop it right into your PS3 for immediate HD playback. You can also use the software to create same quality HD-DVDs on DVD-R-DL discs that hold 1 hour each. Buy the 8GB SD card to match 1 hour of DVD-R-DL. I thought that the price was good at $800 for this camera and now I see that it's less than $600. Buy it you will want to send me a thank you note after you get it... (but it's really not me you should thank I thank panasonic for coming up with this winner).
PS. While some people here complain about the low light performance, I think that they should really read the manual... They probably tried the Low Light mode (which really isn't very good)... they just need to switch to manual mode and open up the iris a couple of notches (1 switch move + 4 clicks) , it's very quick and easy to do with this camera and then the low light videos will be good and the camera will also stop playing with the white balance as is commonly an issue with indoor video camcorder shooting).There are already several very good reviews here, so I'll only hit on a few points that should be emphasized:
1.) Very small and light; almost unbelievably so. This camera is already getting much more use than our older one simply because it fits easily into my wife's purse or a fanny pack.
2.) Quick startup. I haven't timed it, but the startup is so quick that many spontaneous events, which you'd usually miss, get recorded.
3.) Removable SD card. Very easy for transferring files to the PC for editing or backup. My wife and kids love the ability to shoot something, remove the SD card, plug it into the PlayStation 3, and watch it. DON'T pay for the built-in 16gb memory; it costs too much, but more importantly you lose considerable ease of use.
4.) Awful low-light performance. The camera works like a dream in bright light, but suks donkey b*lls in anything less; It does work, but the quality is barely acceptable. I really really hope that a company will some day realize there are consumers who are willing to pay a significant premium for high-quality low-light performance in consumer (small and easy to use) camera.
5.) Almost too light. The image stabilization is barely adequate offset how much this thing bounces around. I guess everything is a tradeoff (see point #1)
All-in-all a wonderful camera as long as it's used within its limits. The low average score really represents the poor state of AVCHD editing software and, to some extent, the camera's poor low-light performance; it seriously mis-states the quality and usefulness of this camera.I purchased this camera from a B&M store (sorry Amazon) and since I always use Amazon reviews in my evaluation of new products, I wanted to leave an update for those of you looking at this camera and are concerned about software. There are plenty of reviews out there on performance, size, etc....read those for that info. This is specific to software and importing.
Several reviewers have stated that the footage from this camera is not editable. Up until recently, this was true.
iMovie 08 does not yet support this camera's files. There are rumors swirling that Apple is close to releasing an update to take care of this. Given Steve Job's personal endorsement of AVCHD and Panasonic at recent Keynotes, I don't doubt this will be addressed. That said, folks have said that a product called VoltaicHD can be used to process the .mts files into .MOV files. This software costs $30 but a trial is available.
Another reviewer said that the included trial software, Pinnacle Studio Plus, does not handle the files either. As installed from the CD, this is true. However, go to the Pinnacle website and look for the latest update. After updating to 11.1.2 (you can do this while still using the trial, just bypass the product registration), Pinnacle is able to process, edit and export the .mts files. I have successfully exported to MPEG2, MPEG4 and DiVx from Studio Plus.
The reason for 4/5 stars it is only trial software and right now there is only the single software package out there that handles it. It should be expected that you will need *some* purchased editing software to edit enhanced codecs such as this but only having one to choose from is a little limited.
Other than the software/editing hiccups, this camera is destined to be a terrific addition to my family.
Save 25% Off
No comments:
Post a Comment