Panasonic HDC-TM300 Video Review / Sample Footage by TV Smith.
The KL Bird Park is a great place to try out a new camera. It is one of the world’s largest free-flight walk-in aviaries. The colourful and finely textured inhabitants test a camera’s resolving power and dynamic range to the fullest. Their sudden and rapid movement is also extra challenging for any auto-focus system.
Having used various Panasonic broadcast and prosumer video cameras in the past, I had full confidence in the (then) upcoming 2009 models. I wanted something much lighter and smaller than their excellent HMC 152, I ordered two units of the TM-300 from my favourite dealer without even seeing the full specs.
Of the various exciting Full-HD AVCHD cameras announced at the recent CES 2009, Panasonic was the first brand off the block. The silver version (used in the Honda Civic Video) arrived first with a serial number of 0001. The black version (used for this video) arrived a week later.
This model HDC-TM300 (as opposed to the hard-disk HDC-HS300) is built with an internal 32g solid state flash memory. I fitted it with a 32g SD card for a total of 64g storage. The camera can be set to relay recording mode where one media switches to another seamlessly.
What I like:
Has a Viewfinder (EVF) in addition to the LCD. Turns out indispensable for this shoot. Under the very bright sun it would have been very difficult to monitor with the LCD.
Equipped with external microphone input with full manual mic level control. Microphone and earphone sockets are placed in a sensible position.
Standard size cold-shoe unlike similar models from Sony and Canon.
Can be operated via a wireless remote.
3-chip sensor with 10.6-Megapixel photo (still) capture capability
True time lapse mode. Very important for me.
Great onboard 5.1 surround sound recording.
Fantastic playback quality when connected to TV via HDMI or component.
High speed shutter goes up to 1/8000 sec for great slow motion
The big manual focusing ring also functions as zoom and other manual controls. I can roll and set the shutter speed in a jiffy with the ring.
Under ‘lowly’ 1440 x 1080 mode, it can record up to 12 hours in a single inexpensive 32g SD card. Full HD 1920 x 1080 in highest quality HA setting will run out in around 4 hours.
Long reach tele end at 539 mm.
What I don’t like:
Wide angle is not wide enough. Almost equivalent to 50mm.
Have to add a Century Optics 0.5 wide angle adapter lens. With that and the Panasonic 1.4x tele zoom-through tele converter, I have at my disposal a focal range of about 22mm to 750mm. BUT the set of quality lenses cost half the camera!
Touch screen controls on the LCD can be challenging if you have big fingers and short nails.
A not so easy camera for the casual user unless one reads the manual thoroughly. It requires tweaking to get the best picture. The full auto mode works but the white balance is not very accurate most of the time.
Battery must be swap out to attach AC power cord.
While the quick menu is useful, it is not assignable to other frequently used functions buried deep in the menu.
Check back for more videos with the TM300.
My Panny in ENG/EFP configuration:
Litepanels Micro Wireless LED Light
Sennheiser Evolution G2 Wireless Audio System
Century Optics .5X Wide Angle HD Lens
Azden SMX-10 Stereo Microphone
Manfrotto 501 Fluid Head
More videos & info at: http://www.mycen.com.my/video/
Duration : 0:1:51
Where you bought …
Where you bought the bracket to micro and light?
Thanks.
Was the Dof stock …
Was the Dof stock camera? Man the looks pretty good. Almost like a DoF adapter was used or masked in post.
Nice video.
What …
Nice video.
What lens hood do you use? how many mm?
holy f*k that thing …
holy f*k that thing is tuned up as hell!
HOLY CRAP THAT’S …
HOLY CRAP THAT’S CLEAR!!!!!! But how’s that possible with the HDC-TM300? It’s lenses are too small to have such a high focus.
How does the new …
How does the new 700 series HD camcorders compare?
Bad quality, 720p …
Bad quality, 720p not 1080p and what happened to the frame rate… eeeeeek! Not a good example.
not bad for a …
not bad for a thousand bucks but apparently the touch screen is a bad thing since you cant use the viewfinder and the touch screen at the same time
other than that 3 cmos chips = beautiful rich textured HD quality
NOW THATS HD
NOW THATS HD
wow what a camera.. …
wow what a camera.. and creative shooting/production too
I watched it in 720 …
I watched it in 720 WOW.
Bonito video de …
Bonito video de originales vistas sobre
los pàjaros.Saludos.
I figure out most …
I figure out most brand camcorders in this kinda price or under all of them have low light problem is kinda green & grinny pic qualthy in low light..is kinda sad about it but thats way goes in this brand also sony & canon too
i have the TM300 …
i have the TM300 and it is eye blowing!! u gotta watch it on a full HD tvon dynamic to enjoy the real deal .. only problem i could think of for this camera is slightly not so good recording indoors or low light .. but in daylight it will blow ur mind away!!!
I’m finding the …
I’m finding the satuation of colours to be kind of flat after watching various clips made by this camcorder, for a 3 chip camera i would have expected more vibrant colours.
Also the dinamic range looks kind of limited as bright areas tend to look over exposed in darker scenes, 30 seconds into this clip, you see the birds feathers on top of its head look totally washed out from over exposure while the rest of the picture is ok. is this a comon problem with the tm300?
exelent
exelent
Beautiful video …
Beautiful video TVSMITH, what is the mattbox/sunshade that you are using? Does it attach to the Century Optics lens? Just got my TM300 yesterday and going through the manual now…cheers, Michael
nice but my xl2 can …
nice but my xl2 can do better.
I would also like …
I would also like to know.
i don’t know, the …
i don’t know, the canon hf s11 videos look quite impressive….
I thought the video …
I thought the video looked pretty good. I actually have the HDC-HS250; which, I just picked up for dirt cheap. I didn’t know about the 300 at the time but now that I know about it, I’m thinking about returning the 250 and upgrading to the 300. With the exception of the exterior focus ring and the exposure setting, is there much difference to justify the cost. I only paid $299.00 for the 250 from Best Buy.
keep in mind folks …
keep in mind folks YouTube compresses video when it’s uploaded. This person had to compress it once into a format that YouTube will accept, then YouTube compresses it again. Everything that ends up on YouTube just isn’t as good as watching it on a computer or TV.
What is low light …
What is low light performance like for noise?
man, video looks …
man, video looks degraded, but exceptional, I would like to see raw format rather than compressed video.. AWESOME setup you got, I wanna get the same thing, love that hooded extension lens and mic you have attached at end of video.
Beautiful video!
Beautiful video!