Introduction
The TM300 records excellent video in all lighting conditions, captures surprisingly good still photos, and has just about every feature you could want in a consumer camcorder. Combine that with some user-friendly automatic controls and you have a recipe for one of the best camcorders of 2009.
Update: The Panasonic HDC-TM300 was, in fact, selected as our 2009 Camcorder of the Year. To see why we selected it and read about our other 2009 awards, check out the 2009 CamcorderInfo.com Select Awards.
Product Tour
The TM300 uses the same high quality Leica Dicomar lens that you'll see in the rest of Panasonic's top-of-the-line camcorders. Photography and videography geeks might drool at the Leica branding, but we're more interested in the 4 – 48mm focal range and 12x optical zoom. That's a good complement to quality high definition video.
But what's the biggest difference between Panasonic's flagship cams and the rest of the competition? Most manufacturers have decided to go with a single large CMOS sensor, while Panasonic has yet again opted for three smaller sensors. The TM300 records a brighter image in low light, but it's unclear whether that's a result of the three-chip array or some internal processing.
Color & Noise Performance
The Panasonic HDC-TM300 proved to have excellent color performance in our bright light testing. This comes as no surprise, since its hard drive equivalent, the HDC-HS300 also performed very well. The TM300 recorded a color error of just 3.67 and a saturation level of 96.2%. These are certainly among the best scores we've recorded so far this year, matching the results of the top-tier models from Canon and Sanyo. The color performance of the TM300 was better than that of Sony and Samsung camcorders this year. Only the surprising JVC GZ-HM200 had significantly superior color accuracy. (More on how we test color.)
In the color error map above, you can see that the the TM300 struggled most in the brown and red tones, while doing an excellent job of reproducing all the other colors. The high saturation level already produces strong, deep colors, but the camcorder does offer an option to adjust color gain on a scale from -5 to +5. The crops below demonstrate the saturation range available using this tool.
Though there aren't very many increments on Color Depth feature, you can see that ratching to -5 or +5 does actually produce a significant different in the recorded saturation. This is a nice option to have on a consumer camcorder if you have an aesthetic preference that isn't easily reproduced with post-production editing software. The few camcorders that offer a similar option—such as the Canon HF S100—are often even more limited in their number of increments.
For comparison, we selected the Canon HF S100 (which many people may be weighing up against the TM300) and two less traditional consumer camcorders new to the market this year. The Sony HDR-TG5V did an excellent job of reproducing the saturation of our Chroma DuMonde chart, but it struggled in accurately portraying greens and pinks. The JVC Everio GZ-X900 did quite a bit better with color accuracy—matching the TM300 easily—but the colors were far less saturated than what we are accustomed to seeing in high-end consumer camcorders. As for the Canon HF S100, the two camcorders had very similar color performance, with the showing slightly more accuracy and slightly less saturation.
All of this year's top models from the major manufacturers are boasting excellent color performance in bright light. That makes the TM300 more of the rule than an exception in this category. Rest assured that if you spend $800 or more on a 2009 camcorder, the colors in bright lighting conditions will be accurate and vivid.
Panasonic camcorders are doing very well this year in terms of producing clear, low-noise footage in bright light. The TM300, like its HS300 hard-drive counterpart, beats out the vast majority of the competition in terms of clarity in bright light. The camcorder averaged 0.55% noise: not quite as good as the scores of the Sony HDR-XR520V or the Sony HDR-TG5V, but better than the Canon HF S100, the Sanyo VPC-HD2000, and several other 2009 camcorders. (More on how we test noise.)
As you can see from the crops above, most high-end consumer camcorders today do an excellent job of filtering out the noise in bright lighting conditions. In fact, even at a 100% crop, it can be hard to see the noise detected by our software analysis. Of the camcorders selected for comparison, the HF S100 has the most noise, while the others have similarly low noise levels.
Motion & Sharpness Performance
Low Light Performance
**Low Light Sensitivity***(7.70)*
Most of the flagship camcorders from various manufacturers this year are not stellar performers in low light. Their high resolution sensors are not conducisive to high sensitivity; the resulting footage is dimmer than usual when you're not recording in bright light. The TM300 and its sister models from Panasonic actually seem to be an exception to this rule. They proved to require only 9 lux to peak at 50 IRE on our waveform monitor—a significantly better score than was turned in by most consumer camcorders this year. We might speculate that this performance is due to the three-sensor array used by Panasonic, but it would be only speculation. (More on how we test low light sensitivity.)
Most camcorders this year are turning in a sensitivity of about 15 or 16 lux, including the HF S100 and the TG5 (above). That's also the same performance we saw in the Sony HDR-XR520V. The only high-end consumer camcorder we've seen that was able to compete with the TM300 is the Sanyo VPC-HD2000, which also recorded a sensitivity of 9 lux. Following the pattern of high resolution sensors with poor sensitivity, the JVC GZ-X900, with its phenomenal video sharpness, measured an abysmal56 lux required to output 50 IRE.
If you don't mind a slower film-like aesthetic, some camcorders offer alternate frame rates, which can help improve sensitivity. Recording video at 24p or 30p allows more light to be captured. The TM300 has a 24p mode, which results in a sensitivity of 8 lux. The Canon's 24p mode improves its sensitivity much further—to 6 lux. Unfortunately, the one camcorder of this lot that could really use the sensitivity boost doesn't offer a slower frame rate: all video on the shot on the X900 is 60i.
Color performance in low light isn't expected to match the accuracy and saturation that a camcorder achieves in bright light. The TM300, however, did surprisingly well in our tests at 60 lux. The colors are nearly as accurate as they were in bright light, with a color error of just 4.90. Saturation was more heavily impacted by the diminished light, registering just 65.09% in Imatest. (More on how we test low light color.)
As you can see in the color error map above, greens and pinks are still the most heavily skewed tones, as was the case in our bright light color testing. At 60 lux, however, blues were also not as accurately portrayed.
The impressive sensitivity performance of the TM300 obviously impacts the camcorder's color performance in low light. The footage is not only brighter overall, but it has more vivid colors. When compared to the other models above, this gives the TM300 superior low light images. The HF S100 and TG5 do fine, but they are both darker and colors are more washed out. The JVC GZ-X900, which had terrible sensitivity, produced very dark, muted colors. Based solely on the reproduced Chroma Du Monde charts above, there's no question which is the best camcorder for low light color performance.
Though not included in this batch, there have been some other camcorders this year that produced comparable colors in the low light testing. The Sanyo VPC-HD2000, in particular, had phenomenal color performance at 60 lux.
In our final low light performance test, the TM300 once again came out ahead of the competition, proving to have impressively low noise levels: the average noise percentage was just 0.78%. We were surprised to find that this was one area in which the TM300 and the HS300 did not have identical performances. Surprisingly, the HS300 registered an average of 1.42%, despite being tested simultaneously with the exact same lab conditions. You can probably chalk that up to the variation between any two units of the same model or a small change in internal processing. In any case, both Panasonic flagship camcorders have bright, clear footage in low light. (More on how we test low light noise.)
As it happens, the camcorders we've selected for comparison to the TM300 are not the best performers for low light noise. The X900 is just so dark that coarse, noisy discoloration abounds. The Sony HDR-TG5V had a decently bright image, but a surprising amount of noise mars any areas of fine detail. The closest competitor in this category is the Canon HF S100, which had 1.35% noise.
Not pictured above, there are two other camcorders so far this year that can match the TM300 for clarity in low light. Unsurprisingly, one of those camcorders is another Panasonic: the HDC-SD20 recorded an incredible 0.46% noise in low light. The other is the Sony HDR-XR520V, which had a similar low light noise performance to that of the TM300, with an average percentage of 0.87%.
Compression & Media
As with the HDC-HS300 we reviewed earlier this year—and all high definition Panasonic camcorders—the TM300 records video using the AVCHD codec. AVCHD is more common now than when it was first released several years ago, so you should have no problem finding video editing software that can work with the files. Be warned, however, that you cannot simply drag and drop AVCHD files from your camcorder to your computer. You'll want some kind of editing program in order to properly import the files. Also, keep in mind that AVCHD files are very large and will take up a lot of processing power on your home computer.
For the more tech-savvy readers out there, you might notice that the TM300 caps out at 17Mbps. Canon and other manufacturers may be producing camcorders that reach that 24Mbps bitrate ceiling, but we're not convinced that's much of an advantage—not yet, anyway. The 17Mbps cap that you see with Panasonic and Sony will likely increase as soon as the average consumer can actually discern the difference.
Recording media is the primary difference between the HDC-TM300 and the HS300, which we reviewed earlier this year. The big brother has a beefy 120GB internal hard drive, while the slimmer and more budget-friendly TM300 records primarily to 32GB of internal flash memory. If you run out of space on the internal memory, the TM300 can be set to automatically shift recording onto a removable SD/SDHC memory card (sold separately).
If you're tempted by the 'bigger is better' mentality, think carefully before you choose the HS300 over the TM300. For starters, hard drives have moving parts that are more likely to fail in the event of an unfortunate drop or bump. Flash memory—the kind of memory that the TM300 utilizes—is much more weather- and shock-resistant. Plus, if you get rid of that bulky hard drive, you end up with a much lighter, slimmer, and more comfortable form factor. And there's that $100 you save.
If you prefer Macs and Mac operating systems, you're probably just going to use iMovie for importing and editing video—especially since this little gem only works on Windows. We're talking about HD Writer AE 1.0, the simple editing software that ships with the HDC-TM300. (Panasonic's latest camcorders, including the TM10, ship with version 1.5, but the Panasonic site indicates that the TM300 still ships with 1.0.) Of course, so matter which version of HD Writer you get, there isn't much the software can do.
The most important function is the easy importing of files. Since AVCHD files will evade your attempts to drag and drop them to your computer, you'll need HD Writer—or a similar program—to get your files easily transferred.
With the program's 'Simple Menu,' you can let yourself be carried through some of the more common tasks. The menu itself is simple to use, but HD Writer makes individual tasks more complicated than they need to be. The screen shot below is the clutter of information that appears when you're trying to import files onto your PC. Considering this is one of the most vital functions of the software, we wish it were a lot less intimidating.
There's also a question of the numerous error messages we received when trying to do just about anything. Was our computer to blame? Or buggy software? Either way, HD Writer AE 1.0 won't shed a tear if you leave it in the box. And neither should you.
Manual Controls
We discussed the merits of Panasonic's new Intelligent Auto (iA) system in the HS300 review, but it's worth extolling iA's virtues again here. You might expect the TM300 to be an intimidating piece of technology, with its viewfinder, accessory shoe, lens ring, and extensive manual control offerings. However, Panasonic has done an excellent job of incorporating several shooting modes and tools to make the videography experience more accessible for beginners.
When shooting in this mode, you needn't have a care in the world. Just sit back, hit record, and let the TM300 take care of adjusting focus, exposure, shutter speed, white balance... pretty much everything. This is the camcorder equivalent of sitting on a beach with a cool breeze and fruity frozen beverage in hand. The TM300 handles auto adjustments so well that it feels like your every desire is met. Focus is quick and accurate in all but the dimmest lighting conditions and exposure shifts look smooth and natural, even when panning between two high contrast areas. Even the automatic white balance—which is often pitiful on consumer camcorders—handles indoor and outdoor lighting surprisingly well. (Of course, the auto white balance isn't as effective as a simple manual white balance.)
If you want a little more control over your footage, there are a couple of options that let you meddle without turning to manual mode. A tele macro option makes it easier to focus on objects very close to the lens, and a couple of the iA features are just one-touch adjustments. Backlight Compensation and Face Framing can be activated whenever the user feels it's appropriate.
If, however, you want even less control over your footage, there's an even simpler auto mode called iA mode. This mode tells the camcorder to activate all the various Intelligent Auto technologies and select which are called for in a given scene. That includes Backlight Compensation and Face Framing, but it also includes Intelligent Scene Selector and Intelligent Contrast Control.
And we still haven't mentioned the darling of all the iA technologies: AF/AE Tracking. This feature lets you touch your main subject on the LCD and have the camcorder 'follow' that selected subject. True, the camcorder won't be taken over by a robotic AI and physically move to follow your cousin's basketball game, but it will keep your cousin properly exposed and in focus as long as you can keep your cousin in the frame. There are some limitations to the technology, including picking up subjects that temporarily leave the frame or finding subjects in a crowded scene. For recording at a school play, ballet recital, or gymnastics meet—anything where your subject remains relatively isolated—the feature is surprisingly effective.
Low Light Modes
The TM300 has one dedicated low light mode called MagicPix. Panasonic doesn't reveal the specific of their mystery formula, but Magic Pix is likely some combination of a 24p frame rate, increased gain, and slower shutter. If you don't want to change the frame rate, you can also engage the camcorder's auto slow shutter, which drops the shutter speed to 1/30 (1/24 in 24p mode). If you allow the camcorder's iA mode to automatically select scene modes for you, it may choose a Low Light mode that also drops the shutter speed to 1/30.
Scene Modes
The TM300 includes the usual array of scene modes: Portrait, Snow, Sunset, Sports, Spotlight, Beach, and Fireworks. If you are in iA mode, the Intelligent Scene Selector may select an additional Low Light mode (see above).
The HDC-TM300 has a meaty sliding switch mounted up top to control zoom. Ironically, this is a design change from the HS300, which incorporates a slim toggle to compensate for the bulky hard drive. The slim toggle might not give you as much surface area for your index finger, but it feels more responsive than the big slider nestled on top of the TM300.In particular, when trying to achieve a nuanced variation in zoom speed, the slider seems a bit more finicky.
If you are looking for more precise control over zoom, there is that buttery smooth lens ring up front. A small switch allows you to toggle between using the lens ring for focus or zoom. While the lens ring is incredibly smooth, it takes a great deal of movement to make any large adjustments—a fact that makes it very difficult to use the lens ring for very fast zooms. For yet another method of zoom control, you can turn to the LCD membrane buttons. They do not, however, allow the user to implement variable zoom speeds based on finger pressure.
Whichever zoom method you use, a progress bar appears in the upper-right corner to indicate where you are in the overrall zoom range. Next to the progress bar is a number indicating the approximate zoom ratio.
The Panasonic HDC-TM300 has a solid 12x optical zoom—enough to pick out the Jason Bay from the back of Fenway Park or get some great footage on this weekend's whale watch. The TM300 might not match the monstrous 60x or 70x zoom that you'll find on some standard definition camcorders, but we doubt you really need more than 12x. If you'd like to get even closer to the action, there's the digital zoom, which can be capped at 30x or 700x. Just remember that digital zoom diminishes image quality.
Other top-of-the-line models have a similar optical zoom ratio: the Sony HDR-XR520V is 12x, while the Canon HF S100 and Sanyo VPC-HD2000 are 10x.
There are a lot of camcorders out there with bad focus controls: finicky joysticks, clunky focal increments, and touch screen buttons that force you to block the LCD in order to make an adjustment. After grappling with these frustrations on other camcorders, shifting focus on the TM300 is a welcome oasis. The buttery smooth lens ring is very nearly the perfect focus tool.
This is the same lens ring that we fell in love with on Panasonic's 2008 lineup. You can use it in conjunction with the LCD or the viewfinder and say goodbye to the annoyances of many consumer camcorders. The only complaints we have are very minor: the flash prevents users from placing their fingers on the right, and the resistance of the ring makes it difficult to do a fast focal shift.
While the lens ring is unique in the consumer camcorder world, leading models from Canon and Sony do incorporate a small control dial, which is nearly as successful. We prefer the finer control of the lens ring, but others may like the smaller dial. What we certainly do prefer on the Canon series is their wealth of focus assist tools: the HF S100 has a focus assist zoom tool (in color or in black and white) and three colors of peaking. The TM300 has just the most basic assist box, which magnifies the center of your image.
We're starting to sound like a broken record, but we still hate the manual exposure tool on Panasonic camcorders. Exposure is buried in an obscure menu (one of three options in a submenu of a submenu) when it should be one of the easiest tools to use.
If your intrepid searching eventually leads you to the exposure tool, you can easily select one of eleven brightness increments, from -5 to +5. Since exposure is buried in the Picture Adjust submenu, you can't use the live histogram or luminance meter when making exposure adjustments.
Aperture*(9.5)*
Like other Panasonic camcorders, the TM300 combines aperture and gain into a single feature called 'iris.' You can use the touch screen to select one of about thirty different increments between f/1.8 and f/16. Fourteen of those increments are enumerated on the left side of the touch screen, while the rest simple lie somewhere in-between. When you've opened the aperture fully to f/1.8, you can continue to brighten the image by increasing gain.
A live histogram and/or luminance meter gives the user more precision for setting up external lighting, framing a shot, or making image adjustments.
While making iris adjustments on the touch screen is simple, we wish this functionality were integrated with the manual control ring. On last year's models from Panasonic, you could switch the function of the ring on the fly, choosing between focus, zoom, white balance, shutter speed, and iris. This year, these options only become available if you have the LCD panel closed and use the viewfinder. If you want to line up shots with the LCD, the lens ring can only be used for focus and zoom.
Like Iris, shutter speed can be controlled via either the touch screen or the manual control lens ring—with the lens ring only available when the LCD is closed. In either case, there is a numbered scale on the left side of the LCD. The aperture range is quite wide, including a total of fourteen increments when shooting at the normal 60i frame rate. Shooting in Digital Cinema mode changes the frame rate to 24p, which means the slowest shutter speed becomes 1/48. When you engage Auto Slow Shutter, the range of options widens to include 1/30 (1/24 in Digital Cinema mode).
White Balance*(7.75)*
The white balance controls on the HDC-TM300 are not the camcorder's strong suit. There are just four preset options: Sunny, Cloudy, Indoor 1, and Indoor 2. The outdoor white balance options respond fairly accurately, but the auto white balance is even better in some outdoor lighting conditions. The indoor presets don't give any indication of what type of indoor lighting they're designed to accommodate and aren't very reliable.
What's more, the manual white balance doesn't always give a perfect result. Granted, it's better than the auto white balance or the presets, but under certain fluorescent lighting, the manual white balance produced a washed out and/or blueish tone. Fortunately, this was an uncommon problem; in most lighting conditions, the color balance turned out to be quite good. If you're really searching for the best white balance, we recommend you compare the auto and manual balances, then simply decide which you prefer. The TM300 does not have the white balance level control that you have on the Sony HDR-XR520V.
If you're shooting with the viewfinder (LCD closed), white balance is one of the options that can be controlled with the manual control lens ring.
Panasonic is still one of the few manufacturers to offer a manual gain setting. This allows you to digitally boost exposure beyond what you can accomplish with shutter speed or aperture alone. While this does offer some nice versatility, the tool is somewhat limited. On Panasonic's consumer camcorders, gain is linked to aperture: you can only adjust gain once the aperture has been fully opened to f/1.8.
As was the case for aperture, there are actually half-step increments hidden between each numbered gain setting. (i.e. There is a distinct gain level between 6dB and 9dB, but it's not numbered.) With a range of 0dB to 18dB, that means there are about thirteen total increments available.
While Panasonic's 'iris' feature may not give you the level of control offered on prosumer camcorders, it is more versatile than we're accustomed to seeing on consumer cams. Alternatives offered by other manufacturers include Sanyo's ISO setting, JVC's auto gain control on/off, and Canon's Gain Control Limit feature. The latter allows you to limit the gain boost that would usually be automatically produced by the camcorder.
Iris is one of the controls that can be manipulated via the manual control lens ring—but only if you operate the camcorder with the viewfinder extended and LCD panel closed.
**Color & Image Controls***(7.5)*
If you're digging around for exposure adjustment, you might come across two other image controls buried in the same place: color and sharpness. Each option has a scale from -5 to +5, with eleven increments producing very subtle results. In these options, Panasonic gives the user more control over color depth and sharpness than Canon. The TM300 is, however, missing the contrast feature available on some Canon models.
The HDC-TM300 also has a Soft Skin Mode (see Color Performance), and Digital Cinema Color—both repeats from last year's lineup. Digital Cinema Color is Panasonic's version of x.v.Color. Last year, x.v.Color was only available in Digital Cinema mode; now you can use the expanded color gamut without recording at a 24p frame rate.
**Other Manual Controls***(5.0)*
Still Features
The still features on the Panasonic HDC-TM300 aren't exhaustive, but they're enough to make the camcorder a decent alternative to a dedicated still camera. The maximum native resolution for stills is 8 megapixels, though still photo mode offers an interpolated 10.6-megapixel size. There are twelve image size options in total, plus three different aspect ratios (4:3, 3:2, 16:9) and two quality options. The TM300 allows you to capture still images while you are recording video, but a mode dial on the right allows you to engage a dedicated still photo mode, where many more options are available.
The most basic still features are available, including a self-timer (2 or 10 seconds) and a flash. Unusual for a camcorder, the flash can be set to one of three brightness levels. The burst feature is available only in video mode, essentially taking one second of video and splitting it into individual frames (either 24fps or 60fps).
We like having a dedicated still photo mode, especially when it gives the user access to extra options. Unfortunately, Panasonic doesn't handle the menu structure well, leaving the Record Setup and Picture menus available in either video or still mode. This gives the false impression that you can capture video while in photo mode. The real reason both menus are present is that several options that are applicable to still photos remain in the Record Setup menu—including manual controls. It's an unintuitive structure, to say the least.
The vast majority of camcorders still can't match the photo quality of a dedicated still camera, but the TM300 gets awfully close. We were pleased to see that the TM300 produces vibrant accurate colors to accompany its high quality, 8-megapixel native stills (and 10-megapixel interpolated stills). The color error was an incredibly low 2.65 and the saturation was 103.9%. These are even better results than we recorded in our bright light video testing. (More on how we test still color.)
All four of the camcorders tested below had excellent still photo color results. The TM300 may have been the best performer of the bunch, but the Sony HDR-TG5V was not far behind.
The Panasonic HDC-TM300 averaged 0.79% noise in our still image testing. That's slightly better than average for a camcorder, though noisier than the TM300's video footage. It's also noisier than many dedicated still cameras. On the other hand, these results are better than any of the camcorders we've selected for comparison, including the Sony HDR-TG5V, which had quite good still performance. [(More on how we test still noise.)
](https://reviewed.usatoday.com/camcorders/content/How-We-Test-Camcorders-36180.htm#stillnoise)
Sharpness was the one real weak point of still photos captured with the TM300. They are certainly sharp enough to host online, but they may not be suitable for printing and framing. The main reason for this is the camcorder's tendency to oversharpen photos: horizontal oversharpening was 61.3%. Even with the digital oversharpening, the camcorder only managed a horizontal sharpness of 1812 line widths per picture height (lw/ph) and a vertical sharpness of 1558 lw/ph. That's worse than both the Sony TG5V and the JVC X900. It's considerably worse that the Canon HF S100, which had very impressive sharpness scores and very little under or oversharpening. (More on how we test still sharpness.)
Handling & Use
The Panasonic HDC-TM300 is an excellent camcorder for beginning users, offering a wealth of automatic features, called Intelligent Auto (iA) technologies. These features, like AF/AE tracking and the Intelligent Scene Selector, are easy and fun to use (see Auto Mode). Unfortunately, you can only use most of the iA options in the camcorder's default mode. If you'd like to switch to manual mode and experiment with manual white balance, focus, iris, etc., you lose access to these beginner-friendly options. That's especially a shame when it comes to AF/AE tracking, a great tool that follows the subject you choose on the touch screen, even as it changes location within the frame. We were very disappointed to see this feature unavailable in manual mode.
This also means that intermediate users are less likely to switch over and experiment with manual controls. The manual button itself is hidden up at the front of the camcorder and people might not want to sacrifice AF/AE tracking once they come to rely on it. We hope that the cool manual control lens ring is enough to lure consumers into trying out some manual image adjustments.
On the other hand, there are a few features that would help a beginner transition into more advanced usage. Chief among these is the Info button, which brings up a tool tip every time you select a feature in the menus. The tool tips can explain things like Digital Cinema, backlight compensation, and hi-speed burst photography. The Info button is available in both the main menu and the Q.Menu—but not the Function menu. That means that options only available on Function menu (like white balance, shutter, and iris) get no tool tip explanation. Fortunately, the included Operating Instructions are fairly comprehensive and contain any explanations that the tool tips do not cover.
Another minor feature to aid newcomers is the Shooting Guide. When Shooting Guide is activated, the camcorder will give you 'tips on how to make a good recording.' All we really noticed was the occasional warning message like 'camera panning is too fast.'
The Panasonic HDC-HS300 was a bit bulky and uncomfortable. In truth, it handled like just about every consumer camcorder out there. Hard drive camcorders are simply never as comfortable as their flash memory counterparts. In contrast, the TM300 is one of the most comfortable camcorders we've ever held. It's smaller and lighter than the HS300 and instead of an unwieldy hard drive bulking up the right side, there's a smooth contour that fits comfortably in just about any hand. The accessory shoe does require a small adapter (included with the camcorder), but this unique side placement is far more comfortable and more convenient than the shoe that sits atop the HS300.
Button layout is very similar to that of the HS300, with one significant exception: the mode dial on the rear of the HS300 has been shifted to the right side of the TM300. The new location is more comfortable and makes the dial a little easier to turn. The zoom toggle is also different; a thick sliding switch atop the camcorder replaces the slim toggle that rested on the hard drive itself. The location of the slider switch might be more convenient, but the action on that toggle made it easier to use.
Of course, one of the most significant (and unique) aspects of the TM300 is the manual control lens ring, which lets you make smooth, precise adjustments to focus and zoom. As with last year's Panasonics, you can also use the ring to adjust white balance, shutter speed, and aperture, but the 2009 models only allow this when you have the LCD closed and are using the viewfinder to line up shots. Despite this disappointing downgrade, the lens ring remains an alluring feature that we fully endorse.
In contrast to the excellent ring control, the TM300 hosts a number of other buttons that left us unimpressed. The membrane buttons on the LCD panel are hard to push, while the iA and pre-record buttons up top are tiny and awkwardly recessed. The OIS button (for activated stabilization) is embedded too far into the LCD cavity, while the buttons associated with the lens ring control are hidden and partially blocked by a tilted LCD panel. It's a shame that these minor defects mar an otherwise impeccable handling experience.
The HDC-TM300 has optical image stabilization (OIS), which is activated via a small button in the LCD cavity. The camcorder did a decent job in our stabilization test, although we got better results from Sony's high-end HD models (like the HDR-XR520V and HDR-CX500V). In our low shake test, the Panasonic HDC-TM300 managed to reduce 55% of the shake with its OIS engaged. Turning things up to our high shake test, the OIS wasn't quite as effective, reducing only 22% of the shake. (More on how we test stabilization.)
We're fairly satisfied with these results, and they do represent significantly better numbers than what JVC put up on the GZ-X900. Panasonic's OIS also held the edge over Canon's on its HF S100. Still, there is plenty of room for Panasonic to improve on its stabilization system.
Shedding that bulky hard drive does wonders for the TM300's portability. Not only is the camcorder smaller and lighter, but it also just feels more comfortable in the hand. You can walk around with your hand snug under that strap and hardly notice the camcorder is there. Of course, the 120GB hard drive on the HS300 may be worth the extra bulk for some users; you can record an awful lot of footage on 120GB before having to transfer files to a computer or memory card.
With only 32GB of internal memory, you might need to carry a spare memory card or two if you plan on taking a long vacation and shooting a lot of footage. Then again, it's never wise to leave fifteen hours of video on your camcorder without making a back up every once in a while.
One thing that may detract from the TM300's portability is the need for an accessory shoe adapter; if you plan to shoot with an external mic or video light, the adapter is one more thing to throw in your camera bag.
Surprisingly, the HDC-TM300 did not significantly outperform its hard drive sister mode in battery life. (It seems that the HS300 is particularly power-efficient when writing to the hard drive.) Even so, the battery life of 105 minutes is quite good, outlasting the majority of consumer camcorders in this category. What's more, the open battery compartment means that you can purchase a larger battery if you want to squeeze even more minutes onto a single battery. (More on how we test battery life.)
Purchasing a larger battery might not be a bad idea, since the TM300 persists in Panasonic's irritating design that prevents you from charging the battery and operating the camcorder at the same time. The DC power input, located in the battery cavity, can only be accessed when you remove the battery. That means that if your battery is running low, you can't simply plug it in and continue recording; you'll have to stop your recording, swap battery for power adapter, and then turn on the camcorder and start recording again. Even when the battery is in its charging station, you can't charge it while the camcorder is in use.
The Panasonic HDC-TM300 has both an LCD and an electronic viewfinder. Most consumers will probably opt for the less intimidating LCD, but the viewfinder is sure to appeal to some advanced videographers. Sony and Panasonic are currently the only major manufacturers including a viewfinder on their flagship models; Canon, JVC, Sanyo, and Samsung have all opted to leave this feature out.
The LCD is 2.7 inches in size and has a resolution of 230,400 pixels. This is fairly average for a consumer camcorder, although the Sony HDR-XR520V features a larger screen (3.2-inches) and a much better resolution (921,000-pixels). As is common on camcorders, the LCD screen can rotate 270 degrees so you can shoot at odd angles or do some self-recording. New for Panasonic this year, the LCD is a touchscreen, allowing the manufacturer to implement its AF/AE tracking feature.
There are a number of brightness settings for the LCD screen. Power LCD (accessible in the Q.Menu or Setup menu) allows you to choose from Auto, +2, +1, 0, or -1. You can also manually set the LCD brightness in the camcorder's menu (with 11 increments). There is also a color adjustment feature that allows you to tune the color settings of the LCD screen. Making adjustments to the LCD color or brightness will not change your recorded image.
If you need to avoid LCD glare on a sunny day or you simply prefer to use a viewfinder, the TM300 is equipped with a 0.44-inch electronic viewfinder. The EVF doesn't have the best design—it's surrounded by hard plastic, doesn't pivot, and has no real eye piece—but does feel like a luxury among modern camcorders that typically eschew a viewfinder altogether.
The viewfinder does extend and has a small diopter adjuster dial. The image resolution is 183,000 pixels and brightness can be set to any whole number on a scale from -16 to +16.
The menus on the Panasonic HDC-TM300 are simple to work with, despite the quantity of options available. Settings are located in three places—the function menu, the record menu, and the setup menu.
The function menu is accessed by pressing the F icon in the lower left corner of the LCD screen. It brings up important manual controls, like white balance, shutter speed, and aperture adjustment. In auto mode, the function menu only offers various scene menus and one-touch iA functions. Beginning users may have trouble deciphering the function menu, since every option is represented by an ambiguous icon and there are no tool tips or descriptions to help you out.
Pressing the menu button on the LCD panel brings up the camcorder's main menu options: the Record Menu, Picture Menu, Media Select Menu, and Setup Menu.
The Record Menu is where you go to manipulate your video image and control the camcorder's recording settings. The menu gets a bit long (there are 7 pages of settings), but options are easy to read and the system is simple to navigate. In still mode, the Record Menu has far fewer options; only the controls that work with still photos are available. Even in still mode, the Record Menu is represented by a movie camera icon—a confusing contradiction.
The Picture Menu holds controls that are specific only to still photo capture. Media Select menu simply allows you to switch between internal flash memory and SD/SDHC memory card recording.
The fourth main menu option is the Setup menu, which houses all the administrative option of the TM300. That includes things like clock settings, LCD adjustments, and connectivity options. You can also enter into the Setup menu to switch the display language to English, French, or Spanish.
Unfortunately, the menus can become quite confusing beyond this simple primary menu scheme. It's not always clear whether you need to check the Function menu or the Record Setup menu when you're searching for a manual image control. (Backlight compensation, for instance, is in the function menu, while Exposure is only in the Record Setup menu.) To make matters more confusing, the LCD panel hosts a button for a quick menu (Q.Menu).
The Q.Menu hosts a strange array of options that Panasonic has selected for easy access. While this is a great idea and it gives easy access to important settings, the icons can be very confusing to understand. You need to have a good deal of experience with the camcorder before the Q.Menu is truly quick. The Info button does give a quick tool tip to explicate the icons, but that slows the process down to the point where you would have been better off using the normal menu.
Though we mentioned this option in Ease of Use (above), it's worth reiterating that the TM300 includes an Info feature, which provides the users with handy tool tips while navigating the menus. The option can be toggled on and off and is quite helpful for less experienced users that are trying to find their way around the menus. Unfortunately, this option is not available in the Function menu, where novices might really benefit from some extra insight.
Playback & Connectivity
Playback controls on the HDC-TM300 are pretty run-of-the-mill. There's a dedicated playback mode, which is accessed by turning the dial on the right side of the camcorder. Footage is arranged in a thumbnail format and you can use the zoom toggle to choose between viewing one, nine, or twenty thumbnails at a time. VCR controls are all located on the touchscreen—or a wireless remote control, if you prefer. The touchscreen controls can be a bit difficult to use and obstruct the video image if you're not connected to an external monitor.
Videos can be sorted by date or scene, or you can make use of Panasonic's Intelligent Scene Selection—a feature that has the camcorder automatically exclude parts of your footage that have blurry motion or poor focus. If you're even pickier about what you want to view, Highlight Playback will automatically creates a short collection of 'highlights' culled from your footage. Go wild entertaining your friends by adding music to the background of your highlights reel. (Sadly, you'll have to limit yourself to the four provided options: Pop, Classical, Natural, and Dynamic.) Sony offers a similar feature on the HDR-XR520V, although you can upload your own music to play in the background. Neither manufacturer allows you to save or export the highlights video.
There are a few internal editing options on the camcorder that allow you to divide and split scenes. Still photos can also be captured from recorded video.
The Panasonic HDC-TM300 has a fairly standard set of connectivity options, including a collection of ports in the LCD cavity. These ports are covered by a small sliding door that protects them from the elements. Behind the door is a standard composite AV output, mini-HDMI output, and proprietary component output. In a separate enclosure (protected by a plain rubber port cover) is a mini-USB terminal.
On the front of the camcorder is a standard mini-microphone input and headphone output. These jacks might be in convenient proximity to the right-mounted accessory shoe, but they come very close to rubbing against your hand. We can see that becoming irritating after prolonged use.
In a refrain from last year's models, the TM300 once again places the DC power input in the battery cavity. We were happy to see that all the other ports were removed from this inconvenient location (thank you, Panasonic!), but we could do without the constant switching back and forth required by this design. If your battery is running low, you have to turn off the camcorder, remove the battery, plug in the power, and turn the camcorder on again. That's either a minor annoyance or a huge frustration, depending on whether it cause you to miss your daughter's game-winning three-pointer.
The SD/SDHC memory card slot, on the other hand, is in a perfectly reasonable location. A small switch opens a small door in the LCD cavity and the card itself is spring-loaded to pop in and out of the camcorder with ease.
The final connection on the TM300 is the cold accessory shoe, with its curious location on the right side of the camcorder. Considering you have to use an adapter in order to attach any standard accessory, we were skeptical of this design at first. It seemed like a strange location for the shoe and it's always easy to lose extra pieces when you're traveling around a lot.
To our surprise, however, this location is incredibly comfortable. Accessories placed in the shoe are no longer an obstruction, as they are when placed on the top of the camcorder. The HS300, as well as models from Sony and Canon, place the accessory shoe right where you want your fingers to be. In contrast, the TM300 stashes it off on the side, well out of the way. Plus, the little sliding door closes right back up to make sure that smooth contour is still in tact. The TM300 is very comfortable to hold when the accessory shoe is not in use, but it's just as comfortable to hold even when the shoe is in use. An extremely impressive design by Panasonic.
Audio & Other Features
As if there aren't already more than enough bells and whistles to attract advanced users, the Panasonic HDC-TM300 comes with a good array of audio controls. For capturing sound, there is a built-in 5.1-channel Dolby digital microphone. The microphone is near the front of the camcorder, right on top. Its location is dangerously close to where stray fingers might scuff, but a little discipline should help you steer clear. Without the bulky hard drive to keep you at bay, the hazard might be greater than it is on the HS300, so that may be a consideration for users with larger hands.
If you prefer to attach an external mic, there is a microphone jack up front with a headphone jack for monitoring sound, plus the option of mounting your mic via an accessory shoe.
What really sells the TM300 for audiophiles is the manual audio control available for the built-in and external microphone. Levels can be set using the Set +AGC feature. The interface looks more compicated than it really is.At the bottom is an AGC button for turning the auto gain control on and off. At the center is a slider for manually adjusting gain levels on a scale from -30 to +6 (fourteen increments total). In the screen capture below, you'll see five different bar displays on the AGC screen, each one representing the audio levels of a single channel. You can't adjust individual channel levels, so these bars are for display only.
The Set AGC+ feature alone is more than you'll see in most consumer camcorders, but Panasonic takes it one step further by offering bass control. There are four different settings here: 0dB, +3dB, +6dB, and Lowcut. We hope that even intermediate users will get past the initial intimidation and experiment with the audio controls.
For more basic audio control, the built-in mic can be set to surround, zoom, or focus. The TM300 also has a wind cut feature that can be turned on and off.
Time Lapse Recording
The Panasonic HDC-TM300 has a time lapse feature that can be a lot of fun to play with. When engaged, the time lapse setting will condense a length of footage into a short, animated clip. Clip length can be set to 1 second, 10 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, or 2 minutes. The maximum continuous recording time on the camcorder is 12 hours per clip.
Auto Ground Standby (AGS)
Auto Ground Directional Standby is a handy feature that will keep you from recording lots of accidental sidewalk footage. When the HDC-TM300 is left recording and the camcorder senses that it has dropped below its normal horizontal recording level, it will automatically shut off. This will save you battery life and precious space on your memory card.
Quick Start
A common feature on many camcorders, quick start allows the camcorder to immediately turn on when you open the LCD or extend the electronic viewfinder. We find quick start mode doesn't save all that much time, although it can be convenient if you're constantly turning your camcorder on and off.
*Pre Record
*Pre-Record constantly records three seconds of footage that is stored to an internal cache. The moment you hit the record button, the three seconds before you hit the Record button are added to the beginning of your clip. As long as the camcorder is pointed towards the action, it will compensate slightly for slow reflexes.
Auto Focus Assist Lamp
On the front of the camcorder is a small auto focus assist lamp that helps with auto focus in low light situations. The lamp provides assistance in photo mode only—a feature commonly found on digital cameras.
Faders
A fade can be added to the beginning or end of your video clips. With the setting turned on, a fade will begin when you press the record button (both when starting and stopping recording). The fader can be set to white or black.
Canon HF S100 Comparison
The Canon HF S100 and its sister model, the HF S10, are probably the stiffest competition for the TM300. These top-of-the-line models from Canon are high-end HD camcorders with great performance—just like the TM300. They also record to flash memory—just like the TM300. Both the HF S10 and Pansonic HDC-TM300 retail for around $1299.
What sets the TM300 apart is the TM300's excellent user experience, combining simple ease of use (with those iA and help features for beginners) and lots of bells and whistles for the advanced user. The TM300 is, in fact, one of the best user experiences we've seen all year.
For beginners, Panasonic has more tools to guide the novice user: the info button, shooting guide, and all those iA technologies. Canon has clear, accessible menus, but far fewer guide tools. For advances users, both camcorders have the requisite accessory shoe, mic/headphone jacks, and manual controls. But the HDC-TM300 sports the classy manual control lens ring, which makes focus and zoom control heavenly. The HF S10 and HF S100 have a small control dial, which is a nice feature, but not quite at smooth as Panasonic's lens ring. The TM300 also has independent aperture and shutter controls, gain control, more robust audio level controls, and a viewfinder—one feature that's conspicuously absent from Canon's consumer lineup. The HF S100 has superior focus assist and more accessible exposure.
And then there's performance. The HDC-TM300 was the clear winner in low light performance, showed less noise in all lighting conditions, and had better stabilization and still performance. The Canon had a slight edge in bright light color, video sharpness, and motion.
There are some users that will have a preference for the overall handling and user experience of the HF S100, but we found the TM300 to be an impressive camcorder. It's comfortable to hold, it's easy to use, and it has all the bells and whistles you could want from a consumer camcorder. On top of that, it turned in one of the best video performances of the year.
Sony HDR-TG5V Comparison
The Sony HDR-TG5V is a very different camcorder than the TM300. Its compact design make it easy to stash in a jacket pocket or small bag, but it also means there isn't a lot of room for the bells and whistles that more advanced users have come to know and love. Plus, the $1000 price point means that the TG5 is compact, but far from a budget cam.
However... don't let the TG5's diminutive size fool you. This little camcorder packs quite a punch and gave the TM300 a run for its money in video performance. The model from Panasonic has a commanding advantage in low light sensitivity, but in every other area, the TM300 was just a step ahead. (The TG5 actually outperformed the TM300 in bright light noise and still sharpness.) In terms of features, there's an extensive laundry list of options that the TM300 possesses and the TG5 lacks. That includes (but is not limited to) a viewfinder, accessory shoe, microphone and headphone jacks, audio level controls, gain control, the adjustable lens ring, and a hand strap.
This should leave most consumers with a clear choice: if you like the compact size of the TG5, its performance will not disappoint. If manual controls are important to you, the upright Sony is a model to avoid.
JVC GZ-X900 Comparison
The JVC GZ-X900 is a unique camcorder: the slim boxy contour lacks a handstrap, but makes the body more portable and more durable. The incredibly high resolution sensor results in some very high video sharpness, but still sharpness is hurt by the camcorder's tendency to oversharpen still photos. The high resolution also causes some trouble in low light; sensitivity is so poor that most images are very dark and noisy unless you compensate with a slow shutter speed.
Those troubles aside, the X900 performed very well in our testing labs, demonstrating excellent color accuracy, low noise, and clear, fluid motion. In fact, the X900 came in ahead of the TM300 in color, motion, and video sharpness. The TM300, however, was light years ahead of the X900 in low light performance and beat it out in bright light noise as well. Most surprisingly, the X900 seems designed as a true video/still hybrid, but the still photos just weren't that impressive. The TM300 has more options and better quality when it comes to taking photographs.
And that's not all. The TM300 has a seemingly endless list of features that the X900 lacks, including more robust manual controls, better connectivity, and a viewfinder. At $1000, we're not sure there's a compelling reason to choose the X900, beyond its unique shape and portability. Even that is a stretch, since Sony's HDR-TG5 is just as portable, durable, and has better overall performance.
Conclusion
Photo Gallery
Specs and Ratings
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Meet the tester
Vice President of Editorial Management, Kaitlyn oversees the editorial departments of Reviewed.com’s various sites. She has been writing about technology since the turn of the century. Outside of her Reviewed.com home, Kaitlyn is also a theatre director and avid gamer.
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