Introduction
The HDC-TM700’s sister-model, the HDC-HS700, should have similar performance to the TM700, as the main differences between the two camcorders are price, size, and storage media. The HDC-HS700 retails for $1399 and records to a huge, 240GB internal hard drive (as well as having a memory card slot).
Product Tour
The HDC-TM700 uses three CMOS sensors, which is what Panasonic has been implementing for quite some time on its flagship models. The three sensors are each 1/4.1 inches in size, and they give the camcorder a total pixel count of around 9.15 megapixels. New on the TM700 is the inclusion of a 1080/60p recording option—a feature that is not available on any consumer camcorders from Sony, Canon, JVC, or Samsung. (Sanyo is the only other manufacturer to make camcorders with a native 60p feature.) Panasonic also put a larger lens on the HDC-TM700 compared to last year's models. You can really see the difference with this new lens, as the HDC-TM700's wide angle measured a whopping 59 degrees in our wide angle test.
Color & Noise Performance
The Panasonic HDC-TM700 did an impressive job with our bright light color test. The camcorder held a slight edge over last year's HDC-TM300 from Panasonic by registering a color error of 2.92 and a saturation level of 98.39%. These are among the best scores we've seen from a consumer HD camcorder. (More on how we test color.)
Looking at the Color Error Map above you can see the HDC-TM700 had no problem rendering blue and purple tones accurately. In fact, the camcorder ran into very little trouble with any of the color patches on our test chart (the red tones were the most inaccurate, but even they were pretty good). We're also impressed with the picture adjustment options available on the HDC-TM700. Along with a color depth setting is a new WB shift feature that allows you to make the color tones hotter (more red) or cooler (more blue). You can see sample images of these settings below.
The Panasonic HDC-TM700 rendered colors that looked warmer and more vivid than the Canon HF S21. Overall, there wasn't too much difference between the colors captured by the TM700 and the TM300, however, and the Sony HDR-CX500V managed to produce a very saturated image as well. Since determining color quality has a lot to do with personal preference, we recommend you decide for yourself what looks the best by checking out the color comparisons below.
While the Panasonic HDC-TM700 produced the most accurate colors in our bright light testing, some people may prefer the color quality from other camcorders. We must say, however, that the TM700's images looked very good on our HDTV and the colors had a lot of pop and depth. Still, most high-end HD camcorders do very well in this test—we just happen to prefer the warm, saturated colors of the TM700 over the competition.
The Panasonic HDC-TM700 averaged 0.47% noise in this test, which is a very strong performance. The Sony HDR-CX500V and Panasonic HDC-TM300 both had slightly higher noise levels than the HDC-TM700, and the Canon HF S21 did the worst job in this test. (More on how we test noise.)
The crops above are useful for comparing sharpness and detail levels across these four high-end models. Each of the camcorders shown above did an exceptional job in our bright light testing and each managed to capture a very sharp image. The Panasonic HDC-TM700 actually did the best in our sharpness test, however, and you should be able to see a bit more detail near the bottom of its vertical trumpet in its cropped image above. The Canon HF S21 also captured a very sharp image, but it didn't do as well in our video sharpness test (continue onto the next section of this review to read more about sharpness).
Motion & Sharpness Performance
One of the most exciting new features on the HDC-TM700 is the 1080/60p record mode. This mode produced spectacular footage in our motion test that looked far better than anything we shot with the TM700's 60i or 24p record modes. Part of this enhanced performance stems from the fact that the 60p mode records video progressively rather than interlaced, which results in smoother motion. The other reason that the 60p footage looks so good is that the setting has a very high bitrate of 28Mbps (compared to 17Mbps for the TM700's highest-quality 60i setting). (More on how we test motion.)
The HDC-TM700 also has a Digital Cinema 24p mode, which was featured on all of Panasonic's HD camcorders from last year. This mode produces a film-like aesthetic, but we don't think it works as well as the 24p modes offered on the Canon HF S21.
We really can't say enough about how good the HDC-TM700's 1080/60p mode looks. In our motion test, the 60p mode produced much cleaner footage than the TM700's 60i setting (the 60p mode had particularly less artifacting). Now, the Canon HF S21 also did extremely well in this test and it also includes a plethora of frame rate options—but no 60p mode.
The HDC-TM700 did spectacularly well in our video sharpness test. The camcorder measured a horizontal sharpness of 1000 lw/ph and a vertical sharpness of 900 lw/ph. The impressive vertical sharpness is what stands out here, as no other consumer camcorder we've tested has been able to crack the 600 – 700 lw/ph barrier. What we found on the HDC-TM700, however, is that the camcorder's 1080/60p setting was able to produce a sharper image in our vertical testing. We're not sure why this is, and there are probably other aspects at play here, but it was clear in our testing that the HDC-TM700 had a better vertical sharpness than any other camcorder we've tested. (More on how we test video sharpness.)
When we tested the HDC-TM700 using its 60i setting, the camcorder produced a vertical sharpness of around 650 lw/ph, which is identical to what the HDC-TM300 earned. So, if you want the sharpest image possible from the HDC-TM700, you should use its 1080/60p settings—the only problem is this footage is nearly impossible to work with or edit on a computer.
Low Light Performance
**Low Light Sensitivity***(6.3)*
The HDC-TM700 did reasonably well in our low light sensitivity test. The camcorder required 11 lux of light to reach 50 IRE on our waveform monitor—a slightly higher amount of light than its predecessor, the HDC-TM300, required. Still, this is a better score than both the Canon HF S21 and Sony HDR-CX500V achieved in the same test. (More on how we test low light sensitivity.)
We also tested the HDC-TM700 using its 24p Digital Cinema mode, and we found the camcorder required 8 lux of light to reach the same levels. We could not test the camcorder's sensitivity using its 60p mode, but we didn't notice any difference between light levels in 60p and 60i when we looked at the footage with our naked eye.
The HDC-TM700 measured a color error of 4.96 in our low light test, which is a nearly identical score to last year's HDC-TM300. The shocking part, however, is the fact that the TM700 had a much better saturation level of 80.92%—compared to the TM300's 65.09%. This stronger saturation level really makes the TM700's low light image look a whole lot more pleasing. (More on how we test low light color.)
You can see from the images above above that the HDC-TM700 captured a fairly dark picture in low light. The colors, however, still look very strong and vivid. As for color accuracy, the HDC-TM700's score is decent for a camcorder of its class. We found very little color accuracy difference between shooting with the HDC-TM700's 24p Digital Cinema mode and shooting 60i or 60p footage. (The saturation level was roughly 84% when shooting with the 24p mode and the color accuracy was 5.19.)
Looking at the comparison images above you can see the HDC-TM700 has a brighter image than the Canon HF S21 and its colors are much deeper than what the TM300 produced in our low light testing. The HDR-CX500V also produced a decent low light image, but it had a cooler tone than what we saw from the HDC-TM700.
The HDC-TM700 performed exceptionally well in our low light noise test—just like the camcorder did in our bright light testing. The camcorder averaged 0.6875% noise in low light, which is less than half the amount of noise we measured on the Canon HF S21's image. It is also only slightly more noise than the camcorder measured in our bright light test. Just look at the crops below—it is difficult to see any noise or discoloration in the HDC-TM700's image. Using the TM700's 24p mode in low light enabled the camcorder to capture an image with slightly less noise. We measured 0.5275% noise when shooting with the 24p mode in this test. (More on how we test low light noise.)
Along with producing a relatively noise-free image in low light, the Panasonic HDC-TM700 also retained a very sharp image. You can see the effect of the high noise levels on the Canon HF S21 in the crop above by looking at the specks in the vertical trumpet. The Sony HDR-CX500V also managed a good image in low light, although its noise levels were still significantly higher than the Panasonic HDC-TM700. The TM300 produced a decent picture in low light, but it's image definitely was not as sharp as the HDC-TM700's.
Compression & Media
For regular 1080/60i shooting, the Panasonic HDC-TM700 uses AVCHD compression. This is the standard compression system for consumer HD camcorders, and it is used by nearly all of the major camcorder manufacturers (with the exception of Samsung and Sanyo). Read more about the advantages and disadvantages of AVCHD.
However, when you shoot with the HDC-TM700's native 1080/60p setting, the camcorder uses a proprietary MPEG-4 codec that isn't really compatible with anything other than Panasonic's provided software. Yes, the video shot with the 1080/60p setting looks stunning when you play it back on an HDTV, but the only way you can really do this is by playing back the footage directly from the camcorder. We couldn't find any third party software that would import or recognize the 1080/60p clips shot with the HDC-TM700, although we expect this to change if 1080/60p recording becomes more prevalent in the future.
Using the 1080/60p setting on the HDC-TM700 is somewhat of a conundrum. The video recorded in the mode looks great, the setting offers a very high bitrate (28Mbps), and the image is recorded progressively rather than interlaced. The problem is, if you want to edit or import the video to your computer your only choice is to use the limited software that ships with the camcorder.
The Panasonic HDC-TM700 contains 32GB of internal flash memory as well as a memory card slot. The card slot will accept SD, SDHC, or SDXC cards up to a 64GB capacity. This is a decent set of media options for a high-end camcorder, but we're surprised Panasonic didn't load the TM700 up with more internal memory. The new flagship models from Canon and Sony both offer 64GB of internal flash memory. Read more about the advantages and disadvantages of flash memory.
The chart below lists the approximate recording times (as provided by Panasonic) for the HDC-TM700. Notice how much space the 1080/60p footage takes up compared to the other settings. This is important to note because if you want to playback the 1080/60p footage on a television you'll probably want to do so by running the footage through the camcorder itself.
The Panasonic HDC-TM700 ships with HD Writer AE version 2.1 software. The software is essentially the same as its previous incarnations, but this new version does allow for importing 1080/60p footage. Having this feature is an absolute necessity as no other commercially available programs seem to be able to handle the 1080/60p footage shot with the HDC-TM700. If you want to get that 1080/60p footage onto your Mac, however, you're out of luck—HD Writer AE is only compatible with PCs.
For an overview of the software that ships with the Panasonic HDC-TM700 and other Panasonic camcorders, see our article: 'Video Editing Software For Your Camcorder'
If you want to edit the footage you shot using the HDC-TM700's 1080/60p setting, there is an option on the software that allows you to convert the footage to regular AVCHD. Unfortunately, every time we tried performing this action the software crashed after about 15 minutes into the conversion process.If you want to shoot 60p, you're probably better off just playing back footage through the camcorder.
Manual Controls
The HDC-TM700 has an interesting set of automatic controls that are part of Panasonic's Intelligent Auto (iA) system. Among these features is the TM700's AF/AE tracking system that allows the camcorder to 'lock on' to a subject while focusing and exposing them properly as they move about the frame. This tracking feature works basically the same way it did last year on the Panasonic HDC-TM300, which means you can continue to track people and things that move out of the frame, but only if they re-enter the frame after a few seconds.
Also part of the HDC-TM700's iA controls is a feature called Intelligent Scene Selection. This setting enables the camcorder to automatically select a scene mode to utilize based on the lighting conditions within the frame. Sometimes we liked the way Intelligent Scene Selection worked, but we also found it a bit unwieldy to use in mixed light situations. The camcorder would occasionally switch back and forth between scene modes too frequently when we filmed indoors in low light—often resulting in unwanted changes in shutter speed and exposure levels.
The camcorder's basic auto controls appeared to be relatively effective. Autofocus worked quickly and the camcorder's tele macro setting allowed for simple focus on extremely close subjects. Auto exposure transitions were very gradual on the HDC-TM700, which we liked, although some users may prefer the quicker, snap-like exposure adjustment you find on other camcorders. On occasion, we noticed the camcorder taking a generous amount of time to white balance its image properly—particularly when we shot indoors under mixed lighting. Once the camcorder's auto white balance kicked in, however, the colors looked well-balanced and accurate.
There are actually three ways to zoom on the HDC-TM700. The first, and most obvious, is by using the zoom toggle on the top of the camcorder. The toggle is built well and it is pretty easy to use for controlling zoom. The toggle also allows for variable zoom speed control—the harder you push the toggle, the faster the zoom will be.
Another way to zoom is by using the manual lens ring on the front of the camcorder. This method may be preferable for people who are used to using DSLR cameras or professional video equipment. The quicker you turn the lens ring, the faster the zoom will be. We should note that the lens ring can always be used to control zoom in Intelligent Auto (iA) mode, but it can also be used in manual mode as long as no other function is assigned to the lens ring.
The last way to zoom with the TM700 is also the least effective. There are two zoom buttons on the bottom of the LCD panel that allow you to zoom in and out when pushed. We're not crazy about these buttons because they don't allow for variable zoom speed control and they simply aren't very well designed. We recommend sticking with the toggle or lens ring.
The lens on the HDC-TM700 has a 12x optical zoom, which is an average zoom ratio for a high-end HD camcorder. The camcorder also includes an intelligent zoom that can increase magnification up to 18x. It was hard to notice any image degradation when using intelligent zoom, but we should reiterate that it is not an optical system—it is a new technology that is similar to the advanced zooms you see advertised on other camcorders.
Along with the optical and intelligent zooms, the HDC-TM700 also has a huge digital zoom option that can be set to 30x or 700x. We don't recommend using this setting, though, as it will severely degrade the quality of your recorded video.
Manual focus on the HDC-TM700 can only be set using the lens ring. The lens ring works well in this situation, but we're actually somewhat surprised Panasonic got rid of its touchscreen control option—not that we're really complaining. Panasonic also changed things a bit in regards to its manual focus assist. The TM700 features a peaking system in which fine, blue specks appear while you attempt to focus manually (only with MF assist turned on). There is no magnification assist option on the camcorder and you cannot change the color of the specks used for the peaking feature.
Exposure, which should be the simplest of manual controls to access, is buried in Panasonic's picture adjust submenu where it is called 'brightness.' Alternately, you can adjust exposure by manipulating the aperture or shutter speed, but we think some users prefer the simplicity of a basic exposure adjustment. We wish Panasonic would make this option more accessible.
Panasonic is one of the few manufacturers to offer complete manual aperture control on its consumer camcorders (called 'iris' on the TM700). The TM700 has a host of aperture settings and they can be set using the touchscreen interface or the lens ring. One thing we don't like, however, is that manual gain control is tied to the aperture—but we'll talk about this issue more when we discuss gain control further down on this page.
You'll notice that when you change the aperture setting on the HDC-TM700 the displayed f-stop value doesn't always change. This means there are a number of f-stop settings in between the numbers that are actually listed on the screen. The same thing applies when you adjust gain and shutter speed manually.
Manual shutter speed is available for adjustment on the HDC-TM700, and, like aperture, it can be set with the lens ring or using touchscreen buttons. The camcorder has lots of shutter speed options, particularly very fast shutter speeds (up to 1/8000 of a second). There's only one slow shutter option—1/30 of a second—and you can only pick that shutter speed manually if auto slow shutter is turned on.
The HDC-TM700 has a decent set of white balance presets and it has a manual white balance setting as well. The manual setting is simple to activate and it seemed to work perfectly well in our testing. The camcorder also has a WB Shift setting, which is found in the picture adjust submenu (the same place you have to go to adjust exposure). You can shift the color temperature using this option towards red (negative values) or blue tones (positive values).
You can only set gain manually on the HDC-TM700 if you first open the aperture all the way (gain control is tied to aperture on the camcorder). This definitely limits the versatility of the TM700's aperture control, as it means you can't really play around with depth of field unless you're shooting in a bright location. When you do open the aperture all the way, the camcorder allows you to set gain from 0dB to 18dB in various increments (see table below).
**Color & Image Controls***(7.5)*
**Other Manual Controls***(5.0)*
Still Features
Panasonic advertises the HDC-TM700 as being able to capture 14.2-megapixel still photos. While the camcorder can take photos at a 4608 x 3072 resolution, these images aren't really comprised of 14.2 megapixels. The camcorder's total pixel count is just 9.15 megapixels, which means any photo taken with a higher pixel count is interpolated (the image is just made to be a larger size). Still, having a total pixel count of 9.15 megapixels is not too shabby for an HD camcorder, although most point-and-shoot digital cameras have somewhere between a 10 and 12-megapixel capability.
So, in reality, the largest non-interpolated images that the HDC-TM700 can capture have a 3600 x 2400 resolution (roughly 8.6 megapixels). The camcorder can take photos in a wide variety of sizes, and it can capture still images in three aspect ratios—4:3, 3:2, and 16:9. In addition to these size options, the camcorder has a built-in flash that has a number of intensity settings as well as red-eye reduction.
You can take photos with the TM700 in video mode, but you have more options when you switch the camcorder over to its dedicated still image mode. One new feature worth noting is the HDC-TM700's Smile Shot setting, which will automatically snap a photo when a person within the frame gives a big smile. This feature is identical to what Sony offers on the HDR-CX500V, although Sony allows you to set the smile detection sensitivity. The complete list of the TM700's still features, along with those of its comparison models, is listed in the table below.
The HDC-TM700 put up very strong numbers in our still color test. The camcorder registered a color error of 2.61 and a saturation level of 100.9%—both of which are better numbers than the TM700 managed in our video testing. Most high-end HD camcorders do really well on this test, though, so the HDC-TM700's performance doesn't stand too far out from the crowd. (More on how we test still color.)
The weakest camcorder in this test was the Canon HF S21, but even its still image colors had above-average accuracy. We like the saturated tones produced by the two Panasonic camcorders, and the Sony HDR-CX500V's image looks very similar. While all of these camcorders shown below produced above-average still photos, their images are still not as good as what you'd get with a decent digital camera.
The HDC-TM700 wasn't fantastic in our still noise test, but it's results weren't too bad either. The camcorder averaged 0.81% noise in this test, which is roughly the same amount of noise we measured on the Sony HDR-CX500V and Panasonic HDC-TM300. The Canon HF S21 was the worst performer in this test, coming in with around 1.07% noise. (More on how we test still noise.)
The HDC-TM700 ultimately disappointed in our still sharpness test. At best, the camcorder earned a horizontal sharpness of 1749 lw/ph with 3% oversharpening. The corresponding vertical sharpness was even lower on the HDC-TM700, coming in at 917 lw/ph with 20.8% undersharpening. These aren't good results compared to what the Canon HF S21 was capable of, and they show no improvement over last years HDC-TM300 (the TM300 actually scored a little higher than the TM700). (More on how we test still sharpness.)
Handling & Use
Playback & Connectivity
The mode dial on the right side of the camcorder allows you to switch the HDC-TM700 into playback mode. The playback mode screen should be simple to figure out, especially for anyone who has used a flash memory camcorder before. Photos and clips stored on the camcorder are arranged as thumbnail images in playback mode. You simply tap the thumbnail image to open the video as a full screen image. In playback mode you also have access to a few editing features and a highlight playback option.
We're not crazy about the fact that the TM700's VCR controls all exist as touchscreen buttons on the bottom of the LCD. These buttons take up space on the screen and they aren't very responsive. We would much prefer to have dedicated VCR buttons on the base of the LCD panel.
The HDC-TM700 has all the ports you expect to find on a high-end consumer camcorder (although it's accessory shoe is not hot and it doesn't include a LANC terminal). Most of the camcorder's ports are inside the LCD cavity, and are grouped behind a rubberized, flip-down cover. Here you'll find an HDMI terminal, USB port, memory card slot, and dual AV/Component-out port. The rubberized cover does a good job protecting these ports and it flips down quite far, so it shouldn't be in the way even if you have multiple cables connected at once.
On the right side of the camcorder, just behind the lens, you'll find a small flap that opens up to reveal a 3.5mm external mic and headphone jack. Just like the terminals inside the LCD cavity, these two ports are well-protected, but the hand strap and port cover do get in the way when you have cables connected here.
Just above these two ports is the side-mounted accessory shoe slot. Unfortunately, to actually use a shoe-mounted device with the camcorder you have to insert the provided shoe adapter into this slot. The shoe adapter allows you to mount a device on the top of the camcorder and to the right of the lens (see the images below). We like this setup because it keeps the HDC-TM700 compact and it keeps your mounted devices out of the way. The problem, however, is that if you lose the shoe adapter, then you basically can't mount any accessories until you purchase a new one from Panasonic. Also, the shoe is not powered (it's cold), but it will fit any regularly-sized accessories.
The last port on the HDC-TM700 is the ill-placed DC-input, which is located inside the battery compartment. We hate this setup because it means you must remove the battery whenever you want to switch over to running the camcorder off of its AC adapter. This can be a problem if you're doing a long shot and halfway through you realize your battery is almost depleted. You'll have to stop recording for a minute, plug in your AC adapter, and start recording again—potentially missing out on capturing an important moment.
Audio & Other Features
The HDC-TM700 is one of the best consumer camcorders on the market when it comes to audio features. First off, the camcorder is equipped with a top-mounted, 5.1-channel Dolby Digital microphone. Our only issue with this built-in mic is the fact that our pinky finger sometimes came dangerously close to touching the back edge of the mic when we gripped the camcorder. If you don't like having surround sound audio recording you can always switch the mic to record basic 2-channel stereo.
The camcorder allows for complete manual audio level adjustment (from -30dB to +6dB), and a basic audio level meter appears on the LCD when you set the audio levels manually. This manual audio control can also be used in conjunction with an external microphone that is connected via the camcorder's 3.5mm external mic jack.
In addition to all this, the TM700's built-in mic has options for zoom mic or focus mic. Zoom mic boosts the audio levels for whatever the lens is zoomed into, while brings up the sound on subjects near the front of the frame (surround sound is reduced with this function turned on). The built-in mic also has a new Wind Noise Canceler feature, which uses an entirely different technology than the Wind Cut option featured on previous Panasonic camcorders. The new setting uses noise canceling technology similar to what you'd find on noise canceling headphones, rather than simply implementing a high-pass filter like the Wind Cut setting did. Lastly, the HDC-TM700 has four bass settings for adjusting low frequency signals—0dB, +3dB, +6dB, or Lowcut.
Pre Record
This has become a common feature on consumer camcorders that allows you to capture a few seconds of footage before you press the record button. This feature can be useful if you're shooting a fast-paced sports game and don't want to miss an important moment.
Auto Ground Standby (AGS)
AGS will automatically stop recording if the camcorder is pointed to the ground for a period of time (a few seconds). This is meant to prevent unwanted recordings of the floor when you've forgotten to shut the camcorder off. While this feature can be useful, we did find it a bit annoying on occasion. For example, what if you actually want to shoot something that is on the ground... well, then you have to turn AGS off or risk having your recording automatically discontinued.
Fader
You can add faders to the beginning or end of your video clips during recording. Faders can be set to white or black on the TM700.
Time Lapse Record
You set a recording interval and the camcorder will capture one frame of video each time this interval comes up. Interval options are 1 second, 10 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, or 2 minutes. With this mode, thirty frames make up one second of video and the maximum recordable time is 12 hours. We like this feature, but it's really only useful for recording things like sunrises, sunsets, or blooming flowers.
Relay Record
You can set the HDC-TM700 to continue recording from the internal memory (after it fills up) right onto an inserted memory card without any loss of data. This feature is useful if you're recording very long shots and are unsure if you have enough space left for the clip to fit entirely on your internal memory.
Canon HF S21 Comparison
In the head-to-head battle between the HDC-TM700 and the Canon HF S21 the results weren't even close—the Panasonic HDC-TM700 is the better camcorder by far. The Panasonic did better in our performance testing, has a more extensive array of manual controls, and it comes in with a much cheaper price tag than the Canon HF S21. We also found the HDC-TM700 to be more comfortable in our hand and we liked its relatively compact design.
Even though the HDC-TM700 is a much better model than the HF S21 overall, that doesn't mean the Canon doesn't have its benefits. We like the native 24p setting on the HF S21 and the camcorder has double the internal memory of the HDC-TM700. The Canon also has a larger, higher-resolution LCD than the HDC-TM700, and it did better in our still image testing. We also like the sleek menu design on the Canon HF S21 better than the simple, antiquated menu you get on the Panasonic HDC-TM700.
So, yes, the Canon HF S21 does have some exciting features, but none of them are impressive enough to outweigh the fact that the HDC-TM700 did much better than the Canon HF S21 in nearly all of our testing categories. The HDC-TM700's 60p mode looked superb compared to the HF S21's highest-quality record mode, and we were very impressed by the TM700's low light capabilities and image stabilization system.
Sony HDR-CX500V Comparison
The HDR-CX500V was Sony's flagship model from 2009, so it is a bit outdated at this point. What this means is that you should be able to find the camcorder at a reasonable price (Sony just reduced the price from $1099 to $799). The HDR-CX500V is definitely not a superior camcorder to the Panasonic HDC-TM700, but its cheaper price tag makes it worth a look.
The HDR-CX500V has the same amount of internal memory as the Panasonic HDC-TM700 and both camcorders have a similar weight and size (the Sony is actually a bit smaller). The CX500V did fairly well in our performance testing, but it didn't come close to matching the overall numbers put up by the HDC-TM700. The HDR-CX500V also doesn't offer any alternate frame rates other than a low-quality slow motion mode.
The only huge benefit of the HDR-CX500V is its ability to record both HD and SD video. Most HD camcorders do not have this option, but Sony includes it on all of its consumer HD models. So, if you're not yet ready to fully commit to HD, then the Sony HDR-CX500V can be a good transition model to ease yourself from standard to high definition.
Panasonic HDC-TM300 Comparison
The HDC-TM700 is the replacement model for last year's HDC-TM300, which won our camcorder of the year award in 2009. The updates made by Panasonic on the HDC-TM700 make it a significantly better camcorder than last year's HDC-TM300, but the TM300 is still a strong model.
Unlike the Sony HDR-CX500V, however, the HDC-TM300 is hard to find at a bargain price—despite the fact that it is an outdated model. In fact, many retailers are still listing the HDC-TM300 with a higher price tag than the HDC-TM700. This is simply nonsensical because there is no reason you should buy the TM300 over the TM700 unless you're looking to cut costs.
So, what kind of updates did Panasonic make on the HDC-TM700? Well, for starters, the inclusion of a 1080/60p mode gives the HDC-TM700 something that almost no other consumer HD camcorder has. Panasonic also increased the size of its LCD (up to 3 inches from 2.7 inches), improved the versatility of the lens ring, bumped up the effective pixel count, and implemented a larger lens than what was featured on the HDC-TM300. All of these features, as well as improved video performance, make the HDC-TM700 a worthy successor to the HDC-TM300.
Conclusion
Photo Gallery
Specs and Ratings
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Meet the tester
Jeremy is the video expert of our imaging team and Reviewed.com's head of video production. Originally from Pennsylvania and upstate NY, he graduated from Bard college with a degree in film and electronic media. He has been living and working in New England since 2005.
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