Panasonic HC-X900M Review

Introduction

The HC-X900M is set to retail for around $1199 at launch, but don't be surprised if this price starts dropping as the year continues, as we've seen with previous Panasonic flagship models.

Video Review

Design & Usability

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Other than a few cosmetic changes and a slightly heavier frame, the HC-X900M looks very similar to its predecessors.

Ever since the launch of the HDC-TM300 a few years ago, Panasonic has been in love with the design of its flagship camcorders. This is an unwavering love, evidently, as the new HC-X900M looks nearly identical to its predecessors, and the camcorder continues to include Panasonic's patented manual lens ring and 5.1-channel surround sound microphone. The lens ring is one of the best in the business, and it's the perfect solution for pros who want access to manual controls at their fingertips.

The camcorder doesn’t look all that stylish or flashy. No, this is a model that looks caught in the middle—between consumer and professional—and that’s really what it is. It wears a utilitarian design that is a bit heavier and tougher than last year’s TM900, and the body has a matte finish that doesn’t collect fingerprints easily. The extra size of the X900M does make the camcorder a bit more uncomfortable to hold than previous Panasonic models, but it is one of the better flagship camcorders in terms of handling and comfort, all the same.

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Features

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The X900M's feature and control sets are much the same as last year’s.

The X900M has a ton of manual controls, but it doesn’t offer anything more than Panasonic’s previous flagship models from 2011 and 2010 (the TM900 and TM700, respectively). This is a bit of a downer, as we were hoping Panasonic would finally offer true gain control, control that is not tied to the aperture setting on the camcorder. But the HC-X900M is still limited in this regard. Other than this snafu, the X900M is a solid camcorder with a lot of functions to play with. There’s full shutter speed and aperture control, a manual white balance mode, and a number of manual assistance functions like zebra patterns and focus assist.

The camcorder also has plenty of record mode options, including the coveted 1080/60p record mode, and it can even shoot 3D video... with the purchase of a lens adapter, of course. In fact, the 3D options are one of the few features Panasonic actually enhanced on the HC-X900M, with the new model offering two 3D record modes instead of one. The X900M has 32GB of internal memory, something that always comes in handy on consumer camcorders, and it has a beefy set of auto features to keep novice users satisfied until they learn the ins and outs of their new camcorder.

Performance

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The HC-X900M didn’t do any better than its predecessor in our extensive performance testing.

Panasonic fooled us last year by releasing a new camcorder, the HDC-TM900, that featured little, if any, improvement over its predecessor in terms of image quality. But guess what? With the HC-X900M, we refuse to be fooled again. Here we go: Panasonic released another new camcorder with no significant improvement over the last model; if offers no improved performance in sharpness, no improved low light capabilities, heck even the battery life is the same—nay, worse—than last year's TM900. Admittedly, Panasonic did claim to have improved image stabilization on the X900M, and that was one area where the camcorder did show better numbers in our test. But that's about it.

Maybe this lack of improvement doesn't matter, though. The HC-X900M is still a fantastic camcorder in its own right, but that's only because it's practically a direct clone of its excellent predecessor. It's upsetting that Panasonic didn't innovate and improve, but it's hard to blame them when the HC-X900M is such a good product. I simply have to assume that the mantra "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" was on the mind of Panasonic engineers this year, and it's beginning to sound like an old tune.

Conclusion

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A great camcorder with a competitive price tag, but this model is no better than last year's.

Panasonic sure knows how to make a solid flagship camcorder with appeal to consumers and semi-pros alike, and, by all means, the new HC-X900M is exactly that—an excellent high-end camcorder. Unfortunately, the camcorder wasn't a rounding success, thanks to Panasonic's lack of updates and improvements over last year's HDC-TM900. I said the same thing in 2011 when Panasonic failed to innovate, and this glaring, coattail-riding trend has me worried about Panasonic’s future in the market.

But we also can’t really blame them. Canon didn’t even release an update to its HF G10 camcorder, which was our pick for camcorder of the year in 2011. In this tough economy, if you have a model that’s working great, then there’s not much of a compelling reason to fix it. So, Panasonic simply took its flagship model from last year, tacked on a few cosmetic changes and a better LCD (with a lame glasses-free 3D view), and released it anew as the HC-X900M. Our performance tests confirmed this story, as the HC-X900M didn’t show any significant improvement in terms of image quality. If you’re looking to upgrade from the Panasonic TM900 or TM700, don't bother.

This isn’t to say the HC-X900M is a bad camcorder. It has loads of manual controls, excellent image quality with its 1080/60p record mode, and the ability to record 3D video (but you have to purchase an optional lens converter to do so). I'm just tired of seeing Panasonic fail to add anything new or special to its flagship models for the past two years. In 2010, Panasonic was exceptionally innovative: it released one of the first 1080/60p camcorders, the HDC-TM700, and it showed off an unprecedented 3D camcorder, the HDC-SDT750. Since then, it’s been nothing but minor updates and bland improvements for Panasonic, and it’s this stagnant production that leaves me wanting more out of the HC-X900M.

Science Introduction

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It's hard not to be impressed with the Panasonic HC-X900M. The camcorder did a very good job in nearly all of our tests, and it managed to produce top-notch sharpness in bright light. This is the kind of camcorder that gets crisp details that a lower-end model would render as a blurry mess.

Of course, there are still a few things worth complaining about. For starters, the HC-X900M showed little improvement in testing over its predecessor. Sharpness and motion were basically the same, low light performance and battery life actually dropped slightly, and only with image stabilization did the X900M show a significant improvement over the TM900.

Sharpness Performance

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One of the sharpest camcorders we've ever reviewed

Thanks to its superb 1080/60p record mode, the Panasonic HC-X900M runs circles around the competition, in terms of sharpness. Simply put, this camcorder’s 60p mode produced the sharpest video we’ve ever seen from a consumer model—although the footage from last year’s Panasonic TM900 was just as sharp. The HC-X900M managed a whopping 1000 lw/ph in our horizontal sharpness test, and 950 lw/ph in our vertical test.

Shooting video using the HC-X900M’s regular 60i frame rate will result in video that is far less sharp than what its 60p mode is capable of. The lw/ph dropped significantly in the 60i modes due to a combination of lower bitrate, and the fact that interlaced recording simply isn’t as sharp as progressive video. If you want the best quality, you should shoot with the 1080/60p mode when you can. Keep in mind, this 60p footage can be difficult for computers to process, so make sure you have a workflow solution in place if you plan to edit video shot with the X900M.

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Low Light Performance

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No major weaknesses in low light, but not an exceptional performer either

Unfortunately, the low light sensitivity for the HC-X900M took a hit compared to last year’s HDC-TM900. The results for the new model weren’t drastically different, however, and the X900M is still one of the better camcorders in low light we’ve seen, but it is always disconcerting when a new camcorder does a worse job than its predecessor. When using zoom, the X900M required 14 lux of light to record video that was bright enough for broadcast. Without zoom, the camcorder needed just 8 lux of light to capture an image at the same brightness.

The Panasonic HC-X900 excelled in our low light noise test, and its numbers were nearly identical to what the HDC-TM900 scored last year. Here are the hard numbers for all the noise geeks out there (you know who you are!): the HC-X900 averaged 0.86% noise in low light and 0.6% noise in bright light. Noise levels got a bit worse in extreme low light situations, but our low light noise tests were performed at 60 lux (about the light level of a dimly-lit restaurant).

Color results in low light for the HC-X900M weren’t as strong as the camcorder’s noise results, but they were still decent. The camcorder managed a color error of 4.76, which is not far off from the TM900’s error of 4.32 last year. Where the X900M experienced a drop was in color saturation, as the camcorder put up a meager 68% saturation level in low light. This is a far cry from the vibrant, 85% color saturation measured on the HDC-TM900 last year.

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Image Stabilization

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Significant improvement over the previous model occurs in only one area of this camcorder's performance: image stabilization.

Panasonic flagship camcorders have some of the best stabilization features we’ve seen on consumer models. The HC-X900M continues in this tradition with a killer performance in this test. At its best, the camcorder reduced 83% of the shake with our stabilization rig set on its lowest setting (similar to shooting with a shaky hand). With the rig cranked up to its higher setting, the camcorder’s OIS system still managed to reduce the shake by 78%.

Both of these numbers were achieved using the X900M’s Hybrid OIS setting, which is the stronger of its two OIS options. With the regular OIS, the camcorder did nearly as well. It reduced 77% of the shake in our low shake test and 72% of the shake in our high shake test—so either OIS setting will give you a top-notch stabilization performance.

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