Home > Consumer Reviews > Panasonic HDC-HS300 High Definition Flash Memory Camcorder With 120gb Hard Disc Drive With 3MOS sensor - Black

This camcorder is probably the best dual function one available now.
It shoots superb full HD (1920 x 1080) as well as 10.4Mp stills. Although it has the dreaded touch screen for the menus, this is fairly easy to use. Panasonic even give you a sort of plastic plectrum thing in case you have massive fingers. For once this is a product which fully lives up to the reviews and to Panasonic's own publicity.
Just to deflate Panasonic's ego there are one or two niggles. The first is the battery life which is just one hour! This frankly is pathetic and new batteries cost from £60 upwards. The second niggle is that they do not supply the one lead you need ie. the mini HDMI.
At around £950 this camera may be a tad overpriced, but it really does deliver absolutely top quality videos and stills.

In a decision between a digi camera that takes hd vid or a camcorder that takes good quality stills, this machine is my choice. It has a bigger lens than a compact stills camera - so more light gets onto the chip for low light - yet it is smaller, lighter and more versatile than an old style 'pro' stills camera. At best quality, it takes 10mp stills, so you can print up to a metre tall if you have the printer. Even better, it will take still pics in 6x3 and 16x9 as well as boring old 4x3. In hd vid, the definition is stunning, but who do you know with hd dvd that you can give the disc of your holiday footage to? Even more, do you have a computer with an edit program that can handle it? Mine is fine on standard dv material but goes down to 8fps with hd - that is after each short shot has to be downloaded separately as its own file, so don't 'edit in camera'. It takes for ever - but I'm not buying a new computer just for this.
The big gripe is with the tiny battery. It lasts for 1 hour of action at best. Not much good when out for the day. Another of the same size costs £60/80. A bigger one costs around £140. Panasonic are trying the same scam as with inkjet cartridges, and have put a chip in their batteries to stop the sale of generics. This means that when I bought 2 of the bigger size plus a charger from Hong Kong for £25, they work the camcorder fine, but there is no battery status indication on screen. Then again, the generic charger will work from 12v so I can be sure it is topped up while driving to the event in my car; and know I have 2 hours to go on each. I don't even have to remember to put them on charge overnight.
Panasonic have clearly built down to a price point and expect to make their profit from accessories. The finish is plastic looking and the fittings look so spindly they won't take a lot of handling before they fall off. The slot for an external mic or flash is so hemmed in, a normal screw down fitting on such items can't screw down enough to be properly secure - without being in danger of cracking the casing of the camcorder. The viewfinder - essential on sunny days - does not hinge upward, so you are stuck with the camcorder on the end of your nose. Annoying, but not a killer.
Tips:
1: The SDHC card holds much more than you may think. Only use the HDD for archive. That way you can use an SDHC card reader and dispense with a download program via USB.
2: Download at low resolution so you can edit and distribute in standard DVD mode, until mainstream technology catches up with HD - by which time everything will be on memory cards.
3: Generic products are often made by the same factories as official ones. The spin about 'sub standard safety standards' is to cover the spiteful use of patent rights to screw consumers. How much do you think a chip should cost? This isn't even ink quality.

Firstly I don't work for Panasonic. I bought this to take on a cruise with me. This camcorder is state of the art and is a huge leap from the old VHS tape. It is very easy to start using and you can get around to the more detailed settings after getting used to the basics. The Image Stabiliser works but will obviously not cope with someone who has a bad twitch.

Bought this from Amazon as the price, although is not THE cheapest, is competitive. There are some rather dodgy sites, Hong Kong based, which are probably best avoided for such a big purchase. Worth checking the forums for feedback on these as they the cheapest ones on the price comparison sites look v. dubious!

Agree with first reviewer that the lack of cable to plug the camcorder direct into your HD TV is a cheek and Panasonic should go the extra on providing this. I bought the suggested one by Amazon and its fine.

Photos look great on an HD screen and again it is an effortless business to switch between camcorder and camera mode - in fact you can snap shot photos as you are filming with the camcorder anyway so lots of flexibility there.

Size and weight are very good and it would not cause any strain to carry all day. Agree with first reviewer on battery - on reflection a back up is certainly worth going for if you are doing any substantial trips.

Sound quality seems good so far and the mic is sensitive so anyone who is a habitual cougher or sniffer should exercise restraint when actually filming.

I read loads of reviews on camcorders before going for this one and it really does exceed expectations when viewed on the HD screen - won't disappoint and well worth the extra few pounds for something that delivers (how often can one say that!).

Verdict: great for the more discerning and demanding user who has a HD screen. Buy a decent case (I bought the Lowepro Clips 100 Bag) as Panasonic do not supply any form of bag so it is an essential.

Concerns: getting a BluRay burner to be able to put all the footage on disc! They are around £150 and the discs are expensive still. Will store on hard drive until the pennies can stretch to one.

If you never want to use this for more than one hour at a time, then this is a great camera. However if you want to use it for say a wedding or day's shoot then you will have to pay at least £300 for 2 additional higher capacity batteries. It will not work with third party batteries so you are forced to buy Panasonic's own over-priced ones. When I found this out, I returned it and have ordered a Canon HFS11 which works out quite a bit cheaper when you take batteries into account.

I bought this camera and went to film a relative's wedding only a couple of days later. I really didn't have time to learn much about it before doing so, but nevertheless managed to achieve some excellent results. If I had had the time to explore things like manaul exposure control etc. I would have done even better.

It's a well thought out camera, and the image quality is excellent, with colours that are very vivid, but not over the top. The camera is let down a little by its microphone, which is extremely susceptible to wind noise, and sounds a little shrill. In future I shall use an external mic, which is always worthwhile with almost any camera.

The biggest downside for me was discovering after the event that my version of Final Cut Pro (in Final Cut Studio) couldn't actually import the video directly as the camera produces AVCHD files. A trip to the Apple Store sorted it out, because the next version of FCP can do it. What's more, it does it very simply. Just connect the camera and tell FCP to import the files, whereupon it converts them to Quick Time movie files that FCP can edit.

The camera is very small and light, although the latter fact is not necessarily good, as it makes it more difficult to hold still. The image stabilising system however is extremely good, and probably more than compensates for the lack of weight when compared to my previous Sony camera.

I'm not too keen on the rather fiddly zoom control. The range of movement is small, so it's difficult to control the start of a zoom without it either failing to begin, or zooming faster than I want it to.

These are minor criticisms compared to the massive improvement in quality over my Sony SD camera, which initially cost much more. Overall I'm a pretty happy customer!