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1. 

   Christopher Michael
   August 22nd, 2010 - 02:40

   Review by Christopher Michael for Panasonic HDC-TM700K Hi-Def Camcorder with Pro Control System & 32GB Flash (Black)
   Rating:
   Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3P5NINJ0LEBSL The Panasonic HDC-TM700 is a rare camcorder in that it breaks new ground. The key upside of this camcorder is its 28 Mbps 60P mode — the camera is capable of recording at 1920×1080 resolution in 60 PROGRESSIVE frames per second. This captures TWICE the image information of the interlaced method, resulting in smoother motion. The TM700 also capture more vertical resolution than other consumer camcorders when used in 60P mode.

   There are many features of this camera that blur the line between “consumer” and “prosumer.”

   Whether you dub the 35mm lens “wide” or not, it’s a hell of a lot more wide than any other consumer cam lens I’ve tried. My $6500 Sony EX1 has a 31.4mm equivalent lens, so the TM700 is in the same ballpark. For me this make a big difference in the practical use of the camera. No longer do I need to carry and constantly attach/detach a wide angle adapter. This also makes me more likely to use the 18X zoom (since there’s no wide angle adapter on the cam).

   One nice TM700 feature I haven’t seen discussed elsewhere is peaking. Quite simply, “peaking” means that the camera outlines objects in focus with a color, so as to help the camera operator achieve correct focus. The camera does include a peaking function when switched to manual focus. Panasonic calls it “manual focus assist.” This really helps achieve critical focus with the 260k pixel LCD screen. The peaking color is blue; I prefer yellow, but will gladly settle for blue.

   Another upside to the TM700 vis-a-vis other consumer cams is the manual control ring. Panasonic has done a nice job implementing this feature and it’s easy to quickly adjust zoom, focus, shutter speed, & iris using the ring. This is a slam dunk win for the TM700 because the competition doesn’t even offer a control ring (the control wheel is a far less satisfying alternative).

   Some have expressed concern over the cooling fan. The fan does generate some noise when it activates, although it’s not always on. The fan has really not been an issue for me so far. I usually use an external mic when I’m serious about capturing quality audio.

   I’m a picky camera buyer who usually finds flaws with consumer equipment. But I haven’t found many with the TM700. It has a number of nice features like facial recognition (automatically exposing for certain faces), outstanding low-light performance with minimal noise and strong color reproduction, an almost “instant on” technology (you can power on the camera simply by opening the LCD screen or extending the viewfinder), stellar image stabilization, plenty of menu customization options, all the benefits of tapeless workflow…and I could go on.

   If you are shopping for a “flagship” consumer camcorder, when considering the TM700 you must ask yourself whether you really care about 60P. After all, it’s the 60P mode (and resulting high image quality) that sets this camera apart from its Sony & Canon competitors. I believe that the TM700 in 60P mode produces arguably the best image quality you can find in a consumer camcorder. But you need a fast PC with the right software to edit this material. If you intend to edit your footage, do some homework on this point before making a purchase decision.

   If you want 60P…and you can handle 60P… then you will love this camcorder.
2. 

   Hassan B. Bn Hadhram
   August 22nd, 2010 - 03:35

   Review by Hassan B. Bn Hadhram for Panasonic HDC-TM700K Hi-Def Camcorder with Pro Control System & 32GB Flash (Black)
   Rating:
   Panasonic finally released a 1920x1080p60 camcorder to the market (Sony still refuse to add Progressive and canon max out at 1920x1080p30 or p24)

   With the TM700 Panasonic did combine the smooth motion of 1080i60 with the crisp image of a progressive motion
   
   I can not praise the footage quality from this camcorder, it’s basically the best camcorder i have ever used, it beats my HF100 and HF S100 when it comes to sharpness and motion by far (I still prefer Canon colors though however Panasonic colors looks exactly as we see them in real life, Canon colors are unrealistic but looks more fun to me)

   The wide angle 35mm~ is much better than my previous canons (Canon 43mm~, a little bit zoomed in) but still not as wide as Sony latest camcorders 29mm~, The stabilization From TM700 is really groundbreaking, All low hand shake are completely gone! as if you are using a tripod, almost as good as Sony stabilization (Sony stabilization is the best in the market, Canon got the worst stabilization from the major companies)

   Now about the Major flaw with TM700… something i didn’t see coming and would have properly canceled my order if i knew about it before i bought it, the Audio is really noisy ! TM700 got a built in Fan on the side (Sony/Canon does not have a fan like tm700) the fan is noisy and the microphone will pick up the noise, now if you think closing the LCD and using the viewfinder will eliminate the fan noise you couldn’t be any wrong! close the LCD and the fan noise will be even higher !, problem is I’m afraid that it will collect dust over the months and it will properly be even louder by then or might even break.

   Other than the Fan noise (It sound like older tape camcorders noise through the entire video if you are familiar with tape noise) it’s an excellent camcorder, you can capture low light indoors without any problem (Much better than my canon camcorders when it comes to low light) you can’t hear the fan noise if you capture outdoors or in a noisy environment but for indoors or a quite environment you will hear it.

   Finally about the 1920x1080p60, you really need a quad core to even playback the footage! my Dual Core 2 Duo 2.5GHZ laptop can not play the footage at all (Trust me i tried everything it’s not a codec problem but you need power to play the footage) even PS3 can not play the footage smoothly, the PS3 will struggle to playback the video (Will freeze about half a second for every 4 seconds of playback)

   There is no 1920x1080p30 option in this camcorder, it’s either 1920x1080p60 28Mbps or 1920x1080i 17Mbps
   
   The camcorder playback the footage just fine though

   Some people are having trouble to edit the videos, well i use Sony Vegas Pro 9 and had no problems editing the 1080p60 footage.

   If you use an external microphone that only pick sound from the front you properly wont care about this flaw but for my use (Traveling etc) i need my camcorder to be as portable as possible so using an external microphone is not an option

   This camcorder would have gotten 5 Stars from me if it were not for the Fan issue.

   Update : Fan issue Test done by someone else [...] “Just search in VIMEO” “Panasonic TM700 indoor audio test”

   Update 2 : Returned the camcorder…. the noise issue is really ruining my videos, the noise is not stable it does change when you pan or change the position of the camcorder, read my 6th comment in comments below for video sample, since amazon wont let me post links
3. 

   Gabriel
   August 22nd, 2010 - 04:08

   Review by Gabriel for Panasonic HDC-TM700K Hi-Def Camcorder with Pro Control System & 32GB Flash (Black)
   Rating:
   Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3AGP9DCQFQSIZ There has been a lot of talking since the release of the HDC-TM700, a lot of good and bad things has been said. The reality of this will vary from the intention of the user and his abilities to get the most out of it. Some of the important facts to take into consideration before buying this camcorder is the specs of your existing computer or the economic ability to buy a new one with BD (Blu-ray) burner, at least 6GB RAM & lot of Hard Drive since the files produced by this HDC are really big. The wide lens is obviously a good thing but if you have one of the previous HDC models you can add a wide angle conversion lens to it and the result will be even wider.

   Now let’s talk about the “Ridiculous Price” that Panasonic came out with, this camcorder is $400 to $700 less expensive than others from the competitors including Panasonic’s predecessor HDC-TM300 for US & HDC-TM350 for UK, why? It’s because Panasonic has launched this dangerous experiment of putting a full time FAN inside the camcorder due to the heating of the Video Processor, when I said “full time” I mean it, the FAN is always on, so it’s logically simple that at some point it will break and then the Video Processor will die, of course this will happen 90% of the time after the warranty has expired so in real life you are leasing a good Camcorder for a limited period of time, how long it will last, I do not know, maybe 2-3 years, maybe less, or you may get lucky enough to have this problem before the 12 months warranty period.

   The Pros:

   * Better and more realistic Video Quality in this class
   
   * Wider aspect ratio which help for indoors and panoramic scenes
   
   * Ton of manual features

   The Cons:

   * Poor Battery Life
   
   * Mediocre Still Photo Quality
   
   * Insufficient internal Memory
   
   * Low LCD resolution
   
   * Deprive Sound Quality, especially in quiet environment due to the internal FAN

   The bottom line is, this camcorder produces good quality picture, good colors and have a lot of manual features but you have to have the right computer and the right editing software because otherwise you will end up using the camcorder as a reproducing machine (so the life expectancy of it will be less) and after the 32GB ends (only 2:50 Hours in the highest resolution) you’ll have to erase some material to have free space or buy some very expensive SDHC class 10.

   In my personal case this camcorder is helpful because I use it only a few times per month, when I’m going to some sporting events or a fast moving situation, on any other circumstance I carry the HDC-TM300 for day time and the HDC-TM350 for night or low light environment.

   ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
   
   HDC-TM700 vs. HDC-TM350 vs. HDC-TM300

   In this comparison you will have the opportunity to see 3 of the best Panasonic Camcorders working at the same time, HDC-TM700, HDC-TM350 & HDC-TM00 were recording simultaneously while the HDC-HS300 was used for still photography, and the HDC-HS350 was recording for 1:35 hours in “Time-Lapse REC” mode at 10 seconds interval.

   If you would like to see this “Video Review” in HD, which makes a huge of difference, you can go to Youtube and search for “Leasing a Good Camcorder”. The full address will be post on the comment because it’s not allowed here.

   Thanks for stopping by!
4. 

   Essar
   August 22nd, 2010 - 04:36

   Review by Essar for Panasonic HDC-TM700K Hi-Def Camcorder with Pro Control System & 32GB Flash (Black)
   Rating:
   The cooling fan was the biggest issue for me. I took the courage to buy this despite the reviews warning of the fan noise. But as I had owned a mini-dv earlier, and was pretty ok with the tape noise, I went in for the TM700. But the moment I switched the camcorder on and the fan kicked in, I knew it was trouble. You can hear the fan even if you keep the camcorder a few feet away and there is no way that you can avoid the mic picking it up. The only hope that the ambient noise drowns it away. I tried a few sample recordings with and without ambient noise, but the fan noise was picked up to a annoyingly high degree in either setting. The noise was picked up even with the AGC turned off (or maybe my ears had become sensitive to it by then).

   The picture was grainy too (on auto mode, in the indoor setting, corraborating Corbett’s Media experience in a previous review). I did not try it outdoors.

   I have since then picked up the Sony CX550 and have tried and decided to keep it (the indoor video image is far better). In comparison, the TM700 does have a few upsides – its smaller in size, has an easy menu system, better still images and of-course the 1080p recording. But net-net the TM700 loses out.
5. 

   temp
   August 22nd, 2010 - 05:02

   Review by temp for Panasonic HDC-TM700K Hi-Def Camcorder with Pro Control System & 32GB Flash (Black)
   Rating:
   I don’t have much experience with video but the image quality, ease of use and portability are fantastic. The fan noise is, however, a real issue. It will appear as a faint background whine in any recording with low ambient noise, even with an external mic mounted on the camera (in fact the Rode Videomic I use is more sensitive and makes it worse). Panasonic recommends adjusting the mic sensitivity to -15db; this does eliminate most but not all of the noise; with an external mic I found you had to reduce it to -21db to get rid of it entirely. And, the only way to set the mic level is in manual mode; if you revert back to intelligent auto that custom setting is lost. (I checked with the company: manual mode is fully manual, not just for whatever custom setting you may have specified.) Of course, some mics (later versions of the Rode, for example) and other add-ons let you adjust mic level independently of the camera. But, if you have to rely on the camera to do it, and want to shoot in auto mode, you are out of luck, unless you can mount the mic some distance from the camera.

   If sound quality is not an issue, or you use an independently-mounted microphone (not on or near the camera), or only record in situations where there is sufficient background noise to overwhelm it, it won’t be an issue; unfortunately that is not the always case. Note that if Panasonic had only chosen to mount the exhaust port on the bottom of the unit, pointing away from the mic (and where, incidentally, it would not be obstructed by the LCD panel when closed), the problem would have been negligible. (Indeed, multiple ports along the bottom would prevent it from being obstructed when mounted on a tripod and might bleed off the noise better.) I just can’t understand the engineering decision behind the placement, especially when the rest of the camera is so beautifully done. I really hope Panasonic reads this and other posts and takes the noise issue seriously, because I can’t accept this flaw as is and, in fact, returned the camera, but would get a version that fixes this problem without hesitation.

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