Panasonic HDCTM15 16GB Full HD Camcorder

7Sep/105

Panasonic HDCTM15 16GB Full HD Camcorder

Records Onto Built-in Memory (16GB), SD/SDHC Memory Card / Recording Format MPEG4-AVC/H.264 (AVCHD standard compliant); JPEG (Still Image)
Image Sensor (Effective) - 1.17 megapixels [16 - 9] / 1.17 megapixels [16 - 9] [Still Image] / Total Pixels 1.47 megapixels
Optical Zoom 16x Focal Length 2.95-47.2mm; 35mm Film Camera Equivalent 44.1-706mm [16 - 9]
Filter Diameter 30.5mm
Advanced O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilization) with Active Mode

HD images contain 6x as much information as standard images. HDTV has 1,080 horizontal scan lines, SDTV has 480. That translates into much higher resolution and much finer detail. With HD images on an HDTV, pictures are so clear and sharp that you can see textures. The shift in the industry from SDTV to HDTV is well underway. For shooting once-in-a-lifetime scenes that you want to capture in full beauty, an HD camcorder is the best choice.
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Rating: (out of 21 reviews)

List Price: $ 270.99

Price: $ 329.95

Tagged as: 16GB, Camcorder, Full, HDCTM15, Panasonic Leave a comment

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R. Lieb
September 7th, 2010 - 14:57

Review by R. Lieb for Panasonic HDCTM15 16GB Full HD Camcorder
Rating:
I use this camcorder taking vacation videos and for this purpose it does a great job.

Pros: Easy to download video files for storage onto hard drives or editing.

Great HD video in daylight conditions.

Small and light enough to take anywhere.

Image stabilization reduces shake when using zoom. Optical image stabilization at this price is a great selling point.

Auto-focus works great even during fast zooms.

Cons: Does not handle low light situations very well (grainy video).

Supplied battery does not last long enough between charges.

I use PowerDirector 8 to edit my videos and put them onto YouTube or burn them onto DVD. It works well with this AVCHD camcorder. All you need to do is connect the HDCTM15 to your PC via the supplied USB cable and point the software to where the video is stored.

Without editing software you can replay HD video onto a HD TV via the supplied component video cable or use a HDMI mini cable. Also supplied is a composite video/audio cable, a battery charger and a AC power supply adapter.

Highly recommended is that you also buy an extra battery such as the Panasonic VW-VBG130 1HR Battery Pack (for TM700, HS700, HDC-SD1 or AGHSC1U)

Also recommended are extra SD flash memory cards with at least a class 4 speed rating.
E. B. Hart
September 7th, 2010 - 15:39

Review by E. B. Hart for Panasonic HDCTM15 16GB Full HD Camcorder
Rating:
There is nothing I don’t like about this camcorder. Absolutely nothing. I am a gadget person, have been for 2 decades, and I’m an IT guy by trade. This camera has absolutely not disappointed me. I was able to pick it up for a really great price ($212) but even for $100 more it would have been a great deal. The video quality is great (even though it’s 1080i and not 1080p). The pictures that it takes turn out pretty good too, but don’t expect that feature to blow you away. It’s just a nice added bonus. It is pretty fantastic though that you can snap away with still shots during the video recording. My wife took over a dozen pictures of our daughter playing with her cousins while she was shooting video. It’s a great feature to have. The battery lasts about as long as expected for the price of the camcorder, about 1.5 to 2 hours, but you are able to use an AC adapter and continue using the camera. Videos and pictures transferred over to my laptop fairly quickly. I have yet to try a very large video file though. What is interesting is that all of the videos are connected in a way. Each time you record and stop, it actually pauses. So the videos will loop if you’d like them to, or you can create individual movies on your PC. Then there’s the menu options, which seem endless but all of them are usable and functional and the menu screens are easy to navigate on the TOUCH SCREEN panel.

On a side note: the software that comes with the camcorder is decent, but not impressive. It works great if you want to use it, I’m just snooty when it comes to these things. I’d rather transfer files over manually from the HD to my computer. It also said as I was installing the software that it wasn’t “compatible” with Windows 7, but it installed without a single issue and works just fine.

Basically, I have the absolute opposite of buyer’s remorse on this purchase. That rarely ever happens to me. I say to you… buy this camcorder!!
Rob
September 7th, 2010 - 16:03

Review by Rob for Panasonic HDCTM15 16GB Full HD Camcorder
Rating:
-Outdoor video in HD is beautiful. Full 1080p.

-Indoor or low light, a bit grainy like most others. The LED light is nice and bright though.

-Battery life one to one and a half hours. May want to get an extra. Can also be plugged into the wall. The battery is right under your palm and gets uncomfortably hot after a while. Sticker on the bottom tells you that’s normal.

-16x optical zoom is very nice. With optical image stablization. Up to 1000x digital zoom, and it works! However, little chance getting a stable picture when using heavy zoom unless using a tripod.

-Still camera takes clean shots, even while using video.

-The placement of the record button is a little awkward.

-Touch screen is easy to use with just about every option I can think of.

-Software is pretty good, easy to work with. Although I’ve yet to make a disc. AVCHD is exclusive to Panasonic I guess, so make sure your other equipment supports it. Can edit, dub over, etc.

-Comes with cords and charger but doesn’t include mini HDMI cable. Bought mine on Amazon for a couple of dollars. Works great.

-Small, lightweight. Similar to a can of pop.

-Auto focus, auto settings, auto light or do it all manually.

-Audio is clear, feeds out with the zoom if you like.

-And all settings can be easily changed to whatever you like.

-16gb internal memory good for 3 or 4 hours of HD video. More in lower definition settings. I added an 8GB class 4 SDHCcard, haven’t needed it yet.

-Screen tilts and flips upside down. Starts up and shuts down very quickly.

Overall a full HD with good zoom and all the features for $212. Can’t beat that. Should also mention it comes with a full instruction booklet as well as on screen help. Definitely recommend it.
Richard L. Hinderliter
September 7th, 2010 - 16:50

Review by Richard L. Hinderliter for Panasonic HDCTM15 16GB Full HD Camcorder
Rating:
My wife and I were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the movies produced by this little camera. A multitude of functions actually work to make creating quality clips much easier.

The sound quality is very good even including the ability to indicate how close to the camera the primary sound source should be. The anti-jiggle control works. It turns what would be a blurry shake into what appears to be a camera wobble.

Having 16gb built-in memory is a great feature. Especially for those times when you grab the camera and run but overlooks the fact that you left the memory card in the computer the last time you offloaded movies/pictures.

A pro is the very small size and light weight of the camera.

A con is also the light weight and small size because it can be a little difficult for a larger hand to get the camera in the palm where it best fits to operate all the controls.

It would be nice for the battery to have a larger capacity. Of course, there are many higher capacity batteries available for purchase.

I would never have guessed one could find this quality at this price.
ALLUZ
September 7th, 2010 - 17:26

Review by ALLUZ for Panasonic HDCTM15 16GB Full HD Camcorder
Rating:
this is a good product but battery last very short and very low light it is grainy but with proper lighting at night its a nice camcorder