Panasonic Professional AG-HMC40 AVCHD Camcorder with 10.6MP Still and 12x Optical Zoom

List Price: $2,318.00 Price: Too low to display

Product Details Extremely slow, smooth zoom for the precise control needed for dramatic sequences HD formats - 1080/60i, 1080/30p, 1080/24p (Native); 720/60p, 720/30p, 720/24p (Native) 12x Leica Dicomar lens (13 elements in 10 groups), 43mm filter , zoom range of 40.8 - 490mm (35mm equivalent) Time Date Stamp enables shooting Legal Depositions or Surveillance

Product Description

Panasonic s latest preface to its popular AVCCAM line, the AG-HMC40 handheld, combines full HD AVCHD video recording with euphoric-resolution 10.6-megapixel still photo capture, giving you the benefits of two professional cameras in one affordable box. Compact and lightweight at 2.16-pounds, the HMC40 is a versatile HD camcorder sacrifice high-quality AVCHD recordings, high-resolution still photo apprehension, an easy-to-use SD card workflow, and professional audio capabilities for a wide grade of applications and markets including schools, government agencies, incident videographers, web designers and more. With a full resolution 3-megapixel, 1/4-inch 3MOS imager, the HMC40 produces earth-shaking 1920x1080 video in AVCHD (MPEG-4 AVC/H.264), delivering images far standing to HDV. When used for digital still photography, the camera captures photos with 10.6-megapixel deliberation directly onto the SD card as a JPEG image. The camera can also be connected straight to a PictBridge photo printer (no PC required). And unlike HDV tapes, video and photos can be accessed randomly and directly from the SD cards and played back on a number of consumer devices. The camcorder s futuristic Leica Dicomar lens system offers 12X optical zoom, astray-angle setting (40.8mm) and an optical image stabilizer (O.I.S.) high point for precise shooting. The compact camera is also packed with professional video and audio features (HDMI out, season/time stamp, remote zoom, XLR option, etc.) Using elevated-capacity SD memory cards, the HMC40 provides hours of beautiful enormous definition recordings at professional level bit rates. It records in a range of 1080 and 720 formats with all four professional AVCCAM recording modes: PH fashion (average 21 Mbps/Max 24Mbps), the HA mode (approx.17 Mbps), the HG condition (approx.13 Mbps), HE mode (approx. 6 Mbps). AVCCAM offers the advance of a fast, file-based workflow using widely elbow and reasonably priced SD memory cards.

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Customer Reviews

An first-class pro-sumer camcorder to start off with...
If you are tag new to professional or pro-sumer camcorders or figure its about that time to step up from your handycam days into the world of professional audio/video, there is no mastery "starting gate" than the Panasonic AG-HMC40. Its smaller form factor will be a familiar "path" in terms of handling and rule but will also give you some more real estate to play with the included on-camera controls. Most of this stuff are things within the menus os stiff-end consumer camcorders but they have been placed on the camera body for quick reach and control. This enabled a lot of on-the-fly adjusting that was entirely not possible with lower end consumer camcorders of today.

Then they add manual adjusting with a focus ring, an iris dial master, three different user-controlled buttons and a wole host of other goodies that will propel your go through into the real of professional videography use.

The included battery that comes with the HMC40 is actually the MID-RANGE model that provides about 3 hours of fluid at full charge. Most models of camcorders like this (including the older brother HMC150) usually revive with the smallest size 1-hour battery but the fact that Panasonic decided to include the 3.5 hour freestyle in this kit is simply fantastic. The 8 hour extended battery is always recommended but this three hour long replica is definitely a welcome addition that will help offset the cost of buying an extended mobile, especially if you don't need longer than a 3 hour model (you can use the money saved for on-camera outward microphones, the optional XLR adapter, or external lighting).

Speaking of extras, the optional Panasonic XLR adapter is a MUST if you desire to use a good quality XLR shotgun or omni-directional microphone. External lighting is something you Surely will need if you plan on filming in low light as this camera's low light recording capabilities are middling at best without a decent light.

Also, don't be fooled. This camcorder records perfectly in it's highest importance mode with a GOOD QUALITY Class 4 SDHC card. As long as the SDHC liable act you plan to use is a good brand such as Transcend, PNY, Lexar, SanDisk, or other quality brands, a lineage 4 (with MINIMUM 4MBps write speeds) records perfectly. This camcorder records at a Apogee of 24Mbps (That is MEGABITS per second, which equals 3MBps -MEGABYTES PER SECOND-) and a quality Rate 4 SDHC cards writes at a MINIMUM of 4MBps (MEGABYTES per second). The ONLY reason you would yearn for a Class 6 or 10 speed SDHC card if if you wanted a higher transfer shoot (which is good when offloading the data off the card onto a computer. A Class 6 or 10 card should have a minimum belittle delete speed of 6MBps and 10MBps respectively, with good quality SDHC cards even having a minimum forget about speed of 16MBps - 30MBps (Lexar, Transcent, SanDisk being my favorites). I've heard bad things with ADATA cards and this camcorder so please be hip in case you plan on using lower quality SDHC cards as you might get distortion, pixelization, ect.

I expectancy this helps you in your purchase of this great professional Panasonic camcorder!

2010-07-19 | Vinny "The Hitman" Del Vecchio (Long Island, NY) | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 5

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Panasonic AG-HMC40
I bought this camera to burgeon stock footage and it does a great job. I wish it had a few more manual controls that were not done via touch camouflage. Other than that really it does a great job. The camera has lots of features, and for the price just can't be outdo!

2010-07-14 | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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Morality camera horrible tech support
This is a fantastic camera, professional results the whole 9 yards. But don't expect ANY tech support, not any, mind you, you won't get any response from panasonic. I didn't well perchance in 5 days any way, at these prices I should have expected the best support any company can give. Not from Panasonic, the ironic thing about all this, is the enchiridion if better written could have avoided all this grief.They need to upgrade their support. It is sad that such a good camera is weakened by such a callous disregard for their customers. If you by this camera good luck in getting support!

2010-07-12 | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 3

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HMC40 Top of the Spiel for Price
My Panasonic HMC40 came with Berry Immature's HMC book and Edius editing software, adding an extra $250 worth of value to my investment. I virtuous finished reading the book and can assure you that it's packed with valuable information beyond what you will find in the user handbook. I would also recommend others to join online user groups like [...] and do some research on this camera, editing software, and toil flows people are using. Editing AVCHD is extremely challenging - even for some of the pro's with state of the art software and computers.

Potential from a standard definition Canon GL2 prosumer camera, I figured it wouldn't be too challenging to learn the functions of this camera, but I grant, it's a bit more technical than I thought it would be. Sure, you can shoot in full automatic and get pretty good results, but the astonishing results come when you learn to use some of the camera's more professional features. (This camera was developed by Panasonic's broadcast group, not their consumer division.)

I believe the HMC40 received a bum rap from people worried about the "jello effect" of 3MOS sensors (google it). It took a while for populace to figure that out before sales took off. I generally shoot in 720 60p mode at 1/60th shutter and unless I undeniably try to make this effect happen...it doesn't cause me an issue. All cameras have their strengths and weaknesses and some population obsess over them rather than learn to operate their equipment within its bounds.

At the time I purchased my HMC40 it was clearly the numero uno of the pack in its price-point. Sony has recently come out with a model to compete against it for around $300 less, but after reviewing its specs (far naff), unless money is your deciding factor, I would still recommend opting for the HMC40.

I gave the battery existence 4 stars because, like most batteries, it is a bit small and you always have to purchase another battery. I gave 4 stars for unconcern of use because, even though the manual is pretty good, it's not easy to use unless you already have plenty of experience with pro or prosumer prone equipment. I gave it 4 stars for image quality due to being a bit weak in low light. Fortunately, you can add more improve on this camera than you can get away with some other cameras to make up some of the difference, but Panasonic should have engineered this for better low light carrying-on, especially when they knew full-well this would be used as an event camera (like weddings)where low light skills is critical. Other than that, the image is great when properly exposed. On manual controls I went 4 stars because of how they embedded some basic functions in the touch screen menus making it inconvenient to make spirited changes on the fly.

Obviously, to earn 5 stars this camera would have to be its big brother, the HMC150 at a cost purposes higher. But, for the money, this camera is a very good investment.

2010-07-11 | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 4

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Ardent Pro-sumer Camcorder
Panasonic Professional AG-HMC40 AVCHD Camcorder with 10.6MP Still and 12x Visual Zoom

The Panasonic AG-HMC40 camcorder provides most of the features and the look of a full professional camcorder, with the convenience and light consequence of a consumer camcorder. What sets it apart from something like a palm sized camcorder is the clone quality and the amount of manual control. The main thing missing that would make this an excellent pro camera is the full vade-mecum lens. While the HMC40 does have a manual focus ring, it controls the focus electronically and not scientifically. Also, there is no dedicated manual zoom or iris ring on the lens, although the focus ring can be programmed to authority these functions one at a time.

That being said, the image quality of this camcorder is excellent, even when compared to prosumer camcorders costing duplicate. The lens maintains crisp focus right out to the edges, with no noticable chromatic malformation (false color fringes around objects). The lens on my similarly priced Sony FX7 had this unruly.

Low light capability is very good. It does get a little grainy at 36 db gain but the idea still remains sharp. At 18db gain, the image is crisp with very little grain. Changing the diverse video settings from default in the menu can lower the grain and bring out more contrast. Outdoors, or indoors in optimistic light, the image is simply stunning. Colors are very true and well saturated, and you can add more or less saturation in the menu snare. In a dimly lit room like a wedding reception, you can get by without lights if you have to.

There are hundreds of combinations of copy adjustments in the menu system, and if you are new to prosumer camcorders, some of these terms may not be familiar. The camcorder has a cinema gamma trend, a native 24 frame progressive mode, cinema matrix, skin modify softener, detail coring, manual DRS and three preset Knee controls. When you combine these settings, you get a very film over-like image. You'll need to read the online manual, or just experiment with assorted settings in different light until you see what you like. There's enough settings to keep you playing for days. One in particular, the waveform trace, is very useful in setting up the manual iris for the brightest possible exposure without hot spots.

The internal mike and switchable audio parallel controls and the ability to turn AGC on or off provides good audio for most purposes. With AGC on, the audio will not tax even when a few feet from the speaker blast of a loud DJ. The AGC is gentle, without the harsh pumping action found on consumer camcorders. An XLR shotgun mike and XLR audio adapter with superior manual audio level control is optional and plugs into a dedicated audio mooring on the camera. It does not simply convert to unbalanced 1/8 inch jacks as many of these adapters do. It's actually a balanced line or mike input all the way through, with or without phantom power. You'll need the XLR adapter and a integrity boom mike for film production, of course.

Battery life is three hours with the included battery-operated, and six hours with an optional pack. Enough to get you through the day.

The camcorder uses the AVCHD format, which is a better smallness technique (at the 24 meg mode) than the MPG 2 of HDV tapes. You can set it for 1080 60i 1080 24p, 1080 30p, 720 24p, 720 30p and 720 60p. There are four details rates. 5 meg/sec, 13, 17 and 24. The differences are minimal from 13 to 24. The picture is slightly softer and slightly blocky at the 5 meg setting when there is a lot of motion in the subject, but even at that setting you can still fashion an excellent image for making a DVD. It's a good choice for recording long programs on smaller thought cards when there isn't much motion, like a speech.

The best feature is recording to inexpensive SD and SDHC cards. There are no emotional tape transports or hard drives to fail, so this camcorder will last until you drop it on the sidewalk or into a swimming lagoon. Image quality will probably not improve much in newer camcorders in this price range for some time to separate. With ever increasing memory size SDHC cards getting cheaper every week, this camcorder's recording position grows by the month. It's a great choice for recording events for hire as well as smaller TV passenger station news departments.

Rick Bennette, [...]

2010-06-21 (South Florida, USA) | Helpful Votes: 4 | Rating: 5

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CaseCrown Deluxe AirCell Lined Case with Shoulder Strap for the Panasonic Professional AG-HMC40...

List Price: $143.99

Product Details Additional pockets and compartments for additional organization and storage space. Padded and lined with lycra AirCells to provide the best protection. Protection for the Panasonic Professional AG-HMC40 AVCHD Camcorder with 10.6MP Still and 12x Optical Zoom Comes with an attachable adjustable AirCell padded shoulder strap.

Product Description

Keep and carry your camcorder with this elite CaseCrown AirCell carrying took place. The interior is lined with premium lycra air filled AirCells that are rupture and tear resistant. These AirCells will cradle and protect your camcorder, providing the finery protection. Included comes with four partition barriers that you can easily ignore into the bag to create compartments to adjust and create space in the case as needed. Also included is an malleable, attachable shoulder strap that is also padded with AirCells for maximum resourcefulness and mobility. The bag also offers additional compartments and pockets designed to power all of your accessories in an organized fashion, offering excellent visibility and storage rank. The perfect solution for your protection needs!

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Customer Reviews

Eager case
This example in any event has many outer pockets to quickly grab whatever you need. The padded shoulder strap is a pleasingly feature, as are the adjustable dividers to fit whatever size camera you may be carrying.

2010-08-06 | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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Panasonic Pro AG-HMC150 3CCD AVCHD 24fps Camcorder

Price: Too low to display

Product Details 3.5-inch LCD monitor displays thumbnails for quick non-linear access to clips 13X Wide angle 28 mm lens out of the box (35mm equiv.); 1/3-inch CCD Progressive Imagers Full range of HD formats: 1080/60i, 1080/30p, 1080/24p (Native); 720/60p, 720/30p, 720/24p (Native) Higher bit-rate recording than consumer models (21 Mbps PH Mode)

Product Description

The AG-HMC150 handheld incorporates three 1/3-inch advancing CCD imagers to produce stunning 1920 x 1080 resolution impression quality far exceeding older Long GOP formats like HDV. It s operational with a high-performance wide-angle Leica Dicomar 13x zoom lens and 24- and 30-casing progressive capture in a full range of HD formats, making it well suited for all types of projects. With an galvanizing range of professional video and audio features and a compact, well-balanced point, the HMC150 is a must have for video professionals and enthusiasts looking for the best in affordable HD. Includes: AG-HMC150 AVCHD Camcorder, AC adapter/mount, 2640mAh battery pack, AC cord, DC cord, Wireless God-forsaken controller with button-type battery, Microphone holder, Eye cup, Straightforwardly Belt, Component video cable, PIN-BNC conversion plugs, Ferrite quintessence, Binder, CD-ROM, The following accessories are attached to the unit. Lens hood cap and INPUT 1/2 VDU = 'visual display unit' cover

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Customer Reviews

STRONGLY RECOMMENDED!
Panasonic has done an prime job of designing this camera. The record buttons are at your fingertips, the playback speaker is no longer under the camera, and the menu sting is very easy to use. Transferring from a SD card saves so much time and money and is you aren't worried about the adopt on your heads. I haven't had any problems with the camera or it's quality to date. If you are looking for a camera in this sacrifice range, I STRONGLY recommend this one.

2010-05-19 (Charlotte, NC, US) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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Teeming, Despite Cost Cutting Measures
If you are looking for an affordable camcorder that truly shoots 1920x1080 24p with XLR inputs and good control over image settings, this constituent will not disappoint in terms of picture quality.
Despite all my negative comments below, when it comes down to it the camera produces and exceedingly good picture and film like look when you have your settings and lighting correctly done.

My last camera was the Canon XL2, when I opened the box the the HMC-150 I was unambiguously underwhelmed. The build quality seems cheap, you can just see how they did some cost cutting to get the price down on this camera.

Lets phiz it, for the price you get good features so it's hard to complain but here is what I don't like:

CONS
1. 4:3 LCD is absolutely a wilderness, obviously they pulled it from the parts bin from older models to cut costs.
2. Zoom, is either manual or servo, can't use both. Destitution to toggle a switch to switch between.
3. On screen menus are straight out of a video titler from the 90s. Wooly and just overall thrown together I am sure Panasonics menus on cheaper camera have to be wagerer.
4. Auto zoom rocker speed not all that adjustable takes time to adjust too.
5. Freestyle that comes with the unit is worthless, if you are actually going to use the camera for more than 60 minutes at a moment you need to upgrade.
6. Tons of buttons all over the place, requires some exploration. Quite often you find yourself asking why did they put that there?
7. Built in microphone is common but who seriously uses those on any camera anyway?

PROS
1. Price
2. Extremely good picture status and film like look when probably lit and scene file settings are dialed in.
3. Comparatively light weight easy to move around.
4. Optical stabilizer works pretty well.
5. Zoom benefit function quite handy.
6. Lens despite negative reviews is great for this bonus range.
7. SD card recording is top notch.
8. XLR inputs with phantom power.
9. Outputs amounts, should cover all your needs.
10. Head phone jack re-enforced.

In the end most of the negative parts of this camera are washed in another place, when you have realistic expectations of it's capabilities.

2010-05-19 | Douglas Quaid (USA,) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 4

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HMC150 Rocks - Illustrious Alternative to $$$ P2 Cards
I've had the Panasonic HMC150 for a few weeks now and have reach-me-down it on a few shoots and have been very pleased. It has been especially handy for shooting long form presentations and breathe events, as you can get over 100 minutes of 720P HD on a 16GB SDHC card that I bought for [...] each on [...]. That is a stupendous advantage when you have a lot to shoot and don't have the time between shots to dump off your P2 cards to the laptop. There are a few extra stops on the ND Sieve preset versus the 200 camera, and the lens seemed to hold up well even at long lengths from the back of a recitation hall. Wish it had come with a higher capacity on the battery but other than that, this is a good addition to our sure of Panasonic HD cameras. Import into Final Cut Pro 6 was easy via "Log & Transfer" and the overall quality of the video is peerless.

2010-04-23 | TVKing (Chicago, IL) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

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I'm Beneficial
I was as a matter of fact looking at either this or the HMC40. The 40 was more in my price range, but after seeing it in person and seeing the 150 I had to go with the 150. This camera is gargantuan. I wish it was a little cheaper, but it's worth the money. Especially, if you are using it for work. I at most received my camera last week and just been getting more familiar with it. I will put her to the real test this weekend when I have a slip. The thing I really, really like is that there is no tape! No moving parts! I don't have to worry about logging and capturing footage. Fair-minded plug the SD card in, download, and render! And most important, NO TAPE GETTING STUCK IN THE CAMERA!!!! I couldn't counter that! Panasonic has really done it with this camera! Thank you, and I recommend this camera.

2010-03-23 (Charlotte, NC) | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 5

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Bad codec, and the best for the price.
I got my HMC-150 in january and yet i don't have any woe of this. Well, the only thing that i can say is that it came with a nano battery, it only longs for 100 minutes, which is almost nothing. You need o buy it with a larger mobile separately.

I love the fact that it records in SD card, is really practical, easy to use, and exceptionally safe. I had doubts about this delicate data being saved in this tiny SD cards, but now i love it. The AVCHD codec is stunning, it looks better than the Panasonic P2 200. I want to buy an 35mm Nikkor adapter to get better deep of football... But the optical is really good too, it's wider than the older models, and has more deep of interest too.

This is a great product if you want to record truly HD videos. The price is really unextravagant, and easy to use too.

2010-03-22 (Santo Domingo, RD) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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Panasonic AGHMC70PJU AVCHD 3CCD Flash Memory Professional Camcorder with 12x Optical Image...

List Price: $2,499.99 Price: Too low to display

Product Details Records onto standard SD/SDHC cards to assure a fast tapeless production workflow 1/4-inch 3-CCD progressive image system with excellent sensitivity Includes 12X 38.5mm to 462mm (35mm equivalent) Leica Dicomar wide-angle zoom lens Shoulder-mount camcorder featuring AVCHD High Profile video codec

Product Description

The AG-HMC70 provides entrance-level professionals with an easy-to-use, high-quality, solid-regal HD recording solution at an affordable price. The HMC70 is the first shoulder-mount camcorder in Panasonic s professional AVCHD on the short list for-up to utilize the new AVCHD High Profile video codec, which offers alike resemble image quality to HDV 1080i at about half the bandwidth. This second-age group, affordable HD format offers longer recording times and partially the storage requirement of older systems. As easy to use as a digital camera, the HMC70 records onto yardstick SD/SDHC cards to assure a fast tapeless production workflow. It gives you fixed access to content without fast forward or rewinding, and footage is this instant available to editing systems without the download delay and additional rate of a playback deck. Using just one 16GB SDHC memory likely, the HMC70 can record over 2.6 hours at 13Mbps, the HMC70 s highest quality course, or up to 6 hours at 6Mbps, the camera s extended recording mode. SD and SDHC cards are extensively available, and content can be played back in AVCHD-compatible consumer products with SD postcard slots including Blu-ray players, Playstation 3, computers (using an AVHCD decoder software), and a increasing number of large HD flat screen displays and front or rear-shield projectors. (This camera uses 43mm filters.)

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Customer Reviews

Outstanding camera, but don't skimp on the accessories.
This is an A-one camera for the money with acceptable quality in low-light conditions, but I would recommend purchasing a extensive-life battery, a solid microphone, and plenty of storage (two 32 GB SDHC cards or four 16 GB for exemplar def recording). With these three accessories, there's no limit on what you can capture.

2010-03-15 | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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Okay value
This is the first "prosumer" HD camcorder I've hardened. For the money I can't see the need for anything else. The video is great (as long as you get the correct lighting kit) and adding apparent audio via a mic is a snap. Make sure you invest in a larger SD card. The 2Gb card that comes with it only gives you about 20min of video on the highest settings. Other than that the item is constructed well and is light weight.

2009-07-20 (Huntsville, Alabama) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

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Professional Idea Quality in an Amateur Camera Body
As the retired prevalent technology officer for a Fortune 100 company that developed their own digital cine camera, my essential interest was in image quality. This 3-CCD, 1440 x 1080i anamorphic 16:9 format camera produces remaining image quality -- closer to the theoretical limits of performance of 1/4 inch sensors than anything in its rate range.

The complex optics (zoom with a telecentric focal length converter in the lead of the prism assembly) should be expected to reduce the available contrast ratio because it has so many glass surfaces. Without the worldly equipment to measure MTF (modulation transfer function) at home, I measured effective dedication instead, which was 576 lp/pw vs. the theoretical limit of 719 lp/pw in the horizontal axis. This is an indication that all the glassware surfaces are, indeed, causing a significant loss of contrast ratio.

Even so, the camera performs very well in almost all respects. Panchromatic active range excedes 6 stops (I cannot reliably measure more than that) vs. a theoretical limit at room temperature of around 9 f-stops assumption the 4.4 um pixel size (horizontal axis). Color saturation falls off quickly with non-optimum exposure. It measured out at ASA 100 with 0 dB of gain.

It has two XLR inputs.

So far, it warrants about four stars.

Now for the bad part: Narcotic addict features are poor. Perhaps they are adequate for ENG work and action footage, but nowhere near adequate for professional photography. This is like a kiddie toy wrapped around a very high-frequency quality lens + sensor package. This mystifies me: Putting a Trabant or Yugo main part around a Mercedes engine. Here are the problems:

* The body is a big, mostly-empty box with mold lines showing, in a medium hoary color, with labels for connectors and controls being molded in vs. silk-screened (which makes them entirely unreadable in most lighting situations)

* No manual focus ring. Manual focus can be attained, but only by operation the focus motor through pushbuttons. THIS MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE TO USE THIS CAMERA FOR FOLLOW-FOCUS SHOTS, and will therefore thoroughly disqualify it for use by anyone that must have this capability.

* No manual iris ring, either. Again, buttons must be used with the menu to set sagacity of field.

* Gain cannot be set higher than 0 dB when the iris is closed below full-open. This takes away an high-ranking variable in depth of field control.

* Iris full-open is not marked. I still don't really comprehend what it is. It's probably around f/1.6 or some odd number like that.

* White balance is available in only one of four pre-select modes.

* There is no visual anti-alias filter, so any pattern with detail approaching half the pixel-limited verdict will generate moire patterns; even weave patterns in clothing.

In summary, this looks like two exceptional design teams were involved. One for the internals and a separate (and thoroughly incompetent one) for the user tiller, form factor, and externals.

For my purposes, this is a high-quality hand-held prosumer camera in a kid's toy shot and I cannot really use it for professional work. But, if you need a shoulder-mounted ENG camera for outdoor action photography, this might be right-minded the ticket.

2009-06-18 | Helpful Votes: 27 | Rating: 3

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Matchless Video quality But Camera is Large
OK, I am not a professional videographer, but I be aware what looks good on a nice television or screen. I tried the smaller HD camcorders (Canon HF 10, and Sony HDR-SR11), and they have but for the fact that video quality if you do not move the camera. I mean don't follow your kids around the yard or try to video a bird in desert or pretty much anything moving. What happens is that you get a kind of ghosting in the video, so the High Def picture I was shooting for looked very pixellated and low supremacy. I decided to try a prosumer type video camera, and this one was the least expensive HD available at the time. Once it indoors at my house I used it to video several different scenes that gave me difficulty with the hand-helds. The attribute of the video was astounding. I could get the same quality during moving shots that I could get with the static shots using the boost-helds. Great I thought I solved the problem of pixellated video in HD. However, there was one small puzzle. This Camera is Ginormous (Gigantic+enormous) Considerably larger than the old VHS style camcorders. I love the video dignity, but it is too big to carry to Disney World or a soccer game or pretty much anywhere that you are not set up to shoot video. The before you can say 'Jack Robinson' memory is excellent, and I have not noticed a huge difference in the picture quality of this camera utilizing twinkle memory and my current Sony HDR-FX7 utilizing tape.

2009-04-15 (Savannah, GA) | Helpful Votes: 8 | Rating: 4

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Most Batter for your Buck: HD shoulder cam with xlr inputs
Undisputed to look for an inexpensive shoulder mounted high definition camcorder: there are currently, as Feb. 2009 two models within reach. The Sony HVR-HD1000 and the Pansonic AG-HMC70 (HMC70P, HMC70PJ are NTSC models, PAL models use different numbers). After scrutiny out online reviews by Digital Content Producer and VideoMaker, I decided to go with the Panasonic camcorder.

The unashamedly models both use "professional" versions of consumer handheld cameras. So don't think that for 2 grand you are buying a camcorder that can correlate to the more expensive models. The Sony records HDV compression to Mini-dv tapes V.S. the Panasonic recording in AVCHD (13Mbps highest opportunity) to SDHC memory cards. While the HD video quality is sharper with the Sony, the Panasonic AVCHD still looks opportune without the blocky artifacts you sometimes see when recording motion in HDV compression. The biggest reason for me going with the HMC70 was that it had XLR inputs (use exotic mic instead of camera's mic), while the Sony only had mini-jack for mic input. I also wanted to use memory cards as opposed to of tapes.

Check out online reviews for yourself before buying either camcorder.

2009-02-18 (St. Louis, MO United States) | Helpful Votes: 8 | Rating: 5

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Opteka X-GRIP Professional Camera / Camcorder Action Stabilizing Handle with Accessory Shoe for...

List Price: $59.99

Product Details High-grade ABS impact-absorbent plastic Fits most compact cameras and camcorders with a standard 1/4-20 thread 1 Year Opteka Warranty Shoe mount (removable) for video lights, flashes, or microphones

Product Description

The Opteka X-Deal with handle can be used by both a professional or amateur user. This incredible support offers soundness and control. The removable shoe attachment enables you to add a video lighten, flash or microphone. Extremely useful product for shooting events extraordinarily skateboarding and other extreme sports.

~ Fits most compact cameras and camcorders with a paradigm 1/4-20 thread
~ Cushioned NBR padded handle alleviates the tenseness of lengthy filming
~ High-grade ABS impact-absorbent mouldable
~ Non-slip rubber rails
~ Shoe mount (removable) for video lights, flashes, or microphones
~ Max camera high point: 4.75" (120mm)
~ Dimensions: 8.25" X 9.75" X 3.50" HxLxW (209mm X 247mm X 89mm)
~ Burden: 12.2 oz (345g) without devices
~ 1 Year Opteka Warranty

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Customer Reviews

extraordinary product for an amazing price
My son was looking for a stabilizing steer for his video camera. This was the perfect price and an awesome purchase. Very easy to use and store. Would definately buy from this seller again.Opteka X-View Professional Camera / Camcorder Action Stabilizing Handle with Accessory Shoe for Flash, Mic, or Video Torch (Black)

2010-08-15 | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 5

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ooooo pet
like many who toe-hold this, i film skateboarding. i have a nikon d5000. for a dslr, this helps a lot with stabilization because you have to hold a dslr differently than a camcorder. i persuade this if you have one. also id your camera has bad sound quality you should buy an external mic and put it on top.also obviously a good fisheye with a wide seek close to 180 degrees. its very high quality and worth themoney i definately interesting buying it for a dslr

2010-08-07 | BOSS (nj) | Helpful Votes: 3 | Rating: 5

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What is that thing called that is on most professional camcorders?

Q: On most professional camcorders, they have this jet-black rim around the lense, I would assume its to omit surrounding light from entering the lenses. They have them on for norm a Canon GL2 and 1. I want to know so I would be able to buy an outside one to add to a Panasonic GS-500
Here is an example of what I mean.

http://wize.com/photos/stinting/18473.jpg

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A: They are called Lens hood and it can either be Straightforward or round, depending on your camera model.