Video Cameras - HD cameras

Hey Everyone!

Just finished looking up video cameras for my brother and Kala, so I thought I'd share some info.

The top three models right now are made by Panasonic, Canon, and Sony. Although I love the Canon interface on my Powershot S90, the winner of this most recent battle is Panasonic. If you don't want to read any more, just order the Panasonic HDC-TM700 HD from the Camera Store for about $1050 and you'll be happy - guaranteed.

The three top models are:

1) Panasonic HDC-TM700 HD
2) Canon HF S21
3) Sony HDR-CX550V

There is no review out for the Sony yet - the above links are for reviews from www.camcorderinfo.com and they seem to have the most comprehensive reviews.

All three are good choices. The Panasonic wins because:

1) Price - it costs 1050 compared to 1350 for the Canon and 1200 for the Sony
2) Video quality - it consistently has better video quality according to the tests
3) Large control ring - the ring that controls things (focus, exposure, etc) is large and surrounds the entire lens as opposed to a small ring below the lens
4) 60P - it can record at a full 60 frames per second, although the editing software on the mac, namely imovie, can't support this yet
5) It's lighter - 380 g for the Panasonic, 440 g for the Sony, and 520 g for the Canon (all weights without batteries)
6) It can film with less light available than both the Sony or Canon.

The Panasonic has faults as well:

1) It's LCD screen is smaller at 3 inches compared to 3.5 inches, and is low resolution at 230,000 pixels as opposed to 920,000 pixels for the competition. It's sensitivity is also not as good - Sony seems the best, then Canon.
2) the hand strap is the worst on the Panasonic. Canon has the most comfortable, followed by Sony.
3) The battery reportedly lasts 107 minutes, and an extra battery (double capacity) costs $235 at the Camera store! Sony has the cheapest options for extra batteries, followed by Canon.

This is all I'll say for now - this is based on research alone! Just ordered one from the Camera store for my brother Ivan - he'll let us know how it actually performs when he takes it to Hawaii next week!