Panasonic HC-V700 Camcorder Review
- Sections:
- Canon Vixia HF M52 Comparison
Canon Vixia HF M52 Comparison
There's a heated battle going on between these two models, both of which are vying for the top rank in the mid-range camcorder class. There are four key things that separate these two models:
Price — The Canon HF M52 costs more than the HC-V700. A lot more. The M52's original MSRP was $750, but you can find it online for around $700 right now. The Panasonic started at $600, but it's dropped significantly. You can find an HC-V700M (with internal memory) for as low as $400 online—that's a difference of almost $300 bucks compared to the Canon. Yes, the HF M52 comes with double the internal memory (32GB), but that's not enough to justify that kind of price difference.
Lens — The Panasonic has a wider lens by roughly 20 degrees, and its lens has more than double the amount of optical zoom as Canon's. Basically, the V700's lens is more versatile, more powerful, and more useful than the one on the HF M52.
Low Light Performance — Here's where Canon knocks it out of the park. The HF M52 can handle situations with very little light just fine, while the Panasonic V700 starts to struggle in very low light scenes. In bright light, the two models are more or less equals in most categories (although the Panasonic did do better with image stabilization).
Frame Rates — The Panasonic has 1080/60p recording, but it doesn't have a 24p mode for recording cinema-like video. The Canon has the opposite: no 60p setting, but it has the 24p and 30p frame rates that cinema-lovers want.
Both camcorders have adequate controls and both have roughly the same weight and dimensions. The Panasonic seems to be tuned a bit more towards beginners, while the Canon feels and looks more sophisticated. These are both very good mid-range camcorders, but with the HC-V700 priced so competitively right now, it would be difficult not to recommend it over the Canon. Until the price of the HF M532 starts to come down, which will probably happen around the holidays, the Panasonic V700 is the smarter buy.
