Panasonic HC-V700 Camcorder Review

Color

Like most mid-range and high-end HD camcorders, the Panasonic HC-V700 handled our color test extremely well. The color error measured at a low 3.74 and the saturation level was a solid 95%. Both of these scores are very good, but "very good" is basically what we see from most camcorders these days. The Panasonic TM90 had very similar numbers in this test, as did the Canon HF M52 and JVC GZ-GX1. More on how we test color.

You won't find any color presets on the HC-V700 camcorder, but there is a (somewhat hidden) picture effects menu that has a few options for tweaking the colors of your video. You can shift the saturation levels (color depth), alter the color temperature (white balance adjust), and manipulate sharpness. This is more control than you'd find on many camcorders in this price range, but you don't get any quick-and-easy color presets (like a vivid or natural mode) on the V700.

Low Light Color

Color results were also very strong for the HC-V700 in low light. The camcorder kept color error to just below 4.0 and the saturation level was right around 75%. These are good numbers, especially the color accuracy numbers, and it shows improvement for the V700 over last year's Panasonic TM90. Some users may be disappointed by the lack of punch in the V700's colors in low light, but remember, the camcorder does have a manual color depth adjustment option that lets you increase saturation on your own. More on how we test low light color.

Noise

In bright light, the Panasonic V700 showed little presence of noise in our video tests. The average noise levels were 0.6%, which is lower than the noise we measured on the Panasonic HDC-TM90 last year. Basically, in bright light you aren't going to see much noise (if any) in your videos shot with the HC-V700. More on how we test noise.