Panasonic HDC-HS300 First Impressions Camcorder Review

The HDC-HS300 is the top-of-the-line high definition camcorder from Panasonic coming for 2009. As with last year's HDC-HS100 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $949.00) and HDC-SD100 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $899.00), Panasonic is providing users with plenty of bells and whistles for experienced videophiles: a viewfinder, lens ring, headphone/microphone jacks, and tons of manual controls. However, Panasonic might lose some fans over the switch to touch screen controls, which aren't as precise or responsive as traditional joystick or directional pad controls. The other big change is under the hood; Panasonic has altered the size and resolution of their three CMOS sensors. The company claims the new sensor will reduce noise, but we'll have to wait until the camorder is in our labs until we make the final determination.

Front
The front of the HDC-HS300 continues the same basic design of the HDC-HS100, but with one major architectural change: the new large aperture Leica lens. The lens now dominates the facade in a manner reminiscent of the 2008's high definition model from Samsung, the SC-HMX20 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $849.99). The front is also home to Panasonic's unique manual control lens ring, though the operation of the ring has changed slightly from last year's model. When the LCD is open, the lens ring only controls focus or zoom—white balance, shutter speed, and iris are controlled exclusively via the new touch screen. If you want to use the ring for all the major manual controls, you'll have to use the viewfinder. Nestled next to the lens is the flash and a focus assist lamp for still photography.

The front of the HDC-HS300 is dominated by the new large aperture lens.

Right
The right side of the HDC-HS300 is primarily composed of the bulk of the hard drive. Your grip on the hard drive is secured by the same basic hand strap that was on last year's models. It's sturdier and more stable than the last generation of Panasonic hand straps, but it could so with some more comfort and padding. Also hiding on the right is the microphone and headphone port.

The right side of the HDC-HS300 is mostly hard drive.

Back
Panasonic has made a couple of slight changes to the back of the HDC-HS300, but none so valuable as removing the HDMI and USB ports from inside the battery cavity to the LCD cavity. We've been befuddled by Panasonic's bletcherous port design for years... why place ports underneath the battery where you have to remove the battery any time you want to view or transfer footage? Unfortuantely, the DC power input is still hidden away—you can't charge the battery and use the camcorder at the same time. Something is, of course, better than nothing.

Panasonic gets props for improving the design, but there's still room for improvement.

Left
The left side of the HDC-HS300 is a sleek black affair. Up front is a switch for toggling the lens ring operation between focus and zoom. There's also a button for entering the Function menu, which seems like an extraneous feature now that the other manual controls have been moved away from the lens ring. In last year's model, the function button allowed you to use the lens ring for white balance, shutter speed, and iris. It made sense to keep all the operation at the front of the camcorder. On the HDC-HS300, pressing the Function button merely opens a menu that requires you to move your left hand back to the LCD for touch screen operation.

Inside the LCD, there's a hub of activity. You'll find a button for engaging the optical image stabilization and a playback speaker. More importantly, Panasonic has finally wised up and transported the ports from their absurd placement inside the battery cavity to a more logical location here in the LCD cavity. Under a sliding cover, you'll find a composite AV output, proprietary component output, and mini-HDMI output. Below this compartment is a USB port, complete with a flimsy plastic port cover. Next to the USB port is an SD/SDHC card slot, which flips open via a small switch.

The LCD itself is 2.7 inches and—new for Panasonic—operated via touchscreen. Below the LCD are a few different buttons: Quick Menu, Record, Zoom, Menu, and Delete.

The sleek black profile of the HDC-HS300 (above). The new touch screen LCD and a cavity full of ports (below).

Top
The top is much like the design of last year's model. The hottest features is the cold accessory shoe—a feature coveted by more experienced videographers. Also on top is the 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound microphone, which is situated conveniently for picking up sound, but in danger of scuffing and muffing from stray pinkies. The top is also home to the still capture button and a newly designed zoom toggle.

The top of the HDC-HS300

Bottom
The bottom of the HDC-HS300 has no particularly exciting features—just the battery release and a tripod mount.

The unexciting bottom of the HDC-HS300