Panasonic HDC-HS300 First Impressions Camcorder Reviewby Kaitlyn ChantryPublished on Jan 9, 2009 3:49 AM
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Auto ModeThe HDC-HS300 includes a number of features that Panasonic groups into its Intelligent Auto (iA) mode. The star of the show is Panasonic's new AF/AE tracking technology. This feature was one of the driving forces behind Panasonic switching over to touch screen controls. With AF/AE tracking, the user selects a subject on the touch screen and the camcorder will adjust focus and exposure for that subject, even as the subject moves within the frame.
Another iA feature is Face Framing, Panasonic's face detection technology, which can be set to off, primary, and all. When set to "all," the framing can detect up to 15 faces in all.
The last element of Panasonic's iA technology is the Advanced O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilization), which can be selected for use with video or still photography.
Low Light Modes
The HDC-HS300 includes a rather drastic low light mode called "MagicPix" as well as an auto slow shutter mode. Auto slow shutter allows the user to adjust shutter speed down to 1/30 when recording in 60i and 1/24 in 24p.
Scene Modes
Another iA feature is Intelligent Scene Selector, which asks the camcorder to analyze the shooting conditions and automatically switches the camcorder into the appropriate scene mode. A scene mode can also be selected manually when not in iA mode. Options are represented by common icons, but you can also bring up tool tips that will explain each available scene mode. Choices include: Portrait, Snow, Twilight, Sports, Spotlight, Beach, Fireworks.
ZoomZoom on the HDC-HS300 can be controlled by three different methods: the tradition top-mounted zoom toggle, a secondary zoom toggle located on the LCD panel, and the lens ring. This year, Panasonic has moved away from the sliding zoom switch and has integrated a more familiar rocking zoom toggle. The new toggle is much more responsive than the old design.
Zooming with the lens ring seems alluring in practice, but the HS300 is riddled with the same problem we saw on the HS100: the placement of the flash interrupts a smooth 360-degree turn of the ring. Considering there are just two features attached to the lens ring now, it's disappointing that the manual zoom isn't integrated better.
When zooming, the LCD screen provides both the exact zoom ratio (in whole numbers) and a progress bar to give you a sense of where you are in the zoom range.
Zoom Ratio
The Panasonic HDC-HS300 comes equipped with a 12x optical zoom and 30x-700x digital zoom.
Focus
The HDC-HS300's manual focus lens ring is an exact replica of the excellent focus tool on last year's HDC-HS100 and SD100. Near the front of the lens is a switch for toggling the lens ring's function between zoom and focus. Now that the other manual controls have been all but removed from the lens ring, switching between zoom and focus is easy and intuitive.
While focusing, the HDC-HS300 offers the same excellent assistance tool that we saw on last year's models. "MF Assist" enables a blue box to appear whenever you're in Manual Focus mode. The box will display a zoomed version of the center of your screen, allowing you to better focus on your subject. We found this to be very handy, but it can be turned off in the Administrative menu.
Using the ring for focus is an elegant process—far better than the joysticks or touch screens seen on the competition. It allows you to make very fine adjustments or smoothly transition from one focus to another. Combining this with the MF Assist tool makes for a robust manual focus experience.
Exposure
Exposure is controlled in the same way that it was on last year's models. Simple exposure adjustments and direct aperture control are both possible on the HDC-HS300, though each is implemented differently. Exposure is available under the "Picture Adjust" option in the Record Setup submenu. We were, again, disappointed to see such a simple option buried in the menus. Canon gives you up to 23 increments of exposure control just three button pushes away. The HDC-HS300 gives you just 11 increments (a scale from -5 to +5) and the option inside a submenu, which is on the second page of a submenu.
We had hoped that Panasonic would move Exposure control onto its multi-function lens ring, but the company has instead removed controls from the ring during LCD operation, leaving only focus and zoom and moving everything else to touch screen controls.
The HDC-HS300 also has Backlight Compensation and an intelligent contrast control (iExposure) feature that adjusts for scenes with high contrast, to prevent blown out highlights and blocked shadows.
Aperture
Aperture, referred to as "Iris" by Panasonic, is no longer primarily controlled by by the multi-function lens ring. When the LCD is open, the iris appears as an option within the Function menu, which is adjusted via the touch screen. When you've exhausted your options for aperture by bringing it to a fully open position, you can further boost the exposure by increasing gain (explained in the Gain section, below). If you'd like to use the lens ring to adjust aperture, you'll need to close the LCD and use the viewfinder instead.
Though we weren't using a final version of the product, we imagine iris control will look very similar to the interface on last year's model. On the HDC-HS100, the left side of the screen, displayed the shutter speed, aperture, and gain, all next to a live histogram, which gives a very convenient overview of exposure for the entire shot. In the center of the screen was a small square, which indicated the luminance for that portion of the shot in a percentage from 0 - 100%. This built-in light meter and histogram were very handy for getting the perfect exposure for your shot. If you find them distracting, the histogram and luminance meter can be turned off.
The aperture range includes: f/1.8 (Open), f/2.0, f/2.4, f/2.8, f/3.4, f/4.0, f/4.8, f/5.6, f/6.8, f/8.0, f/9.6, f/11, f/14, and f/16.
Shutter Speed
Shutter speed can be independently adjusted from within the Function menu. This was one of the features that used to be controlled via the multi-function lens ring and is now operated mainly by the touch screen. The default shutter speeds available include: 1/60, 1/100, 1/120, 1/180, 1/250, 1/350, 1/500, 1/750, 1/1000, 1/1500, 1/2000, 1/3000, 1/4000, and 1/8000. The touch screen is an adequate method for adjusting shutter speed, but we miss the responsiveness of using the lens ring—and the ability to adjust shutter speed without blocking the image on the LCD with your fingers. You can still use the lens ring to adjust shutter speed, but only when you close the LCD and use the viewfinder.
There are also two settings that can open up a slightly wider range of options for shutter speed. Turning on Auto Slow Shutter will provide you with an additional option of a 1/30th shutter speed. Switching to 24P Digital Cinema mode will add 1/48th as an option. If you have both Auto Slow Shutter and 24P Digital Cinema mode activated, you can access the lowest possible shutter speed of 1/24th.
White Balance
White balance has also shifted from the lens ring to the Function menu of the touch screen. Entering this feature will allow you to access a variety of pre-programmed white balance settings. Options include: Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Indoor 1 (incandescent), Indoor 2 (color fluorescent), and Manual. Removing the manual white balance from the lens ring was a move in a very positive direction, as last year's HDC-HS300 was convoluted and unintuitive. Like shutter speed and iris, you can adjust white balance with the lens ring if you close the LCD and rely on the viewfinder instead.
Gain
Panasonic is the only manufacturer of consumer camcorders to offer a manual gain control. As with the HDC-HS100, gain is part of a larger feature called "Iris," which combines aperture and gain to give the user greater control over the light in their footage. Unfortunately, combining these two features into one means that you can only increase gain once the aperture is fully opened—you won't be able to increase depth of field and gain at the same time. You won't find this kind of limitation on pro camcorders, but it's meant as a protective measure to prevent the user from making their footage too grainy.
Despite the minor limitation, it is nice to have gain control. The live histogram and luminance tools are available and in very dark scenes (where one would usually want to boost gain), you'll want the aperture fully opened anyway. Available gain settings include: 0dB, 3dB, 6dB, 9dB, 12dB, 15dB, and 18dB.
Color & Image Control
| Color/Image Control | Description |
| Color adjust | Control saturation on a scale from -5 to +5 |
| Soft Skin Mode | Smooths out skin tones and blurs skin imperfections |
| 24P Digital Cinema | combines 24P and xvYCC color |
Other Manual Controls
The HDC-HS300 has a number of manual controls, all hidden in various levels of the menus and submenus. It's not an intuitive system, especially for beginner wanting to experiment with a variety of manual adjustments. You'll find manual options in the Funtion menu, the Record Setup submenu, and the Picture Adjust submenu of the Record Setup submenu.
| Control | Description |
| Guide lines | Off, Horizontal, Grid1, Grid2 |
| Tele macro | Adjust focal length for shooting at close range |
| Sharpness | Digital sharpness adjustment (scale from -5 to +5) |
| Histogram | Displays live exposure information for current frame |
| Luminance | An onscreen light meter |
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