Panasonic HDC-TM300

The Canon HF S100 and its sister model, the HF S10, are probably the stiffest competition for the TM300. These top-of-the-line models from Canon are high-end HD camcorders with great performance—just like the TM300. They also record to flash memory—just like the TM300. Both the HF S10 and Pansonic HDC-TM300 retail for around $1299.

What sets the TM300 apart is the TM300’s excellent user experience, combining simple ease of use (with those iA and help features for beginners) and lots of bells and whistles for the advanced user. The TM300 is, in fact, one of the best user experiences we’ve seen all year.

For beginners, Panasonic has more tools to guide the novice user: the info button, shooting guide, and all those iA technologies. Canon has clear, accessible menus, but far fewer guide tools. For advances users, both camcorders have the requisite accessory shoe, mic/headphone jacks, and manual controls. But the HDC-TM300 sports the classy manual control lens ring, which makes focus and zoom control heavenly. The HF S10 and HF S100 have a small control dial, which is a nice feature, but not quite at smooth as Panasonic’s lens ring. The TM300 also has independent aperture and shutter controls, gain control, more robust audio level controls, and a viewfinder—one feature that’s conspicuously absent from Canon’s consumer lineup. The HF S100 has superior focus assist and more accessible exposure.

And then there’s performance. The HDC-TM300 was the clear winner in low light performance, showed less noise in all lighting conditions, and had better stabilization and still performance. The Canon had a slight edge in bright light color, video sharpness, and motion.

There are some users that will have a preference for the overall handling and user experience of the HF S100, but we found the TM300 to be an impressive camcorder. It’s comfortable to hold, it’s easy to use, and it has all the bells and whistles you could want from a consumer camcorder. On top of that, it turned in one of the best video performances of the year.