Panasonic HDC-TM300

Still Features (12.21)

The still features on the Panasonic HDC-TM300 aren’t exhaustive, but they’re enough to make the camcorder a decent alternative to a dedicated still camera. The maximum native resolution for stills is 8 megapixels, though still photo mode offers an interpolated 10.6-megapixel size. There are twelve image size options in total, plus three different aspect ratios (4:3, 3:2, 16:9) and two quality options. The TM300 allows you to capture still images while you are recording video, but a mode dial on the right allows you to engage a dedicated still photo mode, where many more options are available.

The most basic still features are available, including a self-timer (2 or 10 seconds) and a flash. Unusual for a camcorder, the flash can be set to one of three brightness levels. The burst feature is available only in video mode, essentially taking one second of video and splitting it into individual frames (either 24fps or 60fps).

We like having a dedicated still photo mode, especially when it gives the user access to extra options. Unfortunately, Panasonic doesn’t handle the menu structure well, leaving the Record Setup and Picture menus available in either video or still mode. This gives the false impression that you can capture video while in photo mode. The real reason both menus are present is that several options that are applicable to still photos remain in the Record Setup menu—including manual controls. It’s an unintuitive structure, to say the least.

The vast majority of camcorders still can’t match the photo quality of a dedicated still camera, but the TM300 gets awfully close. We were pleased to see that the TM300 produces vibrant accurate colors to accompany its high quality, 8-megapixel native stills (and 10-megapixel interpolated stills). The color error was an incredibly low 2.65 and the saturation was 103.9%. These are even better results than we recorded in our bright light video testing.

The Panasonic HDC-TM300 averaged 0.79% noise in our still image testing. That’s slightly better than average for a camcorder, though noisier than the TM300’s video footage. It’s also noisier than many dedicated still cameras. On the other hand, these results are better than any of the camcorders we’ve selected for comparison, including the Sony HDR-TG5V, which had quite good still performance.

Sharpness was the one real weak point of still photos captured with the TM300. They are certainly sharp enough to host online, but they may not be suitable for printing and framing. The main reason for this is the camcorder’s tendency to oversharpen photos: horizontal oversharpening was 61.3%. Even with the digital oversharpening, the camcorder only managed a horizontal sharpness of 1812 line widths per picture height (lw/ph) and a vertical sharpness of 1558 lw/ph. That’s worse than both the Sony TG5V and the JVC X900. It’s considerably worse that the Canon HF S100, which had very impressive sharpness scores and very little under or oversharpening.

Other Features (4.00)

Time Lapse Recording

The Panasonic HDC-TM300 has a time lapse feature that can be a lot of fun to play with. When engaged, the time lapse setting will condense a length of footage into a short, animated clip. Clip length can be set to 1 second, 10 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, or 2 minutes. The maximum continuous recording time on the camcorder is 12 hours per clip.

Auto Ground Standby (AGS)

Auto Ground Directional Standby is a handy feature that will keep you from recording lots of accidental sidewalk footage. When the HDC-TM300 is left recording and the camcorder senses that it has dropped below its normal horizontal recording level, it will automatically shut off. This will save you battery life and precious space on your memory card.

Quick Start

A common feature on many camcorders, quick start allows the camcorder to immediately turn on when you open the LCD or extend the electronic viewfinder. We find quick start mode doesn’t save all that much time, although it can be convenient if you’re constantly turning your camcorder on and off.

Pre Record

Pre-Record constantly records three seconds of footage that is stored to an internal cache. The moment you hit the record button, the three seconds before you hit the Record button are added to the beginning of your clip. As long as the camcorder is pointed towards the action, it will compensate slightly for slow reflexes.

Auto Focus Assist Lamp

On the front of the camcorder is a small auto focus assist lamp that helps with auto focus in low light situations. The lamp provides assistance in photo mode only—a feature commonly found on digital cameras.

Faders

A fade can be added to the beginning or end of your video clips. With the setting turned on, a fade will begin when you press the record button (both when starting and stopping recording). The fader can be set to white or black.