/// HD Camcorder Comparison

Picture ?

Manufacturer

Panasonic

JVC

Name

HDC-TM350

GS-TD1BE (3D-Modus)

European name ?

HDC-TM350

GS-TD1BE

US name ?

HDC-TM350

GS-TD1

lowest US price

1300 $

1299 $

On the market since

June 2009

April 2011

Manufacturers URL

Test preview

slashCAM rating ?

Good

Satisfactory

test picture 1200 Lux

Test image 12 lux auto-mode

Video

Video formats ?

AVCHD

AVCHD
MVC 3D

Recording Medium

SDHC card
built-in flash memory

SDHC card
built-in flash memory
SDXC card

video resolutions EU ?

AVCHD 1440 x 1080/50i
AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50i
AVCHD 1920 x 1080/25p
AVCHD 1440 x 1080/25p

AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50i
MP4 2 x 1920 x1080

video resolutions US ?

AVCHD 1920 x 1080/60i
AVCHD 1920 x 1080/24p
AVCHD 1440 x 1080/60i
AVCHD 1440 x 1080/24p

AVCHD 1920 x 1080/60i
MP4 2 x 1920 x1080

Max Bitrate ?

17 Mbit/s

34 Mbit/s

Compression format ?

MPEG4

on-board memory ?

64 GB

Optics

Optics Manufacturer ?

Leica

JVC HD

Optical Zoom ?

12 x

5 x

Wide Angle 16:9 ?

45 mm

42 mm

Filter diameter ?

43 mm

- mm

Image Stabilization ?

optical

optically and electronically

ND Filter ?

Exchangable optics ?

Image Sensor

Number of sensors ?

Size of image sensor ?

1/4,1 inch

image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ?

2070000 Pixel

Image Sensor Type ?

CMOS

Controls

White Balance ?

auto
manual

auto
manual
presets

Focus ?

auto
manual

Minimum shutter time ?

1/8.000

1/4000

Maximum shutter time ?

1/25

1/2

Apperture control ?

auto
manual

Infrared recording ?

Expanded Focus ?

Yes

Peaking ?

Yes

Signal Processing

Zebra ?

100%

Histogram ?

Yes

adjustable sharpness ?

Yes

Adjustable color ?

Yes

Cinegamma ?

Yes

Black Strech ?

Knee ?

Colorbars ?

Misc.

Shot Transition ?

Custom Presets ?

Set Time Code ?

Configuration

Connections

FBAS ?
synonymous: RCA, composite

Out

YC ?
synonymous: S-Video

YUV ?
synonymous: Component Signal

Out

HDMI ?

Out mini

Out

DV / HDV (FireWire) ?
synonymous: ILink / IEEE-1394

USB ?

USB 2.0

USB 2.0 OUT

Microphone / Audio input ?

Mini-jack

Headphones ?

3.5 mm mini-jack

Mini-jack

Lanc ?

Time-code interface ?

Genlock ?

Accessory shoe ?

Standard

HD-SDI ?

Misc.

Weight (without battery)

390 g

590 g

Weight (with battery)

450 g

676 g

Battery type

Panasonic VW-VBG130-K

JVC BNVF815U

Battery capacity

1320 mAh

1460 mAh

Charger ?

internal
external

internal

Remote control

Yes

Size

Height

70 mm

102 mm

Width

72 mm

64 mm

Depth

141 mm

186 mm

Relative Size ?

Viewfinder

Viewfinder available ?

Yes

Color Viewfinder ?

Color

Viewfinder format ?

16:9

Viewfinder pixels ?

Display

Display available ?

Yes

Color display ?

Color

Display size

2,7 Inch

3,5 Inch

Display format ?

16:9

Display pixels ?

230400 Pixel

920000 Pixel

Touch Screen ?

Yes

External controls

Manual Zoom ?

Rocker
Zoom ring multi-assigned

Rocker

Manual Focus ?

Menu
bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

Manual Aperture ?

Menu
bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

assignable custom key

Focus switcher ?

Yes

ND Filter ?

Exp Lock ?

Gain ?

White balance ?

Push AF ?

Audio Levels ?

Custom Keys ?
synonymous: User buttons

Audio

Audio Formats ?

AC-3 Dolby Digital 5.1 640 kbit max.

Dolby AC-3 Digital 2 channel 48 KHz

Microphone ?

Stereo internal
Mini-jack external

Audio Control ?

auto
manual

auto
5 steps

Audio levels ?

Viewfinder
Screen

Screen

Still

Recording Medium ?

built-in flash memory
SDHC card

built-in flash memory
SDHC card
SDXC card

Medium included ?

Effective pixels ?

7530000 Pixel

Resolutions ?

3984 x 2656

1920 x 1080 3D

Standard ?

JPEG Exif 2.2

Flash ?

Yes

Misc.

Specials

autostereoscopic display

Product Shots

View 1

View 2

Test results

Test pictures

luminance resolution

chrominance resolution

lens distortion

test small ISO image

noise / internal microphone

test picture 1200 Lux

Test image 12 lux auto-mode ?

Test image 12 lux optimized ?

slashCAM rating

Lowlight ?

Satisfactory

Good

Resolution ?

Very good

Good

Color performance ?

Very good

Satisfactory

subj.Picture impression ?

Very good

Good

Optical Zoom ?

Sufficient

Poor

Wide Angle ?

Poor

Sufficient

Configuration / image ?

Very good

Satisfactory

Configuration / sound ?

Satisfactory

Handling ?

Good

Satisfactory

Portability ?

Excellent

Good

Photo function ?

Satisfactory

Optics ?

Good

Satisfactory

Dynamics ?

Good

Conclusion slashCAM

slashCAM rating ?

Good

Satisfactory

Total score ?
(maximal 570)

372

307

Pros

+ Sharpness and colour at the upper AVCHD limit
+ Many manual controls
+ Good image stabilizer for moving camera

+ More manual 3D control than its direct competitors

Cons

- weak wide angle

- operation concept
- Image characteristics can not be changed

Conclusion

The new image stabilizer is better and especially interesting for people who like cheap glide camsIn terms of low light the camera easily gets surpassed by the Sony XR520 and the wide angle is a sorry affair in this price range.But that is just about all we could find to complain about.Except maybe that you get almost the same technology without the internal memory and improved image stabilization in the notably cheaper HDC-SD300.

In terms of image quality, handling and also the display the JVC is not quite on par with the HDR-TD10.Though the TD1 in return offers a little more manual control, this is partly hidden by an unnecessarily complicated operation.Also the non-changeable, rather extreme color settings are certainly not for everyone.A firmware update could address these criticisms, however, and make the camera much more attractive.Hopefully the standards-compliant MVC implementation will be adopted by more software makers over time.

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