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Model
|
| Panasonic HDC-HS900 | Canon HF M36 |
| Picture ? | | |
| Manufacturer | Panasonic 
| Canon 
|
| Name | HDC-HS900 | HF M36 |
| European name ? | HDC-HS900EG | Legria HF M36 |
| US name ? | HDC-HS900 | VIXIA HF M36 |
| lowest US price | 889 $ | (749) $ |
| On the market since | March 2011 | March 2010 |
| Manufacturers URL | link to Panasonic | link to Canon |
|
|
Test preview
|
| [ top ] | Panasonic HDC-HS900 | Canon HF M36 |
| slashCAM rating ? | Very good
 | Good
 |
| test picture 1200 Lux | | |
| Test image 12 lux auto-mode | | |
Video
|
| [ top ] | Panasonic HDC-HS900 | Canon HF M36 |
| Video formats ? | AVCHD
| AVCHD
|
| Recording Medium | Built-in hard disk SDHC card
| SDHC card built-in flash memory
|
| video resolutions EU ? | AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50p AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50i AVCHD 1920 x 1080/25p
| AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50i AVCHD 1920 x 1080/25p
|
| video resolutions US ? | AVCHD 1920 x 1080/60i AVCHD 1920 x 1080/24p AVCHD 1920 x 1080/60p
| AVCHD 1920 x 1080/60i AVCHD 1920 x 1080/24p AVCHD 1920 x 1080/30p
|
| Max Bitrate ? | 28 Mbit/s | 24 Mbit/s |
| Compression format ? | MPEG4
| MPEG4
|
| on-board memory ? | 220 GB | 8 GB |
| Optics |
| Optics Manufacturer ? | Leica
| Canon
|
| Optical Zoom ? | 12 x | 15 x |
| Wide Angle 16:9 ? | 35 mm | 39,5 mm |
| Filter diameter ? | 46 mm | 37 mm |
| Image Stabilization ? | optically and electronically
| optically and electronically
|
| ND Filter ? | No
| No
|
| Exchangable optics ? | No
| No
|
| Image Sensor |
| Number of sensors ? | 3 | 1 |
| Size of image sensor ? | 1/4,1 inch | 1/4 inch |
| image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ? | 2530000 Pixel | 2990000 Pixel |
| Image Sensor Type ? | CMOS
| CMOS
|
| Controls |
| White Balance ? | auto manual presets WB-Shift
| auto manual presets
|
| Focus ? | auto manual
| auto manual
|
| Minimum shutter time ? | 1/8.000 | 1/2.000 |
| Maximum shutter time ? | 1/25 | 1/2 |
| Apperture control ? | auto manual
| auto manual
|
| Infrared recording ? | No
| No
|
| Expanded Focus ? | No
| Yes
|
| Peaking ? | Yes
| No
|
| Signal Processing |
| Zebra ? | 100% | No
|
| Histogram ? | Yes
| No
|
| adjustable sharpness ? | Yes
| Yes
|
| Adjustable color ? | Yes
| Yes
|
| Cinegamma ? | Yes
| Yes
|
| Black Strech ? | No
| No
|
| Knee ? | No
| No
|
| Colorbars ? | No
| No
|
| Misc. |
| Shot Transition ? | No
| No
|
| Custom Presets ? | No
| No
|
| Set Time Code ? | No
| No
|
Configuration
|
| Connections |
| [ top ] | Panasonic HDC-HS900 | Canon HF M36 |
FBAS ? synonymous: RCA, composite | Out
| Out
|
YC ? synonymous: S-Video | No
| No
|
YUV ? synonymous: Component Signal | Out
| Out
|
| HDMI ? | Out mini
| Out mini
|
DV / HDV (FireWire) ? synonymous: ILink / IEEE-1394 | - | - |
| USB ? | USB 2.0
| USB 2.0
|
| Microphone / Audio input ? | Mini-jack
| Mini-jack No
|
| Headphones ? | 3.5 mm mini-jack
| also AV-output
|
| Lanc ? | No
| No
|
| Time-code interface ? | No
| No
|
| Genlock ? | No
| No
|
| Accessory shoe ? | Standard
| Advanced Mini
|
| HD-SDI ? | No
| No
|
| Misc. |
| Weight (without battery) | 455 g | 320 g |
| Weight (with battery) | | 380 g |
| Battery type | Panasonic VW-VBN 130
| Canon BP-808
|
| Battery capacity | | 890 mAh |
| Charger ? | internal external
| internal
|
| Remote control | Yes
| Yes
|
| Size |
| Height | 67 mm | 60 mm |
| Width | 72 mm | 68 mm |
| Depth | 146 mm | 123 mm |
| Relative Size ? | 7 | 5 |
| Viewfinder |
| Viewfinder available ? | Yes
| No
|
| Color Viewfinder ? | Color
| - |
| Viewfinder format ? | 16:9 | - |
| Viewfinder pixels ? | | |
| Display |
| Display available ? | Yes
| Yes
|
| Color display ? | Color
| Color
|
| Display size | 3,5 Inch | 2,7 Inch |
| Display format ? | 16:9 | 16:9 |
| Display pixels ? | 460000 Pixel | 211000 Pixel |
| Touch Screen ? | Yes
| Yes
|
| External controls |
| Manual Zoom ? | Rocker Zoom ring multi-assigned
| Rocker
|
| Manual Focus ? | Menu bi-functional focus or aperture wheel
| Menu
|
| Manual Aperture ? | Menu bi-functional focus or aperture wheel
| Menu
|
| Focus switcher ? | No
| No
|
| ND Filter ? | No
| No
|
| Exp Lock ? | No
| No
|
| Gain ? | No
| No
|
| White balance ? | No
| No
|
| Push AF ? | No
| No
|
| Audio Levels ? | No
| No
|
Custom Keys ? synonymous: User buttons | No
| No
|
Audio
|
| [ top ] | Panasonic HDC-HS900 | Canon HF M36 |
| Audio Formats ? | AC-3 Dolby Digital 5.1 640 kbit max. Dolby AC-3 Digital 2 channel 48 KHz
| Dolby AC-3 Digital 2 channel 48 KHz
|
| Microphone ? | Mini-jack external 5.1 Internal
| Stereo internal
|
| Audio Control ? | auto manual
| auto manual
|
| Audio levels ? | Viewfinder Screen
| Screen
|
Still
|
| [ top ] | Panasonic HDC-HS900 | Canon HF M36 |
| Recording Medium ? | SDXC card
| built-in flash memory SDHC card
|
| Medium included ? | No
| No
|
| Effective pixels ? | 2100000 Pixel | |
| Resolutions ? | 1920x1080 4000 x 3000 - Max 4608 x 3072 - Max
| 2304 x 1296 - Max
|
| Standard ? | JPEG Exif 2.2
| JPEG Exif 2.2
|
| Flash ? | Yes
| Yes
|
Misc.
|
| [ top ] | Panasonic HDC-HS900 | Canon HF M36 |
| Specials | optional 1080p50 recording with 28 Mbit/s | |
Product Shots
|
| [ top ] | Panasonic HDC-HS900 | Canon HF M36 |
| View 1 | | |
| View 2 | | |
Test results
|
| Test pictures |
| [ top ] | Panasonic HDC-HS900 | Canon HF M36 |
| 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 ? | Good | Satisfactory |
| Resolution ? | Excellent | Good |
| Color performance ? | Very good | Very good |
| subj.Picture impression ? | Very good | Very good |
| Optical Zoom ? | Sufficient | Satisfactory |
| Wide Angle ? | Good | Satisfactory |
| Configuration / image ? | Very good | Satisfactory |
| Configuration / sound ? | Satisfactory | Sufficient |
| Handling ? | Good | Good |
| Portability ? | Very good | Excellent |
| Photo function ? | Satisfactory | Satisfactory |
| Optics ? | Good | Good |
| Dynamics ? | Good | Good |
| Conclusion slashCAM |
| slashCAM rating ? | Very good
 | Good
 |
Total score ? (maximal 570) | 412 | 361 |
| Pros | + Sharpness and colour at the upper AVCHD limit + Many manual controls + 1080p50
| + Many manual controls
|
| Cons | - No Expanded Focus - No touch focus in manual mode
| - No Zebra
|
| Conclusion | Not only does Panasonic offer 50p, it also brings enough wide angle (which even isn´t affected by the active image stabilisation), good low-light performance and colors, great sharpness and lots of manual control.Also nice is that the 3D features are now offered as an alternative add-on option. | A big drawback from the previous series has been fixed: setting the focus works much better thanks to the touch screen.But overall the operation is still somewhat fiddly at certain points.The large display of the upcoming HF S series will thus come in handy. On the minus side we have the low light capabilities, the missing zebra mode and the small wide angle.A plus is the lowered price, as well as the cinegamma/25p-mode and the fact, that the camera, given enough light, produces very consistent images in the auto mode. |
More information
|
| Reviews and Forums |
| [ top ] | Panasonic HDC-HS900 | Canon HF M36 |
| slashCAM Review | | |
| external reviews/tests | | |
| Forum posts | | Test: Touching successor - Canon HF M31, and M36 RF RF M306
|
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