/// HD Camcorder Comparison

Picture ?

Manufacturer

Panasonic

JVC

Name

HDC-HS300

HD Everio GZ-HD7

European name ?

HDC-HS300EG

HD Everio GZ-HD7EX

US name ?

HDC-HS300K

HD Everio GZ-HD7

lowest US price

877 $

On the market since

March 2009

April 2007

Manufacturers URL

Test preview

slashCAM rating ?

Good

Sufficient

test picture 1200 Lux

Test image 12 lux auto-mode

Video

Video formats ?

AVCHD

MPEG2-TS

Recording Medium

Built-in hard disk
SDHC card

Built-in hard disk
SD Card

video resolutions EU ?

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

HDV 1440 x 1080/50i
HD 1920 x 1080i

video resolutions US ?

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

HDV 1440 x 1080/60i
HD 1920 x 1080i

Max Bitrate ?

17 Mbit/s

30 Mbit/s

Compression format ?

MPEG4

MPEG2

on-board memory ?

120 GB

60 GB

Optics

Optics Manufacturer ?

Leica

Fujinon

Optical Zoom ?

12 x

10 x

Wide Angle 16:9 ?

45 mm

39,5 mm

Filter diameter ?

43 mm

46 mm

Image Stabilization ?

optical

ND Filter ?

Exchangable optics ?

Image Sensor

Number of sensors ?

Size of image sensor ?

1/4 inch

1/5 inch

image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ?

2070000 Pixel

530000 Pixel

Image Sensor Type ?

CMOS

CCD

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%

Off
70%
100%

Histogram ?

Yes

adjustable sharpness ?

Yes

Adjustable color ?

Yes

Cinegamma ?

Yes

Black Strech ?

Knee ?

Colorbars ?

Yes

Misc.

Shot Transition ?

Custom Presets ?

Set Time Code ?

Configuration

Connections

FBAS ?
synonymous: RCA, composite

Out

YC ?
synonymous: S-Video

Out

YUV ?
synonymous: Component Signal

Out

HDMI ?

Out mini

Out

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

In
Out

USB ?

USB 2.0

Microphone / Audio input ?

Mini-jack

Headphones ?

3.5 mm mini-jack

Lanc ?

Time-code interface ?

Genlock ?

Accessory shoe ?

Standard

HD-SDI ?

Misc.

Weight (without battery)

385 g

665 g

Weight (with battery)

445 g

750 g

Battery type

Panasonic VW-VBG070

JVC BN-VF815

Battery capacity

1250 mAh

1460 mAh

Charger ?

internal
external

Remote control

Yes

Size

Height

70 mm

91 mm

Width

72 mm

77 mm

Depth

141 mm

186 mm

Relative Size ?

Viewfinder

Viewfinder available ?

Yes

Color Viewfinder ?

Color

Viewfinder format ?

16:9

Viewfinder pixels ?

269000 Pixel

Display

Display available ?

Yes

Color display ?

Color

Display size

2,7 Inch

2,8 Inch

Display format ?

16:9

Display pixels ?

230400 Pixel

207000 Pixel

Touch Screen ?

Yes

External controls

Manual Zoom ?

Rocker
Zoom ring multi-assigned

Rocker

Manual Focus ?

Menu
bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

Ring

Manual Aperture ?

Menu
bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

button

Focus switcher ?

Yes

ND Filter ?

Exp Lock ?

Gain ?

White balance ?

Push AF ?

Yes

Audio Levels ?

Custom Keys ?
synonymous: User buttons

Audio

Audio Formats ?

AC-3 Dolby Digital 5.1 640 kbit max.

MPEG-1 Layer2

Microphone ?

Stereo internal
Mini-jack external

Stereo internal

Audio Control ?

auto
manual

auto

Audio levels ?

Viewfinder
Screen
display

Still

Recording Medium ?

SDHC card

SD Card

Medium included ?

Effective pixels ?

2100000 Pixel

Resolutions ?

1920x1080

1920x1080
1440x1080
640x480
1024 x 768

Standard ?

JPEG Exif 2.2

Flash ?

Yes

Misc.

Specials

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

Sufficient

Resolution ?

Very good

Sufficient

Color performance ?

Very good

Good

subj.Picture impression ?

Very good

Satisfactory

Optical Zoom ?

Sufficient

Wide Angle ?

Poor

Sufficient

Configuration / image ?

Very good

Satisfactory

Configuration / sound ?

Satisfactory

Poor

Handling ?

Good

Portability ?

Excellent

Very good

Photo function ?

Satisfactory

Sufficient

Optics ?

Good

Sufficient

Dynamics ?

Good

Satisfactory

Conclusion slashCAM

slashCAM rating ?

Good

Sufficient

Total score ?
(maximal 570)

372

252

Pros

+ Sharpness and colour at the upper AVCHD limit
+ Many manual controls

+ HDV-compatible disk recording
+ High color resolution
+ good manual settings

Cons

- No wide angle

- No FullHD
- Bad low light performance
- small wide angle

Conclusion

Finally camcorder in the 1000 Euro range which allows for a manual control of iris, shutter and gain (not by joystick) while indicating meaningful parameters in the display. Add to that a focus ring and useful helpers as focus zoom, zebra and histogram.Since it also offers a flawless (and even adjustable) image quality, the Panasonic SD300 can almost be recommended without any hesitation.It only leaves you wanting more external controls, a display with higher resolution and, above all, a wide angle lens.Also the low light performance is only average.

The JVC GZ-HD7 provides full 1920x1080 pixels for recording, which does not result in a visible improvement in recording quality, though.The recording mode 1440x1080 suffices for a full image performance with a good color resolution.The subjective image impression is satisfactory; when recording images with low contrast the details diminish due to the significant contour.In terms of color the GZ-HD7 is quite rich, the white balance on the other hand is often slow.With little light, the image grows quickly gloomy despite of the three CCDs, which combined with the relatively small wide-angle makes it less suitable for interior shots.Our test pattern also showed significant blurs and aberrations on the right border, which might suggest a not quite correctly built-in lens.

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