/// HD Camcorder Comparison

Picture ?

Manufacturer

Panasonic

Name

HDC-TM350

HDC-HS100

European name ?

HDC-TM350

HDC-HS100EG

US name ?

HDC-TM350

HDC-HS100

lowest US price

1300 $

1060 $

On the market since

June 2009

September 2008

Manufacturers URL

Test preview

slashCAM rating ?

Good

test picture 1200 Lux

Test image 12 lux auto-mode

Video

Video formats ?

AVCHD

Recording Medium

SDHC card
built-in flash memory

Built-in hard disk
SDHC 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 1440 x 1080/50i
AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50i
AVCHD 1920 x 1080/25p

video resolutions US ?

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

Max Bitrate ?

17 Mbit/s

Compression format ?

MPEG4

on-board memory ?

64 GB

60 GB

Optics

Optics Manufacturer ?

Leica

Optical Zoom ?

12 x

Wide Angle 16:9 ?

45 mm

42 mm

Filter diameter ?

43 mm

37 mm

Image Stabilization ?

optical

ND Filter ?

Exchangable optics ?

Image Sensor

Number of sensors ?

Size of image sensor ?

1/4,1 inch

1/6 inch

image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ?

2070000 Pixel

520000 Pixel

Image Sensor Type ?

CMOS

Controls

White Balance ?

auto
manual

auto
manual
presets

Focus ?

auto
manual

Minimum shutter time ?

1/8.000

Maximum shutter time ?

1/25

Apperture control ?

auto
manual

Infrared recording ?

Expanded Focus ?

Yes

Peaking ?

Signal Processing

Zebra ?

100%

Off
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

Microphone / Audio input ?

Mini-jack

Yes

Headphones ?

3.5 mm mini-jack

Lanc ?

Time-code interface ?

Genlock ?

Accessory shoe ?

Standard

HD-SDI ?

Misc.

Weight (without battery)

390 g

420 g

Weight (with battery)

450 g

482 g

Battery type

Panasonic VW-VBG130-K

Battery capacity

1320 mAh

Charger ?

internal
external

external

Remote control

Yes

Size

Height

70 mm

74 mm

Width

72 mm

138 mm

Depth

141 mm

76 mm

Relative Size ?

Viewfinder

Viewfinder available ?

Yes

Color Viewfinder ?

Color

Viewfinder format ?

16:9

Viewfinder pixels ?

183000 Pixel

Display

Display available ?

Yes

Color display ?

Color

Display size

2,7 Inch

Display format ?

16:9

Display pixels ?

230400 Pixel

300000 Pixel

Touch Screen ?

Yes

External controls

Manual Zoom ?

Rocker
Zoom ring multi-assigned

Manual Focus ?

Menu
bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

Ring
bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

Manual Aperture ?

Menu
bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

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.

Microphone ?

Stereo internal
Mini-jack external

Mini-jack external
5.1 Internal

Audio Control ?

auto
manual

Audio levels ?

Viewfinder
Screen

Still

Recording Medium ?

built-in flash memory
SDHC card

SD Card
hard drive

Medium included ?

Effective pixels ?

7530000 Pixel

Resolutions ?

3984 x 2656

1920x1080

Standard ?

JPEG Exif 2.2

Flash ?

Yes

Misc.

Specials

-Quick Power : ready to record in 1,9 seconds

Product Shots

View 1

View 2

Test results

Test pictures

Panasonic TM350 - images generally too dark and colorless?

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

Resolution ?

Very good

Satisfactory

Color performance ?

Very good

Good

subj.Picture impression ?

Very good

Good

Optical Zoom ?

Sufficient

Wide Angle ?

Poor

Sufficient

Configuration / image ?

Very good

Good

Configuration / sound ?

Satisfactory

Handling ?

Good

Portability ?

Excellent

Photo function ?

Satisfactory

Sufficient

Optics ?

Good

Dynamics ?

Good

Conclusion slashCAM

slashCAM rating ?

Good

Total score ?
(maximal 570)

372

336

Pros

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

-lens-ring with lots of manual functions

Cons

- weak wide angle

-average sharpness
-menu-structure and menu-handling

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.

This is going in the right direction.More manual control is what is missing with most of the current AVCHD cams.And this is exactly what Panasonic is delivering.Thanks to histogramm, zebra, luma display and expanded focus manual control is better than on any other camera below 1000 Euros.The somewhat below average sharpness of the camera is something one can live with, but there are also one or two other minor things on this camera which could have been solved better.But definitely one of the most interesting newcomers 2008

More information

Reviews and Forums

slashCAM Review

external reviews/tests

www.camcorderinfo.com

Forum posts

Purchase the Panasonic HDC-TM350

Replacement Battery for HDC TM350 Original VW VBG130

Test: Panasonic HDC-TM350

purchase advice SonyHDR-SR11, Panasonic HDC-HS100; Canon HG21

Panasonic HDC-HS100 and HDC-SD100