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Model
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| Canon HF21 | Panasonic AG-HMC70 |
| Picture ? | | |
| Manufacturer | Canon 
| Panasonic
|
| Name | HF21 | AG-HMC70 |
| European name ? | Legria HF21 | AG-HMC71 |
| US name ? | VIXIA HF21 | AG-HMC70 |
| lowest US price | 1099 $ | 1429 $ |
| On the market since | September 2009 | April 2008 |
| Manufacturers URL | link to Canon | link to Panasonic |
|
|
Test preview
|
| [ top ] | Canon HF21 | Panasonic AG-HMC70 |
| slashCAM rating ? | Good
 | not yet tested |
| test picture 1200 Lux | |  |
| Test image 12 lux auto-mode | | |
Video
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| [ top ] | Canon HF21 | Panasonic AG-HMC70 |
| Video formats ? | AVCHD
| AVCHD
|
| Recording Medium | SDHC card
| SD Card
SDHC card
|
| video resolutions EU ? | AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50i
AVCHD 1920 x 1080/25p
| AVCHD 1440 x 1080/50i
|
| video resolutions US ? | AVCHD 1920 x 1080/60i
AVCHD 1920 x 1080/24p
AVCHD 1920 x 1080/30p
| AVCHD 1440 x 1080/60i
|
| Max Bitrate ? | 24 Mbit/s | 13 Mbit/s |
| Compression format ? | MPEG4
| MPEG4
|
| on-board memory ? | 64 GB | |
| Optics |
| Optics Manufacturer ? | Canon
| Leica
|
| Optical Zoom ? | 15 x | 12 x |
| Wide Angle 16:9 ? | 39,5 mm | 38,5 mm |
| Filter diameter ? | 37 mm | |
| Image Stabilization ? | optical
| optical
|
| ND Filter ? | No
| |
| Exchangable optics ? | No
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| Image Sensor |
| Number of sensors ? | 1 | 3 |
| Size of image sensor ? | 1/4 inch | 1/4 inch |
| image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ? | 2990000 Pixel | |
| Image Sensor Type ? | CMOS
| CCD
|
| Controls |
| White Balance ? | auto
manual
| |
| Focus ? | auto
manual
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| Minimum shutter time ? | 1/2.000 | |
| Maximum shutter time ? | 1/6 | |
| Apperture control ? | auto
manual
| |
| Infrared recording ? | No
| |
| Expanded Focus ? | Yes
| |
| Peaking ? | No
| |
| Signal Processing |
| Zebra ? | No
| |
| Histogram ? | No
| |
| adjustable sharpness ? | Yes
| |
| Adjustable color ? | Yes
| |
| Cinegamma ? | Yes
| |
| Black Strech ? | No
| |
| Knee ? | No
| |
| Colorbars ? | No
| |
| Misc. |
| Shot Transition ? | No
| |
| Custom Presets ? | Yes
| |
| Set Time Code ? | No
| |
Configuration
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| Connections |
| [ top ] | Canon HF21 | Panasonic AG-HMC70 |
FBAS ?
synonymous: RCA, composite | Out
| |
YC ?
synonymous: S-Video | No
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YUV ?
synonymous: Component Signal | Out
| |
| HDMI ? | Out mini
| |
DV / HDV (FireWire) ?
synonymous: ILink / IEEE-1394 | - | |
| USB ? | USB 2.0
| |
| Microphone / Audio input ? | Mini-jack
| XLR
|
| Headphones ? | also AV-output
| |
| Lanc ? | No
| |
| Time-code interface ? | No
| |
| Genlock ? | No
| |
| Accessory shoe ? | Advanced Mini
| |
| HD-SDI ? | No
| |
| Misc. |
| Weight (without battery) | 340 g | |
| Weight (with battery) | 400 g | |
| Battery type | Canon BP-809
| |
| Battery capacity | 890 mAh | |
| Charger ? | internal
| |
| Remote control | Yes
| |
| Size |
| Height | 62 mm | |
| Width | 70 mm | |
| Depth | 124 mm | |
| Relative Size ? | 5 | 0 |
| Viewfinder |
| Viewfinder available ? | No
| |
| Color Viewfinder ? | - | |
| Viewfinder format ? | - | |
| Viewfinder pixels ? | | |
| Display |
| Display available ? | Yes
| |
| Color display ? | Color
| |
| Display size | 2,7 Inch | |
| Display format ? | 16:9 | |
| Display pixels ? | 211000 Pixel | |
| Touch Screen ? | No
| |
| External controls |
| Manual Zoom ? | Rocker
| |
| Manual Focus ? | Menu
| |
| Manual Aperture ? | Menu
| |
| Focus switcher ? | No
| |
| ND Filter ? | No
| |
| Exp Lock ? | No
| |
| Gain ? | No
| |
| White balance ? | No
| |
| Push AF ? | No
| |
| Audio Levels ? | No
| |
Custom Keys ?
synonymous: User buttons | No
| |
Audio
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| [ top ] | Canon HF21 | Panasonic AG-HMC70 |
| Audio Formats ? | Dolby AC-3 Digital 2 channel 48 KHz
| |
| Microphone ? | Stereo internal
Mini-jack external
| |
| Audio Control ? | auto
manual
| |
| Audio levels ? | Viewfinder
Screen
| |
Still
|
| [ top ] | Canon HF21 | Panasonic AG-HMC70 |
| Recording Medium ? | SDHC card
| |
| Medium included ? | No
| |
| Effective pixels ? | | |
| Resolutions ? | 2304 x 1296 - Max
| |
| Standard ? | JPEG Exif 2.2
| |
| Flash ? | Yes
| |
Misc.
|
| [ top ] | Canon HF21 | Panasonic AG-HMC70 |
| Specials | | model name in the US: AG-HMC70 |
Product Shots
|
| [ top ] | Canon HF21 | Panasonic AG-HMC70 |
| View 1 | | |
| View 2 | | |
Test results
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| Test pictures |
| [ top ] | Canon HF21 | Panasonic AG-HMC70 |
| 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 ? | Good | |
| Color performance ? | Very good | |
| subj.Picture impression ? | Very good | |
| Optical Zoom ? | Satisfactory | |
| Wide Angle ? | Satisfactory | |
| Configuration / image ? | Satisfactory | |
| Configuration / sound ? | Satisfactory | |
| Handling ? | Satisfactory | |
| Portability ? | Excellent | |
| Photo function ? | Satisfactory | |
| Optics ? | Good | |
| Dynamics ? | Good | |
| Conclusion slashCAM |
| slashCAM rating ? | Good
| not yet tested |
Total score ?
(maximal 570) | 367 | |
| Pros | + Many manual controls
| |
| Cons | - fiddly operation
- No Zebra
- Manual focus very poor
| |
| Conclusion | Compared with the older models of the same series the smaller sensor, the picture problems and the exaggerated sharpness offer no real advancementsAdd to that the bad low-light sensitivity with some bright pixel noise, the missing histogram and zebra-displays and the manual focus problems.On the positive side: the low price and the fact that the pictures in the automatic mode (assumed there is enough light) are sharp and generally good. | |
More information
|
| Reviews and Forums |
| [ top ] | Canon HF21 | Panasonic AG-HMC70 |
| slashCAM Review | | |
| external reviews/tests | |  digitalcontentproducer.com
digitalcontentproducer.com
|
| Forum posts | | Test Panasonic AG-HMC70/AG-HMC71 - Part 2
Test Panasonic AG-HMC70/AG-HMC71
price and availability of the Panasonic AG-HMC70/71E
Panasonic soon (synonymous) with less shoulder-CAM: AG-HMC70
|
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