| |
Model
|
| Panasonic HDC-HS900 | Canon HG21 |
| Picture ? | | |
| Manufacturer | Panasonic 
| Canon 
|
| Name | HDC-HS900 | HG21 |
| European name ? | HDC-HS900EG | HG21 |
| US name ? | HDC-HS900 | VIXIA HG21 |
| lowest US price | 889 $ | 1100 $ |
| On the market since | March 2011 | September 2008 |
| Manufacturers URL | link to Panasonic | link to Canon |
|
|
Test preview
|
| [ top ] | Panasonic HDC-HS900 | Canon HG21 |
| slashCAM rating ? | Very good
 | Good
 |
| test picture 1200 Lux | | |
| Test image 12 lux auto-mode | | |
Video
|
| [ top ] | Panasonic HDC-HS900 | Canon HG21 |
| Video formats ? | AVCHD
| AVCHD
|
| Recording Medium | Built-in hard disk SDHC card
| Built-in hard disk SD Card SDHC card
|
| video resolutions EU ? | AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50p AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50i AVCHD 1920 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 1920 x 1080/60p
| AVCHD 1920 x 1080/60i AVCHD 1920 x 1080/24p AVCHD 1440 x 1080/60i AVCHD 1440 x 1080/24p AVCHD 1920 x 1080/30p AVCHD 1440 x 1080/30p
|
| Max Bitrate ? | 28 Mbit/s | 24 Mbit/s |
| Compression format ? | MPEG4
| MPEG4
|
| on-board memory ? | 220 GB | 120 GB |
| Optics |
| Optics Manufacturer ? | Leica
| Canon
|
| Optical Zoom ? | 12 x | 12 x |
| Wide Angle 16:9 ? | 35 mm | 43,6 mm |
| Filter diameter ? | 46 mm | 37 mm |
| Image Stabilization ? | optically and electronically
| optical
|
| ND Filter ? | No
| No
|
| Exchangable optics ? | No
| No
|
| Image Sensor |
| Number of sensors ? | 3 | 1 |
| Size of image sensor ? | 1/4,1 inch | 1/3,2 inch |
| image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ? | 2530000 Pixel | 2070000 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 AE-Shift
|
| Infrared recording ? | No
| Yes
|
| Expanded Focus ? | No
| Yes
|
| Peaking ? | Yes
| Yes
|
| Signal Processing |
| Zebra ? | 100% | Off
|
| Histogram ? | Yes
| Yes
|
| 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 HG21 |
FBAS ? synonymous: RCA, composite | Out
| Out
|
YC ? synonymous: S-Video | No
| No
|
YUV ? synonymous: Component Signal | Out
| Out
|
| HDMI ? | Out mini
| Out
|
DV / HDV (FireWire) ? synonymous: ILink / IEEE-1394 | - | |
| USB ? | USB 2.0
| USB 2.0
|
| Microphone / Audio input ? | Mini-jack
| Mini-jack
|
| Headphones ? | 3.5 mm mini-jack
| Mini-jack
|
| 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 | 490 g |
| Weight (with battery) | | |
| Battery type | Panasonic VW-VBN 130
| Canon BP-2L13
|
| Battery capacity | | |
| Charger ? | internal external
| internal
|
| Remote control | Yes
| Yes
|
| Size |
| Height | 67 mm | 80 mm |
| Width | 72 mm | 77 mm |
| Depth | 146 mm | 139 mm |
| Relative Size ? | 7 | 8 |
| Viewfinder |
| Viewfinder available ? | Yes
| Yes
|
| Color Viewfinder ? | Color
| Color
|
| Viewfinder format ? | 16:9 | 16:9 |
| Viewfinder pixels ? | | 123000 Pixel |
| 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
| No
|
| External controls |
| Manual Zoom ? | Rocker Zoom ring multi-assigned
| Rocker
|
| Manual Focus ? | Menu bi-functional focus or aperture wheel
| Joystick
|
| Manual Aperture ? | Menu bi-functional focus or aperture wheel
| Joystick
|
| 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 HG21 |
| 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 Mini-jack external
|
| Audio Control ? | auto manual
| auto manual
|
| Audio levels ? | Viewfinder Screen
| Viewfinder Screen
|
Still
|
| [ top ] | Panasonic HDC-HS900 | Canon HG21 |
| Recording Medium ? | SDXC card
| SD Card
|
| Medium included ? | No
| No
|
| Effective pixels ? | 2100000 Pixel | 2760000 Pixel |
| Resolutions ? | 1920x1080 4000 x 3000 - Max 4608 x 3072 - Max
| 1920x1080 1440x1080 848x480 640x480 2048 x 1536 |
| Standard ? | JPEG Exif 2.2
| JPEG Exif 2.2
|
| Flash ? | Yes
| Yes
|
Misc.
|
| [ top ] | Panasonic HDC-HS900 | Canon HG21 |
| Specials | optional 1080p50 recording with 28 Mbit/s | 25 P-Mode |
Product Shots
|
| [ top ] | Panasonic HDC-HS900 | Canon HG21 |
| View 1 | | |
| View 2 | | |
Test results
|
| Test pictures |
| [ top ] | Panasonic HDC-HS900 | Canon HG21 |
| 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 | Good |
| Resolution ? | Excellent | Good |
| Color performance ? | Very good | Very good |
| subj.Picture impression ? | Very good | Very good |
| Optical Zoom ? | Sufficient | Sufficient |
| Wide Angle ? | Good | Poor |
| Configuration / image ? | Very good | Satisfactory |
| Configuration / sound ? | Satisfactory | Satisfactory |
| Handling ? | Good | Sufficient |
| Portability ? | Very good | Very good |
| Photo function ? | Satisfactory | Satisfactory |
| Optics ? | Good | Good |
| Dynamics ? | Good | Good |
| Conclusion slashCAM |
| slashCAM rating ? | Very good
 | Good
 |
Total score ? (maximal 570) | 412 | 342 |
| Pros | + Sharpness and colour at the upper AVCHD limit + Many manual controls + 1080p50
| + sharpness and colors practically at the upper limit of AVCHD + Many manual controls
|
| Cons | - No Expanded Focus - No touch focus in manual mode
| - No zebra function - no 1/25 sec. shutter speed in cinema mode - small wide angle - manual focus control badly implemented
|
| 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. | Like its predecessors this cam satisfies with its very good image sharpness and the good manual controlsThe small wide-angle and missing zebra-function must be critizised.In comparison some competitors have notably better displays (Sony SR11/12) and more external manual controls (Sony SR11/12, CX11, Panasonic HS100, SD100). |
More information
|
| Reviews and Forums |
| [ top ] | Panasonic HDC-HS900 | Canon HG21 |
| slashCAM Review | | |
| external reviews/tests | | |
| Forum posts | | Microphone Windscreen for Canon HG21
Canon HG21 HF or M306?
Canon HG21 sound problems
Canon HG21 transferred via USB takes forever
Canon HG21 and Win7 64
DOF and wide angle adapter for Canon HG21
Canon HG21 fail!
Canon HG21 is here ... Small disappointment
Microphone HG21 searched for (; DM-100 or MKE 400)
Third-Battery BP-819 (; or others) with Canon HG21
Problems installing HG21 Win7 Drivers and Vista
Canon HG21 or SonyHVR-HD1000E
Buy Panasonic HDC-HS300 / Canon HG21 / SonyHDR-XR520VE
|
| |