| |
Model
|
| JVC GZ-HM400 | Panasonic HDC-HS20 |
| Picture ? | | |
| Manufacturer | JVC 
| Panasonic 
|
| Name | GZ-HM400 | HDC-HS20 |
| European name ? | GZ-HM400E | HDC-HS20EG |
| US name ? | GZ-HM400 | HDC-HS20K |
| lowest US price | 559 $ | 600 $ |
| On the market since | September 2009 | February 2009 |
| Manufacturers URL | link to JVC | link to Panasonic |
|
|
Test preview
|
| [ top ] | JVC GZ-HM400 | Panasonic HDC-HS20 |
| slashCAM rating ? | Good
 | Satisfactory
 |
| test picture 1200 Lux | | |
| Test image 12 lux auto-mode | | |
Video
|
| [ top ] | JVC GZ-HM400 | Panasonic HDC-HS20 |
| Video formats ? | AVCHD
| AVCHD
|
| Recording Medium | SDHC card built-in flash memory
| Built-in hard disk SDHC card
|
| video resolutions EU ? | AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50i
| AVCHD 1440 x 1080/50i AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50i AVCHD 1920 x 1080/25p AVCHD 1440 x 1080/25p
|
| video resolutions US ? | AVCHD 1920 x 1080/60i
| AVCHD 1920 x 1080/60i AVCHD 1920 x 1080/24p AVCHD 1440 x 1080/60i AVCHD 1440 x 1080/24p
|
| Max Bitrate ? | 24 Mbit/s | 17 Mbit/s |
| Compression format ? | MPEG4
| MPEG4
|
| on-board memory ? | 32 GB | 80 GB |
| Optics |
| Optics Manufacturer ? | Konica Minolta
| Leica
|
| Optical Zoom ? | 10 x | 16 x |
| Wide Angle 16:9 ? | 48 mm | 42 mm |
| Filter diameter ? | 46 mm | 43 mm |
| Image Stabilization ? | optical
| optical
|
| ND Filter ? | No
| No
|
| Exchangable optics ? | No
| No
|
| Image Sensor |
| Number of sensors ? | 1 | 1 |
| Size of image sensor ? | 1/2,33 inch | 1/6 inch |
| image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ? | | 1170000 Pixel |
| Image Sensor Type ? | CMOS
| CMOS
|
| Controls |
| White Balance ? | auto manual presets
| auto manual
|
| Focus ? | | auto manual
|
| Minimum shutter time ? | 1/4000 | 1/8.000 |
| Maximum shutter time ? | 1/2 | 1/25 |
| Apperture control ? | auto manual
| auto manual
|
| Infrared recording ? | No
| No
|
| Expanded Focus ? | No
| Yes
|
| Peaking ? | Yes
| No
|
| Signal Processing |
| Zebra ? | Off 70% 100%
| No
|
| Histogram ? | No
| No
|
| adjustable sharpness ? | Yes
| Yes
|
| Adjustable color ? | No
| Yes
|
| Cinegamma ? | No
| 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 ] | JVC GZ-HM400 | Panasonic HDC-HS20 |
FBAS ? synonymous: RCA, composite | Out
| Out
|
YC ? synonymous: S-Video | No
| No
|
YUV ? synonymous: Component Signal | Out
| Out
|
| HDMI ? | Out
| Out mini
|
DV / HDV (FireWire) ? synonymous: ILink / IEEE-1394 | - | - |
| USB ? | USB 2.0
| USB 2.0
|
| Microphone / Audio input ? | Mini-jack
| No
|
| Headphones ? | Mini-jack
| No
|
| Lanc ? | No
| No
|
| Time-code interface ? | No
| No
|
| Genlock ? | No
| No
|
| Accessory shoe ? | Standard
| No
|
| HD-SDI ? | No
| No
|
| Misc. |
| Weight (without battery) | 400 g | 270 g |
| Weight (with battery) | 485 g | 327 g |
| Battery type | JVC BNVF815U
| Panasonic VW-VBG070
|
| Battery capacity | 1460 mAh | 725 mAh |
| Charger ? | internal
| |
| Remote control | Yes
| Yes
|
| Size |
| Height | 67 mm | 64 mm |
| Width | 72 mm | 67 mm |
| Depth | 135 mm | 127 mm |
| Relative Size ? | 6 | 5 |
| Viewfinder |
| Viewfinder available ? | No
| No
|
| Color Viewfinder ? | - | - |
| Viewfinder format ? | - | - |
| Viewfinder pixels ? | | |
| Display |
| Display available ? | Yes
| Yes
|
| Color display ? | Color
| Color
|
| Display size | 2,8 Inch | 2,7 Inch |
| Display format ? | 16:9 | 16:9 |
| Display pixels ? | | 230400 Pixel |
| Touch Screen ? | No
| Yes
|
| External controls |
| Manual Zoom ? | Rocker
| Rocker
|
| Manual Focus ? | bi-functional focus or aperture wheel
| Menu
|
| Manual Aperture ? | 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 | 1 | No
|
Audio
|
| [ top ] | JVC GZ-HM400 | Panasonic HDC-HS20 |
| Audio Formats ? | Dolby AC-3 Digital 2 channel 48 KHz
| AC-3 Dolby Digital 5.1 640 kbit max.
|
| Microphone ? | Stereo internal Mini-jack external
| Stereo internal
|
| Audio Control ? | auto manual
| auto manual
|
| Audio levels ? | Screen
| Screen
|
Still
|
| [ top ] | JVC GZ-HM400 | Panasonic HDC-HS20 |
| Recording Medium ? | SDHC card
| SDHC card
|
| Medium included ? | No
| No
|
| Effective pixels ? | 1037000 Pixel | 2100000 Pixel |
| Resolutions ? | 3456 x 2592 max
| 1920 x 1080 - max
|
| Standard ? | JPEG Exif 2.2
| JPEG Exif 2.2
|
| Flash ? | Yes
| Yes
|
Misc.
|
| [ top ] | JVC GZ-HM400 | Panasonic HDC-HS20 |
| Specials | | |
Product Shots
|
| [ top ] | JVC GZ-HM400 | Panasonic HDC-HS20 |
| View 1 | | |
| View 2 | | |
Test results
|
| Test pictures |
| [ top ] | JVC GZ-HM400 | Panasonic HDC-HS20 |
| 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 ? | Good | Sufficient |
| Color performance ? | Very good | Good |
| subj.Picture impression ? | Good | Satisfactory |
| Optical Zoom ? | Sufficient | Satisfactory |
| Wide Angle ? | Poor | Sufficient |
| Configuration / image ? | Good | Satisfactory |
| Configuration / sound ? | Satisfactory | Sufficient |
| Handling ? | Good | Satisfactory |
| Portability ? | Very good | Excellent |
| Photo function ? | Satisfactory | Sufficient |
| Optics ? | Good | Good |
| Dynamics ? | Good | Good |
| Conclusion slashCAM |
| slashCAM rating ? | Good
 | Satisfactory
 |
Total score ? (maximal 570) | 336 | 293 |
| Pros | + manual controls for shutter, focus and aperture + Custom Key
| + manual controls for shutter and aperture + factory setting adjustable
|
| Cons | - manual controls are a bit slow
| - somewhat blurred compared with other HD video
|
| Conclusion | The GZ-HM400 got one of the sharpest images of its classToo bad you can no longer adjust the colors.The external controls will be interesting for people who like to manually adjust things and be in control.In addition to the slowness of the parameters, when filming, the user has to decide whether to use the fast white balance, focus help or custom keys.Otherwise it is back to the menu via laser touch controls | This cam shines with unusual (in this price category) manual controls and smart automatic modes and a touchscreen.But the small 1 chip sensor limits the picture quality too much. |
More information
|
| Reviews and Forums |
| [ top ] | JVC GZ-HM400 | Panasonic HDC-HS20 |
| slashCAM Review | | |
| external reviews/tests | | |
| Forum posts | Test: JVC GZ-HM400
| represents Fuji Finepix HS20 with Full HD video before: CES
|
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