| |
Model
|
| Panasonic HDC-SD300 | Canon HF M36 |
| Picture ? | | |
| Manufacturer | Panasonic 
| Canon 
|
| Name | HDC-SD300 | HF M36 |
| European name ? | HDC-SD300EG | Legria HF M36 |
| US name ? | HDC-SD300K | VIXIA HF M36 |
| lowest US price | 950 $ | (749) $ |
| On the market since | March 2009 | March 2010 |
| Manufacturers URL | link to Panasonic | link to Canon |
|
|
Test preview
|
| [ top ] | Panasonic HDC-SD300 | Canon HF M36 |
| slashCAM rating ? | Good
 | Good
 |
| test picture 1200 Lux | | |
| Test image 12 lux auto-mode | | |
Video
|
| [ top ] | Panasonic HDC-SD300 | Canon HF M36 |
| Video formats ? | AVCHD
| AVCHD
|
| Recording Medium | SDHC card
| SDHC card built-in flash memory
|
| video resolutions EU ? | AVCHD 1440 x 1080/50i AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50i AVCHD 1920 x 1080/25p AVCHD 1440 x 1080/25p
| 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
| AVCHD 1920 x 1080/60i AVCHD 1920 x 1080/24p AVCHD 1920 x 1080/30p
|
| Max Bitrate ? | 17 Mbit/s | 24 Mbit/s |
| Compression format ? | MPEG4
| MPEG4
|
| on-board memory ? | | 8 GB |
| Optics |
| Optics Manufacturer ? | Leica
| Canon
|
| Optical Zoom ? | 12 x | 15 x |
| Wide Angle 16:9 ? | 45 mm | 39,5 mm |
| Filter diameter ? | 43 mm | 37 mm |
| Image Stabilization ? | optical
| optically and electronically
|
| ND Filter ? | No
| No
|
| Exchangable optics ? | No
| No
|
| Image Sensor |
| Number of sensors ? | 3 | 1 |
| Size of image sensor ? | 1/4 inch | 1/4 inch |
| image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ? | 2070000 Pixel | 2990000 Pixel |
| Image Sensor Type ? | CMOS
| CMOS
|
| Controls |
| White Balance ? | auto manual
| 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
|
| Infrared recording ? | No
| No
|
| Expanded Focus ? | Yes
| Yes
|
| Peaking ? | No
| No
|
| Signal Processing |
| Zebra ? | 100% | No
|
| Histogram ? | Yes
| No
|
| 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-SD300 | Canon HF M36 |
FBAS ? synonymous: RCA, composite | Out
| Out
|
YC ? synonymous: S-Video | No
| No
|
YUV ? synonymous: Component Signal | Out
| Out
|
| HDMI ? | Out mini
| Out mini
|
DV / HDV (FireWire) ? synonymous: ILink / IEEE-1394 | - | - |
| USB ? | USB 2.0
| USB 2.0
|
| Microphone / Audio input ? | Mini-jack
| Mini-jack No
|
| Headphones ? | 3.5 mm mini-jack
| also AV-output
|
| Lanc ? | No
| No
|
| Time-code interface ? | No
| No
|
| Genlock ? | No
| No
|
| Accessory shoe ? | Standard
| Advanced Mini
|
| HD-SDI ? | No
| No
|
| Misc. |
| Weight (without battery) | 385 g | 320 g |
| Weight (with battery) | 445 g | 380 g |
| Battery type | Panasonic VW-VBG130-K
| Canon BP-808
|
| Battery capacity | 1250 mAh | 890 mAh |
| Charger ? | internal external
| internal
|
| Remote control | Yes
| Yes
|
| Size |
| Height | 70 mm | 60 mm |
| Width | 72 mm | 68 mm |
| Depth | 141 mm | 123 mm |
| Relative Size ? | 7 | 5 |
| Viewfinder |
| Viewfinder available ? | Yes
| No
|
| Color Viewfinder ? | Color
| - |
| Viewfinder format ? | 16:9 | - |
| Viewfinder pixels ? | | |
| Display |
| Display available ? | Yes
| Yes
|
| Color display ? | Color
| Color
|
| Display size | 2,7 Inch | 2,7 Inch |
| Display format ? | 16:9 | 16:9 |
| Display pixels ? | 230400 Pixel | 211000 Pixel |
| Touch Screen ? | Yes
| Yes
|
| External controls |
| Manual Zoom ? | Rocker Zoom ring multi-assigned
| Rocker
|
| Manual Focus ? | Ring Menu
| Menu
|
| Manual Aperture ? | Menu
| Menu
|
| Focus switcher ? | Yes
| 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-SD300 | Canon HF M36 |
| Audio Formats ? | AC-3 Dolby Digital 5.1 640 kbit max.
| Dolby AC-3 Digital 2 channel 48 KHz
|
| Microphone ? | Stereo internal Mini-jack external
| Stereo internal
|
| Audio Control ? | auto manual
| auto manual
|
| Audio levels ? | Viewfinder Screen
| Screen
|
Still
|
| [ top ] | Panasonic HDC-SD300 | Canon HF M36 |
| Recording Medium ? | SDHC card
| built-in flash memory SDHC card
|
| Medium included ? | No
| No
|
| Effective pixels ? | 2100000 Pixel | |
| Resolutions ? | 1920x1080 | 2304 x 1296 - Max
|
| Standard ? | JPEG Exif 2.2
| JPEG Exif 2.2
|
| Flash ? | Yes
| Yes
|
Misc.
|
| [ top ] | Panasonic HDC-SD300 | Canon HF M36 |
| Specials | | |
Product Shots
|
| [ top ] | Panasonic HDC-SD300 | Canon HF M36 |
| View 1 | | |
| View 2 | | |
Test results
|
| Test pictures |
| [ top ] | Panasonic HDC-SD300 | Canon HF M36 |
| 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 | Satisfactory |
| Resolution ? | Very good | Good |
| Color performance ? | Very good | Very good |
| subj.Picture impression ? | Very good | Very good |
| Optical Zoom ? | Sufficient | Satisfactory |
| Wide Angle ? | Poor | Satisfactory |
| Configuration / image ? | Very good | Satisfactory |
| Configuration / sound ? | Satisfactory | Sufficient |
| Handling ? | Good | Good |
| Portability ? | Excellent | Excellent |
| Photo function ? | Satisfactory | Satisfactory |
| Optics ? | Good | Good |
| Dynamics ? | Good | Good |
| Conclusion slashCAM |
| slashCAM rating ? | Good
 | Good
 |
Total score ? (maximal 570) | 372 | 361 |
| Pros | + Sharpness and colour at the upper AVCHD limit + Many manual controls
| + Many manual controls
|
| Cons | - No wideangle
| - No Zebra
|
| Conclusion | Finally a camcorder 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. | A big drawback from the previous series has been fixed: setting the focus works much better thanks to the touch screen.But overall the operation is still somewhat fiddly at certain points.The large display of the upcoming HF S series will thus come in handy. On the minus side we have the low light capabilities, the missing zebra mode and the small wide angle.A plus is the lowered price, as well as the cinegamma/25p-mode and the fact, that the camera, given enough light, produces very consistent images in the auto mode. |
More information
|
| Reviews and Forums |
| [ top ] | Panasonic HDC-SD300 | Canon HF M36 |
| slashCAM Review | | |
| external reviews/tests | | |
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|
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