/// HD Camcorder Comparison

Picture ?

Manufacturer

JVC

Panasonic

Name

GZ-HM845

HDC-HS300

European name ?

GZ-HM845

HDC-HS300EG

US name ?

GZ-HM845

HDC-HS300K

lowest US price

(699) $

877 $

On the market since

April 2011

March 2009

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
SDXC card

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

on-board memory ?

8 GB

120 GB

Optics

Optics Manufacturer ?

JVC HD

Leica

Optical Zoom ?

10 x

12 x

Wide Angle 16:9 ?

29,5 mm

45 mm

Filter diameter ?

- mm

43 mm

Image Stabilization ?

optically and electronically

optical

ND Filter ?

Exchangable optics ?

Image Sensor

Number of sensors ?

Size of image sensor ?

1/2,33 inch

1/4 inch

image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ?

2070000 Pixel

Image Sensor Type ?

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

Infrared recording ?

Expanded Focus ?

Yes

Peaking ?

Yes

Signal Processing

Zebra ?

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

Out mini

DV / HDV (FireWire) ?
synonymous: ILink / IEEE-1394

USB ?

USB 2.0

Microphone / Audio input ?

Mini-jack

Headphones ?

3.5 mm mini-jack

Lanc ?

Time-code interface ?

Genlock ?

Accessory shoe ?

Standard

HD-SDI ?

Misc.

Weight (without battery)

330 g

385 g

Weight (with battery)

370 g

445 g

Battery type

JVC BN-VG114E

Panasonic VW-VBG070

Battery capacity

1400 mAh

1250 mAh

Charger ?

internal

internal
external

Remote control

Yes

Size

Height

54 mm

70 mm

Width

62 mm

72 mm

Depth

121 mm

141 mm

Relative Size ?

Viewfinder

Viewfinder available ?

Yes

Color Viewfinder ?

Color

Viewfinder format ?

16:9

Viewfinder pixels ?

Display

Display available ?

Yes

Color display ?

Color

Display size

3,5 Inch

2,7 Inch

Display format ?

16:9

Display pixels ?

920000 Pixel

230400 Pixel

Touch Screen ?

Yes

External controls

Manual Zoom ?

Rocker

Rocker
Zoom ring multi-assigned

Manual Focus ?

Menu
bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

Manual Aperture ?

Menu
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 ?

Dolby AC-3 Digital 2 channel 48 KHz

AC-3 Dolby Digital 5.1 640 kbit max.

Microphone ?

Stereo internal

Stereo internal
Mini-jack external

Audio Control ?

auto

auto
manual

Audio levels ?

Viewfinder
Screen
display

Still

Recording Medium ?

built-in flash memory
SDHC card
SDXC card

SDHC card

Medium included ?

Effective pixels ?

2100000 Pixel

Resolutions ?

3968 x 2976 - Max

1920x1080

Standard ?

JPEG Exif 2.2

Flash ?

Yes

Misc.

Specials

Product Shots

View 1

View 2

Test results

Test pictures

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 ?

Very good

Satisfactory

Resolution ?

Very good

Color performance ?

Good

Very good

subj.Picture impression ?

Good

Very good

Optical Zoom ?

Sufficient

Wide Angle ?

Excellent

Poor

Configuration / image ?

Satisfactory

Very good

Configuration / sound ?

Poor

Satisfactory

Handling ?

Satisfactory

Good

Portability ?

Very good

Excellent

Photo function ?

Satisfactory

Optics ?

Good

Dynamics ?

Good

Conclusion slashCAM

slashCAM rating ?

Good

Total score ?
(maximal 570)

378

372

Pros

+ Lowlight
+ wide angle

+ Sharpness and colour at the upper AVCHD limit
+ Many manual controls

Cons

- few manual control options
- Complicated operation

- No wide angle

Conclusion

The JVC GZ-HM960 is a very sharp camera with a solid technical foundation, but unfortunately it doesn´t recommend itself for ambitious videographers.Too little manual control is offered along with the otherwise very up-to-date technical specs.Rather, the GZ-HM960 will appeal to users who are interested in technical gadgets.The 3D mode, however, is no comparison to real 3D camcorders and should be seen more as a gimmick.The similarly constructed but cheaper GZ-HM845 on the other hand, would be a pretty interesting device in its price class, if only JVC would have enabled more manual features.In its 1000 Euro price class the competition by now allows more manual control.

Finally camcorder in the 1000 Euro range 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.

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