Here we go: Panasonic released another new camcorder with no significant improvement over the last model; if offers no improved performance in sharpness, no improved low light capabilities, heck even the battery life is the same—nay, worse—than last year's TM Admittedly, Panasonic did claim to have improved image stabilization on the XM, and that was one area where the camcorder did show better numbers in our test.
But that's about it. Maybe this lack of improvement doesn't matter, though. The HC-XM is still a fantastic camcorder in its own right, but that's only because it's practically a direct clone of its excellent predecessor. It's upsetting that Panasonic didn't innovate and improve, but it's hard to blame them when the HC-XM is such a good product. I simply have to assume that the mantra "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" was on the mind of Panasonic engineers this year, and it's beginning to sound like an old tune.
Panasonic sure knows how to make a solid flagship camcorder with appeal to consumers and semi-pros alike, and, by all means, the new HC-XM is exactly that—an excellent high-end camcorder. Unfortunately, the camcorder wasn't a rounding success, thanks to Panasonic's lack of updates and improvements over last year's HDC-TM So, Panasonic simply took its flagship model from last year, tacked on a few cosmetic changes and a better LCD with a lame glasses-free 3D view , and released it anew as the HC-XM.
I'm just tired of seeing Panasonic fail to add anything new or special to its flagship models for the past two years. The camcorder did a very good job in nearly all of our tests, and it managed to produce top-notch sharpness in bright light.
This is the kind of camcorder that gets crisp details that a lower-end model would render as a blurry mess. Of course, there are still a few things worth complaining about. For starters, the HC-XM showed little improvement in testing over its predecessor. Sharpness and motion were basically the same, low light performance and battery life actually dropped slightly, and only with image stabilization did the XM show a significant improvement over the TM Keep in mind, this 60p footage can be difficult for computers to process, so make sure you have a workflow solution in place if you plan to edit video shot with the XM.
When using zoom, the XM required 14 lux of light to record video that was bright enough for broadcast. Without zoom, the camcorder needed just 8 lux of light to capture an image at the same brightness. Here are the hard numbers for all the noise geeks out there you know who you are! Noise levels got a bit worse in extreme low light situations, but our low light noise tests were performed at 60 lux about the light level of a dimly-lit restaurant.
The camcorder managed a color error of 4. The HC-XM continues in this tradition with a killer performance in this test. With the regular OIS, the camcorder did nearly as well. Jeremy is the video expert of our imaging team and Reviewed. Originally from Pennsylvania and upstate NY, he graduated from Bard college with a degree in film and electronic media.
He has been living and working in New England since On consumer camcorders, this is a technology in its infancy, and so please be prepared for your results to be a little less Hollywood than your ambitions might suggest.
What's certain to attract excitement and scrutiny is the way the SD has every base covered. It's a camcorder that likes to think it has the answer to everything. And, in the many ways, it has. Aside from manual control over focus, white balance, shutter and iris — through the menu and using a rotating control ring around the suitably up-market Leica Dicomar lens — there are superb functions such as the Digital Cinema mode that alters shutter speed to create film-like footage.
There's also the option of Timelapse recording at 10sec, 30sec, one minute and two minute intervals. The advanced functions keep on coming too, with a Zebra pattern over-exposure warning mode, picture adjustment settings for sharpness, colour, exposure, white balance that can be made during recording, and a Histogram option giving vital information on exposure levels.
The creativity that's possible is quite stunning in its breadth, and it even extends to audio quality with mic level adjustments available, as well as our particular favourite: bass setting. North America.
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