The selling point on this camera is where it sits price wise. It packs a nice punch for its weight in the mid sized but hand held group of cameras. A part from looking a bit odd it is a nice package that performs very well. It has a couple of flaws but none of them fatal. At under $4000 they will sell a truckload or two.

The engine can rev the AVCHD format out to a fairly quick 24mbps which will give you excellent piccies when you add in the three 1/4inch CMOS chips. These have an effective size of 2.5 megapixels. 24mbps is hitting the HDV speed so the difference is down to compression and tape versus card for recording. Personally I'm still in the HDV camp and expect to for a while. AVCHD demands a fast spec PC to play back smoothly so be aware of that. I still favour having a camera tape that, once digitised, can be safely stored away. But I am getting old fashioned here and recognise a new generation of filmmakers will prefer the immediacy of card recording.

Looking down the barrel

I have to say that I think this is a fairly unattractive piece of kit. It's definitely there for function. No awards for industrial sculptor here. It's squat and looks like its had a bad side collision and been left a bit squashed.

What it has at the front is a proper focus ring. It's multi-functional but I'd bet most people would leave it on focus. It can be the iris if you like but there is a small thumbwheel further back that can do that job just fine.

On the same side is the very nice 2.7inch LCD screen. No problem in bright light with this. All the menus and settings are easy to see. I like the look of the menu layout and generally it's easy to get to the settings you need to change and then set up the user buttons for fast access in the field.

On the top is a removable handle that can also house the optional XLR mount. I'd have one of these please as it gives you great flexibility in the audio department and it's a tad risky to rely on the small 3.5mm plugs. Besides it makes you look all professional especially when you add a decent shotgun to the top.

Focus

The Leica lens is nice and goes from usefully wide to very long - enough to cover most bases. It has 13 elements in 10 groups. It has the usual aspherical glass and a secret coating to enhance resolution. Whatever herbs and spices they use it delivers sharp images all round. Low light is fine (if it's too dark then get a small light for goodness sake).

There's a focus assist and manual quick focus button - both very useful. Focus assist is very common now. The image is blown up in the viewfinder for more detailed focussing but the blown image is not recorded

Picture this

So I fired it up and went out hunting pictures. The viewfinder (a small but useful window you look in to see pics in bright light - now unfamiliar to a wide range buyers of small cameras) tilts up nicely for low shots. The long lens is good at 490mm (35mm equivalent). There are also stepped digital teleconverters built in that you could use sparingly. That could take you out to a whopping 120x zoom - but when would you? The optical stabiliser is very good and hand held zooms are possible if you have learnt to hold your breath like a waiting sniper (clearly I've been playing too much Call Of Duty).

Panasonic has added a waveform monitor to the LCD of a couple of their cameras and this is one of them. The WFM lets you accurately set black and white levels - a very useful field tool once you get to know it. As and editor for many years I'm used to looking at WFMs so I thinks this is a very cool idea. You can also set a range of interval recordings that are excellent for time lapse. There's a really good one on Vimeo ( a website for more serious shooters - have a look and search for the "Test Panasonic AG-HMC41E").

The front ring works very well and all controls are easy to find for manual use. Having blasted away for a while I plugged it into my big screen and wasn't a bit surprised to find the images are very nice. Good resolution, crisp and excellent colour. Just like a pro should be. I copied the files to my home PC and used Premiere Pro CS4 to edit them together. No drama here but I personally don't like the fact that you end up with loads of individual files - one for each time you stopped and started.

Apart from the small issue of AVCHD being a tad demanding the edit workflow does go well. But how and where do you store the original images for future use? I'm not with you if you're saying hard drive. Not yet proven for say a decade unattended in the cupboard.

Still life

This unit (why can't they have cool names instead of incomprehensible numbers and letters) can bring home excellent 10meg stills. As usual I won't recommend leaving your DSLR at home but you could grab some good stuff on the run.  

The jury's back

All round I liked this camera but then there are very few I don't! Panasonic is one of the reliable makers of good sturdy platforms. If you're looking to go AVCHD then this will make your doco/short film/wedding look very nice indeed. It fits nicely in the market price wise and is excellent value for money.

 

www.panasonic.com.au | 02 9986 7515

Price: AUD$4000.00

We liked...

• Multi-function front ring

• Image quality

• Quick start

• Waveform monitor

We didn't like...

• Not much - perhaps a touch ugly!

Auscam Scoreboard

• Documentation        9/10
• Features         9/10
• Setup                     8/10
• Value for Money      9/10
• Help Functions.        9/10
• Performance           9/10

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The tech stuff

 

• CMOS chips : 3 CMOS (1/4.1-inch progressive modes supported)
•  Viewfinder: 2.7 inch LCD
• Lens : Leica Dicomar F1.8 (Wide)/F2.8 (Tele)  38mm diameter
• 12x zoom (490mm in 35mm terms)
• Records to SD card : AVCHD format
• Shutter Speed Range : 1/25-1/8000 sec. (Motion Image), 1/25-1/8000 sec. (Still Image)(Progressive 1/25-1/500)
• Stereo Zoom Microphone : Dolby Digital/5.1ch, Zoom Microphone
• Still Picture Storage Dimensions : 10meg

 

By Steve Turner

I started in TV as a videotape operator for Channel Nine in 1980 and went to News editing in 1984, becoming Senior News editor for Nine Adelaide.

In 1988 moved to production editing (doing everything from sport to station promotions and programs) and then in 1989 moved to London to work for Sky News UK. This was just starting up and I helped set up the news editing operation.

The highlight of this year was covering the fall of the Berlin wall (where I location produced and edited continuously for five straight days and nights - grabbing sleep here and there). The best bit was interviewing people crossing the wall for the first time in years.

I returned to Adelaide in 1990 and freelance vision switched and also did graphics for news and production. Left again in 1991 to backpack the planet for 12 months with my partner Rochelle.

Back in 1992 and returned to production editing and graphic design for Channel Nine. I worked on all the Adelaide Formula One races (1985-1995) bar 2 (while away) doing foreign broadcast editing - packages for overseas networks in their languages.

Began Directing news in 1997 and started my own production business doing weddings and corporate work. This was followed quickly by producing science films for Flinders University and the setting up of our web business selling science related videos, CDroms, and now DVDs.

Started writing for Australian Video Camera in 2003 then Auscam when it started. Produced and shot news features for the Ten network and worked freelance on the Athen's Olympics in 2004 for Seven.

Left Channel Nine to join Channel Seven in 2005. Involved in the setup and operation of Seven's new news operation and regularly direct the six o'clock news. Directed and produced Seven's Anzac day telecasts for 2005/6 and independently produced the 13 part series "Fishing and Boating" for Channel Seven.

Produced and shot a documentary on drug abuse with an Indigenous Elders group as well as a two part docco with the RAAF. Current project include a docco on Alzheimers and another on the lives of siblings of disabled people.

I have three gorgeous small children and am a part time stay at home Dad...

...It's a busy life!!

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