Panasonic HDC-TM55K Hi-Def Camcorder with 8GB Flash Memory & 35X Intelligent Zoom (Black)
by Panasonic
List Price:
Our Price: $300.00
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Category: Digital Camera
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Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: PanasonicModel: HDC-TM55K
Color: Black
Product features:
- Accessories - AC Adaptor, USB Cable, Stylus Pen, Software, Rechargeable Battery Pack 1790 mAh Lithium-Ion
- This is especially handy when you want to take a group photo in a small room.
- The corrective ability of POWER O.I.S. has been increased by five times compared to previous models
- It continues to track the subject as he or she moves anywhere within the LCD frame, making it ideal for video shooting.
- Specifications
- Pinnacle Studio HD V14 [OLD VERSION]
- Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 9 [OLD VERSION]
- Pinnacle Studio Ultimate Collection V14 [OLD VERSION]
- Nero 9 [OLD VERSION]
- Adobe Premiere Elements 9 [Old Version]
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Panasonic HDC-TM55K Hi-Def Camcorder with 8GB Flash Memory & 35X Intelligent Zoom (Black)
Customer Review: Pleased out of the box, but buy a charger, extra battery and memory!
Summary: 4 Stars
The first thing I should get out of the way is that I am not a professional videographer. I had a baby on the way and needed to get a camcorder, so essentially my needs are ease of use, good results, ease of download to my computer and subsequent emailing or burning to DVD. This camcorder meets these requirements.
I had done the basic research online before making the purchase; i.e. I went to cnet and some other review sites to determine the models that would meet my needs. Then when I had the models, I looked for the cheapest prices, which more and more seems to be Amazon, and then read the customer feedback here.
One of the main cons I read here was that you need to plug in the camcorder to charge the battery. This is true and can be a pain in the butt. At the time of purchase I got a travel charger that plugs into 110 V and also the car lighter. I also bought a spare battery. All on Amazon. The charger was about $15 and the battery was about $55. Each battery will give you about 1 hour and 45 minutes of shooting time, maybe a little more. Depends on how often you playback, use the light, etc. But you can do the math on how much continuous shoot time you will need and buy batteries accordingly. Neither the battery on the camcorder or the aftermarket charge very fast. The aftermarket took about 4 hours to re-charge. In any event, well worth the money because when you get to the holidays, the shoot time flies by before you know it.
The other concern I had after reading the reviews was the internal memory. The internal 8 GB gives you about 1 hour and 20 minutes. I bought a 16 GB card on Amazon for about $40 so this gives me a little over 2 hours and 40 munutes extra. I strongly suggest you get the extra memory since once the internal memory is full, you either have to download what you have shot to your computer or format and lose everything to continue shooting.
Finally, I also bought the extended covers everything that can go wrong for three years warranty. I read the reviews here at Amazon and didn't see any terrible reviews so I figured it is good insurance. I am generaly not a big fan of extended warranties (bite me Sears) but when it comes to an electronic item you know is going to be carried all over the place and potentially used by several people, it seems like a worthwile investment. It was about $70 bucks. I haven't (luckily) had to try and make a claim yet, so if I do, I will come back and let you know how it worked out. I keep remembering a friend of mine who had a new camera he bought right before vacation, and on the second day it slipped out of his hand and fell in the surf.
Pros:
1) I was able to open the box, get the battery installed and charging and when the battery was charged I could turn on the power and take a video. When the video was done, I was able to figure out how to play it back on the camcorder. The point is that if you are reasonably proficient with electronic devices, the camcorder is pretty easy to figure out without reading a tome of an operator's manual, and will function with the default settings.
2) The camcorder is really small and compact, I knew the measurements when I bought it, but until it is in your hand it might be difficult to actually envision the size. It is almost the same size as a digital camera. I bought a bag for it and the wires, charger, extra battery etc. take up about twice the space of the actual camera.
3) There seem to be plenty of options for the user to modify how the camcorder operates, such as contrast, lighting, etc. so if you are so inclined the options are there. I did use some of these to shoot indoors in low light.
4) Downloading to the computer or playing on your TV (assuming you have HDMI or RCA inputs) is relatively easy. The camcorder comes with a program disc for viewing and editing on your computer that self boots and using the standard "Wizard" can get it installed and up and running with a minumum of issues. If you don't like having to use a computer to view, etc., than I would suggest looking at something that records directly to a DVD. The internal program has some basic movie editing functions, but I wouldn't call it the greatest movie program so you may want to use a third party editing program for anything more than basic transitions, captions, etc.
Cons:
1) As I noted above, to take care of some of the upfront issues, you need to buy some additional stuff like a charger, spare battery, extra memory. This does add to the cost so keep this in mind when comparing it to other camcorders. You will most likely absolutely need the extra memory unless you want to run to your computer everytime to clear the internal memory, and having to plug the unit in to charge the battery is really bad, buy the extra charger and battery or you will surely be annoyed when your battery dies and you miss that once in a life time shot.
2) The light feature on the camera is not really all that useful unless you are trying to shoot something where there is absolutely no light at all. It is more or less and LED flashlight, so you can imagine how much actual light it produces and then it is bright white so the colors get distorted. In low light, you are better turning off the light and using the adjustements on the camera which is what I did, and seemed to have great results in the way the recording looked.
3) Most of the controls are through the actual viewing screen. This causes two problems, since the camera is so compact, so is the screen. This means the options buttons are pretty small, so if you have big meat hooks for hands like I do, it can get a little frustrating trying to use your fingernail or the side of your finger to hit the buttons. The other issue is that because the buttons are on the screen, your view screen gets pretty schmutzed up (dirty) quickly, nothing that can't be dealt with, but when you have a bunch of streaks, oil, dirt etc. on the screen it can get distracting. There is also a function where you can identify the subject you are recording and the camera will keep the person in focus as they move around. Great option, except this means you fingers touch just about everywhere on the screen after awhile, so the smudges etc. can get even more annoying.
4) The Panasonic software does not work very easily with Microsoft products. As usual, I would imagine this is more of an issue created by Microsoft (bite me Bill Gates and Balmer too!) Since I had other videos and still photos already on my computer, it was kind of a pain figuring out how to get everything in the same folder and accessible. Although, I freely admit I am not a computer geek, more like using my car, when I put in the key and it starts, I can use it pretty competently. If something goes wrong, I usually need to call someone for help! The point is, if you are good with computers and software, it might not even be an issue for you.
One final issue is really not related to the camera, but more for your computer. My computer is a few years old and is light on cache memory. This means that when I play the video back on my computer it can not use the optimal screen per second setting without locking up. (I am sure you know what I am talking about if you ever tried to view youtube or other videos) The optimal playback should be 30 frames per second, if your computer can't handle that, you will need to lower the setting or the playback will keep locking up on you. Unfortunately, when you lower the frames per second, you get a jerky play back. Once again, this isn't related to the camera, but keep it in mind.
Aside from what I already written, when I connected the camera directly to my Hi Def TV, it looked great. I haven't as of yet burned a DVD, so I can't say yet if there is any difference between the direct connection between the camera and TV or when you burn a DVD.
OK, so to wrap things up, other than the cons and extra items I have spoken about, I am pretty happy with the unit, and would reccomend it to people who have about the same expectations I do. I will leave it up to some other professional reviewer to talk about pixels and that stuff, but I figure if you're a professional, you wouldn't be looking at this camera in the first place! If it weren't for having to buy the extra battery, charger and memory I would have given it five stars. Then again, if it came with the extra battery, charger and memory, it would not have cost $350 either!
More Panasonic HDC-TM55K Hi-Def Camcorder with 8GB Flash Memory & 35X Intelligent Zoom (Black) reviews:
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Description of Panasonic HDC-TM55K Hi-Def Camcorder with 8GB Flash Memory & 35X Intelligent Zoom (Black)
Featuring the Intelligent 35x Zoom and Power O.I.S.Compact Full-HD Shooting Fun for Everyone! Beautiful zoom shots of distant subjects. Intelligent 35x Zoom and POWER O.I.S. The HDC-TM55 features a 25x optical zoom and an Intelligent Zoom function that goes all the way up to 35x. When using Intelligent Zoom, Intelligent Resolution technology lets you shoot at high zoom rates while preserving the image resolution. You get sharp images of highly detailed objects -- without the blurry edges.Camcorders
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