Nice cam but with problems.

For all you Mac and Quicktime lovers out there: BEWARE! This camera creates a different type of file that cannot be read by Quicktime. What's worse is the JVC offers no software for Macs or any sort of converter program. Wow you pay $500 for a cam from a multi-billion dollar company like JVC and they don't bother to help you!!!



Fortunately there is a free program called "MPEG Steamclip" that can export the files to something Quicktime will understand however very time consuming.More detail ...

Compact But Not Perfect

I bought this camera as a replacement for a VHS-C camera that I never did manage to use because it was just too cumbersome. The HandyCam SR45 is certainly small -- it fits in my purse! But it does have a few flaws I wish I had realized before purchasing.



First of all it doesn't have a wide-angle lens. That is an optional accessory. This limits my filmmaking abilities more than I realized it would. Secondly it dosn't have a viewfinder. You are forced to use the viewscreen at all times. In bright sun you can't see the image on the viewscreen at all so without the option of switching to the viewfinder it's hit and miss if you are filming what you think you are filming.



And the last major challenge I have is that it records in MPEG2 format. This is the format (I guess) that you need to output directly to DVD. But for editing this is not the best format. To edit in Windows Movie Maker you have to convert the file types and the quality tanks. I am looking at some MPEG2 editors right now but I hear that editing right in MPEG2 format you lose some ability to make fine-tune edits.



On the plus side I never have to buy tapes for this thing and with something like 6 hours of recording built in at the highest quality I doubt I'll even need to buy memory cards for it. (Even on a great vacation over 6 hours of footage is too much! Edit yourself!!) No running out of room in the middle of something exciting happening.



The lens cap is built in which is also great but I'm forgetting to close it all the time. And the 40x Optical Zoom is fantastic! It takes some great up-close shots without having to get up-close. And transferring to JPEG for still shots is easy with the new software I'm trying and the stills look great.



And the nightshooting is really cool too. I just don't know if I'll ever use it other than to torment my cat.



Overall it's a nice little camera but there is room for improvement.More detail ...

So far I love it!

I've only had my HDC-TM10K for a couple of days but so far I'm very impressed. It's amazingly small and lightweight. Ease of use is great. I was also able to edit HD video on my MacBook--you must have Intel processor and iMovie 09. I was also able to burn an HD DVD with no problem. So far I'm very happy with it.More detail ...

This 70x zoom lens has the power you need to take dramatic close-ups or get remarkable shots of even distant subjects. But with long-distance zoom shots even a tiny bit of hand shake has a huge effect on picture quality. That's where optical image stabilization comes in. Panasonic's advanced O.I.S. shifts a corrective lens as you shoot to help eliminate the effects of hand shake so you get clear sharp shots even at high zoom levels. It's an essential feature for getting the most out of this incredible zoom lens.With the SDR-H79K you can use the iA function whether you're shooting in motion or still images. In iA mode the camera detects the shooting situation and automatically activates whichever functions - such as advanced O.I.S. face detection and intelligent scene selector - will deliver the optimal results. Forget about bothersome settings during important scenes and trust iA to give you the optimal shots.

• Records Onto 60GB HDD SD/SDHC Memory Card


• Recording Format MPEG2 (Motion Image); JPEG (Still Image)


• Image Sensor (Total) 1/8 CCD


• F Value F1.9 (WIDE)/5.7(TELE)


• Optical Zoom 70x

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Can it get any better ?

Upon opening the box I was amazed by the FS10! It fits in the palm of your hand (about the size of a can of pop) and feels like a finely crafted piece of equipment. I started video taping two minutes later! Let's forgo the technical jargon and skip directly to the picture quality ... amazing! I was video taping in my store and instantly was impressed with how well the camera compensated for light shining through my windows. A quick scan around and I ask myself "how is this thing focusing so quickly?" Focus is instant and accurate. Now for the really cool thing - when out of zoom mode you can focus on the hair of a fly! Well I didn't try a fly but I could literally get within 1/2" of an object and still have instant focus. How do they do it? No having set it for macro focus it acts like the human eye. OK how about zooming you ask. Well we had a Comcast guy working on a telephone pole about 200' from my office. I was videoing through my window. The camera still had no problem focusing and the anti-shake feature of the camera worked incredibly. I've seen other anti-shake cameras and didn't like the digital blurring that occured. The FS10 somehow has eliminated the blurring. I actually zoomed in on the tool belt of the Comcast guy and could read the brand name! No exaggeration. OK now for the real test ... transferring the video to my computer. Previously I hooked my audio/video cables up to my video capture card and then went through a long process of capturing and then coverting and then putting the video on dvd. With the FS10 I loaded the software plugged in the usb cable selected my video from a thumbnail explorer type of program and 1 minute later was watching my video with Windows media player. The file is MPEG straight out of the camcorder! REMEMBER this camcorder has no tape so all you are really doing is transferring a file from the camcorder to your harddrive. Burning a DVD from there is a no brainer. What else? Well no moving parts to wear out. Yea you do have a zoom but that's about it. I did think the zoom button had a cheap feel but not bad. One last thing. I videoed in a dimmly lit room last night. The picture was grainy. Not real impressed with that but maybe there is a setting for low light. I did turn on the video light and that helped a great deal. Canon uses an LED light - so minimal battery consumption when using the light. All in all very impressive!More detail ...