Panasonic HC-VX870EG - Reviews

(4.4)

12 reviews

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For Panasonic HC-VX870EG, 12 customer reviews collected from 1 e-commerce sites, and the average score is 4.4.

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5.2.2016

I own this camcorder for about a year now, and in general I'm very pleased with it. I'm still giving it only four stars, so why is that? That is a complicated question to answer, but in tackling it I'll be able to explain a lot about this camcorder and my experiences with it.In deciding what camcorder to buy I had a couple of things I was looking for. I wanted 4K, I wanted the option to have an external microphone and i wanted great optical zoom. I previously had one that did 50x optical zoom, and really wanted that back in my new one. But the combination of large optical zoom and an external microphone is a difficult one to find, so as this camcorder has huge digital zoom options I decided to let go of that demand.This camcorder finally drew my attention with its ability to record in infra red, as I was looking at infra red binoculars with recording capability at the time. Buying this camcorder meant I could drop the need for another item to carry. So because this one also ticked all the other boxes I bought it. I also bought a Rode external microphone with a dead cat for outdoor filming.I've been able to test this duo on numerous occasions in the past year. The results are really great. I've got the best picture quality I've had in years, and the sound is unbelievably good (especially as there is no wind noise, ever). Especially the 4K mode provides very very clear pictures. Still, I haven't used that mode as much as I thought, and this has to do with my editing software. In Full HD the quality is still great though. If it were just for this I would give the camcorder a full five stars.But...There are a number of things I'm not too pleased with. The first issue is that it has a tendency to refocus during recording. I've had this issue on numerous occasions during airshows. I was merrily tracking an aircraft flying from left to right, and just as it passed me the autofocus went off, and after a second or so it refound its balance and it was sharp again. But my recording of the pass was ruined. No matter what I've tried, this issue remains. It even remains with focus on manual. The only thing I found that could help is to keep the object as large as possible. But this is nearly impossible with fast flying aircraft.The second issue is that I found the infra red recordings disappointing to say the least. Instead of passively recording IR radation, the camcorder nees active IR from its infra red light. This light is very small, so the beam is very short. In pitch darkness I can only see things up to about a meter and a half, and then only very dimly. I now have an IR torch that I still have to test, but filming while using a torch at the same time does seem a chalange. It might mean I have to resort to getting a decent IR viewer and carrying two items instead of just this one again.The third issue is also my final nag. It's about the menu and the settings. I found it quite difficult to figure out how to get to the IR mode initially. That's because I needed to make a few changes in sequence, before the camcorder even allowed the option of IR recording. The key was to disable 4K recording. Now I can find my way it's ok, but occasionally I'm not aware I forgot to swith 4K back on again after using the night shot or IR option. I think it would have been more user friendly to let the camcorder adjust all the settings in the background, and to just present the user with the different recording options. Anyway, I'm used to it now, and if I can, so can you I'm sure.So, I'm very pleased with the camcorder. My results are excellent. I will eventually also get the hang of the IR option, I'm sure. But I'm still giving the camcorder only four stars and not the full five. And that is because I feel that for this amount of money a buyer may expect everything to be perfect. As I just explained, this camcorder isn't perfect (though maybe it almost is). Would I recommend it to other people? Yes I would, without hesitation. Just so long as you are aware of what you're buying, and of what you're going to run into.

2.5.2015

After owning the Panasonic HC-VX870 for a few days, I posted my first test shoot of 4K footage on YouTube. To say I am impressed is an understatement.The Panasonic is lighter, cheaper, smaller and because of this (in my opinion) better than the competition. But more importantly the video quality is brilliant. Don't take my word for it, use the link below and witness the Panasonic in action. To misquote a famous saying, "one YouTube video is worth a thousand words," Enjoy!!!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdOJE-7QmO8Or search YouTube for, Flag Festival in the sleepy market town of UlverstonThe music is Bach and is copyright free.

2.6.2015

This is a good quality camcorder but found problem. So I returned to the seller and waiting for refund .In auto mode this camera does not focus clearly at 20x zoom. I tried to do few wildlife videos but got blury clips. I tried panning & tilting at 20x zoom and found it could not focus clearly. I need to hold the camera on the same focus position to get clear focus. Otherwise this camera produces high quality motion picture. Previously I used budget camcorder Panasonic SD60. I was very happy with that. For this instance, it Imight be that my item was faulty.