Features:

  • 20X Optical Zoom: Long 20X zoom draws in the scene from far away; Compatible with Remote Pan Tilt Cradle (optional). The focal length is 4.08 – 81.6 mm. The still image is 1/2 – 1/2000 and the standard illumination is 1400 lx
  • HDR Movie Feature: Exclusive high-dynamic range feature suppresses blown highlights and blocked shadows for crisper and clearer videos camcorder
  • Wireless Twin Camera: Wirelessly connect your smartphone's video camera as a sub-camera for a picture-in-picture video effect
  • 1/2.3-Inch BSI Sensor: The Back Side Illumination Sensor has a large effective area with 6.03M effective pixels, suppressing noise even when shooting in dimly lit conditions
  • Remote Shooting/View: The "Panasonic Image App" lets you use a smartphone or tablet as a real-time remote to control the camcorder from a distance; Wi-Fi functions also enable real-time broadcasting or baby monitoring.IEEE 802.11b/g/n
I've researched it.. just buy this one already

I'm not going to lie I probably spent more hours researching for my first family video camera than I'll ever spend shooting movies on this one, but it's exactly what I had hoped for. We first used it for our wedding and reception(low light and loud music) and it blew away my expectations for what a home movie camera could look and sound like. HD quality on this completely surpasses memories I've converted to digital format about 30 S-VHS tapes my parents recorded our home movies (with another 50 to go.) I've spent quite a bit of time converting and compressing raw video-which is why I went with the HD format and not 4K; files are too big and take a lot of power to process. I'm not an expert but I learned a lot from my research. If you want some assurance from someone who has already spent the time to make sure you're getting your money's worth, I recommend you hit buy now and save the time. Zoom-Good but stabilization and quality is great! Low Light Scenes- better than you will ever care about as long as you capture the moment and this camera will. -Microphone is good and can handle a wide range and good at blocking winds. Con wish it had a place for a neck strap loop, buts lightweight and fits in your hand well.

In the real world this beats anything even at double the price including 4K camcorders

This is an awesome camcorder. For those thinking they need a 4K camcorder look on YouTube for 4K vs 1080 HD comparisons. Specifically check out LinusTechTips "4K is it worth it" and you'll learn that unless you want to do extreme cropping in post-production editing, shooting in 4K has basically zero benefit even if when you upload in 4K. Video shot in 1080 and unconverted to 4K before uploading looks identical to video shot in 4K even when viewed on a 4K monitor. The reason is simple. 4K video has to be compressed more to make it practical. This camera has a much bigger sensor than most 1080 consumer and even "prosumer" camcorders. That gives it a huge advantage both in low light as well as depth of field and bokeh (the ability to selectively blur the back ground). That combined with great auto focus, great image stabilization, and a mature feature set, set it apart from anything in this price. Search on the model number and "low light" on YouTube for examples of how it blows away anything under a thousand bucks in low light including 4K cameras. For a given sensor size adding more pixels generally means less light per pixel and significantly more noise in low light. So, for the same size sensor, a 1080 camera can outperform a 4K camera and that's the case here. Consider also a 4K camera results in much bigger file sizes unless you compress the image further. With similar file sizes 4K has little if any benefit over 1080. And at maximum quality the file sizes of 4K are enormous resulting in very slow transfer times, much more cumbersome editing, and much longer rendering. All for basically no benefit unless you're going to view the native 4K video on a very large (70+ inch) native 4K TV and even then the V770 will likely win in lower light. The only potential negative here is battery life. A larger batter is available. But, for the performance, it's a worthwhile trade off. I also have a similarly priced Canon HD camcorder and this simply blows the Canon away in any circumstance but especially in lower light. The Canon's sensor is about half the size of the V770s and that makes a massive difference. Get this camcorder before Panasonic stops making it or they ruin a good thing with whatever replaces it (which will likely be 4K and inferior).

Awesome for price

Needed to record a drama play in low light and after 3 times testing settings found the correct low light setting I needed and could not have been happier, it's great in low light

This is THE camera for shooting entire concerts

This is unbelievable. At first, I was a little annoyed that you have to pay so much for a camera that lets you set manual iris/focus/sound etc. But I finally but the bullet and paid 4x as much as a regular fully auto HD cam. I'm so glad I did. I just tested all of the fancy bells and whistles that I was skeptical about. Holy crap, they all work! I got this camera for recording my own concerts. The audio is on par with some of the field recorders out there. The 4k resolution means that I can leave this at a wide angle from across the venue and later in editing, zoom into my bandmates it as if it were a second and third camera. On top off all that, I don;t have to run out into the audience to press record right before the show and then run out after the show. I can control it from my phone (this is what I was sure wouldn't work properly but it did)! The wifi range isn't long enough for a large venue or festival, but you can tap into a wifi router which I already have on stage for our sound gear. I only got this camera because of it's manual control. Don't try shooting concerts with an automatic camera. The cameras don't understand stage lighting and it will look horrible unless it's a well lit outdoor show (of if the stage lights never change). Plus, they alway automatically focus on the stupid little toys and signs and beach balls that pop up from the audience. Manual settings solve all of that. You can get that with several different Cannon and sony cams for around the same price. But this camera absolutely CRUSHES it with the extra stuff. I am amazed. Tip: don't bother buying the expensive larger battery. Get a usb backup charger. The kind that you can use to power a phone or tablet. I have a heavy duty one that will outlast any camera battery. If you're using a tripod, you just rig up a place to put it and you're gold.

Very good for recording sports and action. Slow motion is exactly what I wanted.

I purchased this camera specifically to film high school lacrosse games and use the high frame rates for slow mo highlights and game film breakdown. Once I found the full manual online(included is abbreviated) I was able to get consistently great slow motion video. Several points to make. #1 The Picture quality is fantastic at 60 FPS and using Adobe Premiere Elements I was able to slow down the 60fps to 12.5% speed and the picture still looks awesome. #2 When capturing slow mo at 120 fps, what actually happens is the camera creates a file that is twice as long as what you just filmed , shown at 60fps. So the file you download off the card is already playing at half speed. Premiere properties shows 59.95 fps . It is a little confusing, but take a ten second video, then look at what is output, it is 20 seconds long , playing at half speed. #3 The 120fps video is still at 1080p and looks fantastic. I then can slow it down even more in Premiere (Right Click-Clip-Time Stretch) and the quality is outstanding. Again I got great results stretching the clips out to 8x their original 1/2 speed duration, effectively 480 fps using Adobe Premiere, the 1080p image still looked great. #4 To get 240 fps, the camera does a post processing operation on the 120fps clip . You do this by going into the Playback Mode, then go into the menu and select the Slw Motion effect and then you are prompted to select the clip on the memory card you wish to post process. It won't let you post process a clip that was not taken in slow mo. You then get a file twice as long as the previous. It does take a reasonable amount of time for the camera to do the post processing. #5 Slo Mo mode does use memory like crazy, so expect to get a big SD card. Battery capacity(duration) decreases also, so I ordered two additional batteries right away. I can imagine having to swap batteries at half time. #6 After playing with the 120fps and generated 240fps files, I was so impressed by picture quality of 120fps slowed down using Adobe Premiere that I don't imagine using the 240fps post processing very often. I am sure I will occasionally, but for my needs as a coach, I doubt it will be necessary to get great quality highlight images. #7 There is a setting in the menu for Recording Setup --Slow Motion Setup. You can choose interval or always. If you use interval, while you are recording the camera will only start recording slow motion when you touch the screen(and keep your finger on the screen) If you use always, then while the camera is recording it will record at 120fps. I switched to always because I kept forgetting to touch the screen. Very impressed so far and happy with the purchase. It may not allow you to record a water ballon breaking or an arrow slicing through an apple, but it also doesn't cost 10k .

I'm quite pleased with these cameras.

I'm pretty happy with this camcorder. We bought two of them and they, like most consumer cameras, are a little clunky out of the box. Features like auto light on/off, auto horizon level, and demo mode, can make it finicky to get your shot the way you want it, but a quick few minutes in the menu, got this camera in good working order. It has a great zoom lens with optics that allow the image to be sharp even at the tele end of the lens. I have noticed that the edges of the picture aren't super sharp when the camera is zoomed all the way out wide. For our application this isn't an issue as we'll be using this as a close up camera 99% of the time. This camera cannot record in 4K and output video via HDMI at the same time (HDMI will go out when you start recording), it can output and record to 1080P at the same time, however. The 4K is a little soft, as you would expect with a consumer camcorder, however the footage looks fantastic when scaled down to 1080p. The built in microphone is hands down the best quality I've ever heard from a built in camcorder mic. It sounds as if I'm using an external recorder. I'm also glad it has a built in video light and nightvision, however as I mentioned earlier, the built in light turns on and off constantly in auto mode, so I recommend disabling auto and switching it on/off manually when needed.

Awesome HD camera!

Took this camera for the first time last night to a concert that I took my kid to for her birthday. Captured nearly 2 hours of footage (AT NIGHT), many from ~15X-to-20X optical zoom. Also shot stills while shooting the video. The result? Awesome. I only posted one sample pic (@ 20X) of the guys from the back so I don't infringe on facial likeness copyrights, etc. But take my word I way very impressed at the lens, anti-shake, low light performance, and relative lightness. I held the cam for 2 hours and yes, my arm ached a bit, but not overly so, and my daughter is really happy! I can't wait for Panasonic 4K cams to come down in price!!

Great camera for outdoors and hunting

I bought this camera to film wildlife and hunting trips. I had been filming with Go-pros and smartphones. The last video camera I bought was a miniDV 15 years ago. Compared to that, this camera is UNBELIEVABLE! The sound quality is terrific and the high definition looks great. The steady-shot removes most of my shakes and I don't feel the need for a tripod, even when zooming into an animal 300 yards off and the digital zoom at that distance is actually useful. I zoomed in to a bee on a flower 8 feet away and not only was the image crisp, but when the bee took off flying, you could hear it on the video! I quite impressed. The reason I chose this camera over others was because of the manual focus button. It takes only about 2 seconds to switch the manual focus on or off. I was going to purchase some sort of external mic or wind muff, but the audio has been fine so far without and you can hear every bird in the forest very clearly. It really works well for capturing the sights and sounds of nature. Only thing I don't like is that there is no viewfinder and you must use the LCD which uses more battery.

Simple and Easy to User

I was looking for a simple to use and 4K Camcorder, it perfectly fit my requirements and cost. Based on the reviews, i did go for a additional battery as the battery with this gives about 90 mins of recording depending on the resolution and zooming. other tips: ensure you read the Advanced User/Operating Manual as well you may need to check the configuration of your PC for playing 4K content or playing on your TV have enough space to store these videos (4K) 1 hr video would take close to 25GB space the HD Writer AE 5.3 software provided by Panasonic can get you going, you may need some advanced video editing software for serious video creation. Few things i would've have liked different, the Power ON/OFF button would've been better located for easy access with the right hand while holding it. finally Panasonic is offering a 3 yr extended warranty for purchases till 3/31/17, so read those T&C to get an additional 2 yr warranty

Great HD Camcorder

There are already some great reviews on this camcorder, so I'll keep it short. My goal was to find a high quality video image for travel and local landscape to enjoy on my HDTV at home. I have a chronic illness that keeps me indoors some weeks but as a lover of the outdoors wanted to be able to "visit" some of my favorite places. This camcorder in 1080P mode does a magnificent job of capturing both the sites and sounds in front of it. I was a bit dubious of the advertised surround sound but it is actually much better than I expected. One segment was taken at the California coastline with waves crashing in the distance and some coastal flora in the foreground. Not only did the camera handle the balance of dim light to bright light well, the sounds of the waves crashing, a seagull that flew by squawking that I didn't remember, but it did not record the sound of several groups of people that walked by behind me while recording from a narrow trail. This is my first camcorder but my overall impression is that it can be easy to use (turn it on and press record) and at the same time have some pretty sophisticated features for the more advanced folks buried behind a few touches of the on screen menu (deliberate touches, not casual swipes!). Bottom line, highly recommended if you are looking for a quality image and sound but can't justify or afford the price of the serious amateur line of camcorders.

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