Unless you're shooting cropped into a subject in bright sunlight, the video quality of the Panasonic HDC-SD80, TM80 and HS80 will probably disappoint.
Lori Grunin
I've been reviewing hardware and software, devising testing methodology and handed out buying advice for what seems like forever; I'm currently absorbed by computers and gaming hardware, but previously spent many years concentrating on cameras. I've also volunteered with a cat rescue for over 15 years doing adoptions, designing marketing materials, managing volunteers and, of course, photographing cats.
The TM80 delivers its best results in bright sunlight, zoomed in on the subject. When playing, the video looks pretty clean, though somewhat soft with edge artifacts. (frame grab)
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General image detail
In this wide shot you can see that the lower-resolution sensor can't resolve enough detail to produce HD video. It's particularly noticeable when displayed on a big-screen TV. (frame grab)
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Artifacts
This type of highly detailed shot isn't as bad as I've seen in other low-resolution models--I don't see any pixel blocks--but you can see the color noise on the dark surfaces. (frame grab)
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Color
While the colors aren't that accurate, they're certainly pleasing and saturated under bright conditions. (Frame grabs)
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Low light with video light
Unlike its low-cost competitors, the TM80 and company have an on-board LED video light. While it can help in scenes like this, you really don't want to point it toward people; they'll be seeing spots for a very long time. It also results in a not-very-attractive white balance, and you still lose a lot of detail in the scene. (Frame grab)
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Low-light video quality
The camcorder's low-light quality isn't very good; there's quite a bit of color noise and it's very soft. (Frame grab)
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Distortion
There's a bit of distortion on the left side of the scene, more than I like given how narrow the lens is at its widest. (Frame grab)
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Edge artifacts
There's quite a bit of aliasing (jaggies) on edges. (Frame grab)
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Photo quality
You generally don't want to use this camcorder as a still camera; the photo quality doesn't even match that of a camera phone unless it's scaled down. (Still photo)
