When looking for a prosumer camcorder I ended up with only two options, it was the Panasonic 900 series or the Canon HF G10.
After going through many reviews I decided for the Panasonic HDC-TM900, the various functions on the manual ring compared to the only focus control on the Canon ring and the way Panasonic uses a better algorithm to compress the images into file keeping more information just won me over.
I bought the Panasonic TM900 camcorder for my professional kit primarily for Wedding Videos, but also for broadcasting projects. Picture quality of this unit is simply unbelievable. Very natural colours and extremely sharp picture.
The Leica lens is beautiful and the automatic and manual controls are superb giving plenty of scope to manually adjust: Zebra warning, exposure adjustment, focus and white balance. The intelligent Zoom gives a 20x magnification which covers most requirements. Macro works very well and is easy to focus up. The touch screen works brilliantly and offers easy access to your footage listed by date. Having this level of quality in your pocket is a dream come true! The flip out 3 inch screen is tremendous, sharp and detailed. The top zoom lever is something I really love as it gives a beautifully slow, silky smooth zoom. So on the picture side, couldn’t be more pleased.
I was really amazed at the quality of the footage when recording in 1080p 50fps and the possibility of recording both PAL and NTSC is a must allowing for US/Europe production.
Sound wise, the Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound is amazing however, in windy situations the sound quality is severely interfered with, advice to plug a good mic to the mic jack input provided on the camera.
The camera is exceptional in low light filming; a big plus for wedding videography, churches and receptions have always that low dimed light that puts out many cameras. No noise whatsoever when recording in dim light. Colour is bright and vibrant.
Also its size and portability allows me to use it all day without losing my arm compared to bigger cameras and to be more discreet while recording weddings; I look like one more guest among the crowd.
If you're looking for an easy to use camera that provides exceptional picture quality and great Dolby surround sound, look no further.
All said and done I really love this little camcorder as a tool for producing video works for broadcast and Wedding Videos. I highly recommend it, well done Panasonic!
