This is a great product for what it is designed to do and it seems that many of the negative reviews are by people that didn’t research their purchase properly. I understand that frustration, but if you know what it can and can’t do before purchasing then you will not be disappointed! Let me give some of the pros and cons to explain what I mean. At the end I have a small explanation of what you can expect for picture quality.
Pros
- Zoom: The zoom is amazing! I shoot most of my videos on a 1.6x crop frame Canon DSLR and there is no lens in the world that will get you 59x optical zoom. That is something like 1650mm equivalent which gives you a tight headshot at 200ft. There are several “Intelligent” or digital zoom options, just disable that from the first day and forget about it.
- Battery/Charging: The battery lasts forever. I’ve done long recordings and I really haven’t hit 50% battery. It is also easy to power off USB (in two different ways: the included barrel plug or micro USB) which means that a cheap battery bank will keep it at 100% power for days.
- Price: At just under $200 this is $50 cheaper that most of the competition (for example the Vixia HF R800). Even for the same price I prefer the Panasonic to the Canon, and I’m an avid Canon DSLR fan!
- Microphone: No, this doesn’t have a broadcast quality microphone. However, it is noticeably better than the mic on my Canon DSLR, especially in the wind. I do wish that it accepted an external mic input, and I’ve listed that as a con. So the quality isn’t great, but since it’s better than a DSLR I have to put it as a pro.
Cons
- Microphone Input: I really wish this accepted an external mic input as most of it’s competitors do. I get that most people buying a cheap camcorder aren’t going to use an external mic, but I would!
- No Carrying Case: Even a simple cloth bag would have been better than nothing, I bought a $10 case that’s a bit too big for it. I wish I had something better.
- Menu Interface: This isn’t a strong point for most camcorders, but this one is particularly finicky with the menus. The low quality touch screen and small icons mean it often takes two tries to hit the right button and the menus are designed someone who has never actually used a camera.
- Live-Video Output: I haven’t even tried this, it uses a mini-HDMI, which is a stupid standard, but at least they include a mini-HDMI to HDMI cord with the camera. There are a lot of other reviews that talk about this… I haven’t tried and I don’t care, but others have issues, so consider that if you care.
A note about video quality:
I’ll start by saying that this is about on par with a good smartphone for video quality and maybe underperforms a flagship phone in low light. In a daylight scene it can be hard to tell the difference between this camcorder footage and a $1,000 DSLR with a good lens! However, as soon as you go indoors the quality of the camcorder footage deteriorates to a barely usable level. It says it is F2.08 @ 108mm and while I don’t think they are lying, the quality of the footage would not lead a person to believe that number…
So why would you buy this!? Why have I given it 5 stars!?
Because a good new DSLR+lens cost 3 or 5 times as much, and this camcorder keeps pace with good lighting conditions.
Because a smartphone is lucky if it can get to 2x zoom without the quality collapsing and this camcorder does 59x and looks great.
Because it is $200 and can get great footage that would be hard to get other ways!
If you want to record indoors/low-light, or need the absolute best in video quality then spend the extra money to get something with a much larger sensor (not really available on any "camcorder"). Otherwise, you’ll love this!
I LOVE this camera. The zoom is amazing. I read reviews and watched YouTube's of it and realized the clarity in the dark was poor. So i got a universal LED camcorder light to attatch to it. A small one. It works PERFECT. completely fixes that problem. It recently snowed at around 3am here in texas (rarely happens), i took the kids put with it and turned on the light, PERFECT shot and beautiful video to show the kids when they are older. I couldnt be happier! And the stability is incredible! It also allows you to take pics while recording! Too cool!
The video quality on this camcorder is decent, in low level light video gets a bit fuzzy. In daylight or well lit areas video is very good. The zoom is actually really good. Still photos are very good also.
The size of the camera is small, does not take up much space. If you are looking for professional quality images, look elsewhere. If you are looking for decent quality for a great price, this camera fits that bill.
I adjusted some camera setting to improve image quality.
An amazing little camera. The video quality is amazing, and if I have any complaint, it would be the size of the screen. If you purchase this camera, I suggest you go online, and download the full user manual from Panasonic. You'll be amazed at what it can do. A great little camera, and well worth the money.
A month later, and a few videos later---I LOVE this camera. I have a $1500 Canon camcorder that I love too, but, this one is so compact, the OIS system is great, the low light sensitivity is very good too. A terrific camera for twice the money.
As advertised. Using for high school sports, basketball/football and is doing well after couple dozen games so far in last month.
Feature Product
- Super-sharp Full HD 1080p recording
- Intelligent 90x zoom, with 5 axis Hybrid Optical Image Stabilization provides maximum handheld stability
- Responsive touch screen on 2.7" LCD
- Up to 95MB/sec speed for the ultimate transfer rates; Ideal for High Performance DSLR cameras and HD camcorders, especially for ultra fast action shots, sports video, HD video and other professional-quality photography
- Class 10 UHS-I, U3 performance allows burst-mode shooting, Full HD and 4K Ultra HD video recording
- Fast speed performance minimizes time spent transferring photos and video to your computer; Stores approximately 22,756 photos so you can shoot more shots with fewer downloads
Description
When I purchased this HC-V180K camcorder, it was to be used mainly for a dash or window mounted camera, occasionally for travel use.
I considered buying a GoPro type action cam or a cheap dash cam as well. But, I decided on a HC-V180K as a versatile all in one photo/video/dash camera that stayed within my $200 budget.
As a car cam, it works well with a wide field of vision at 1 zoom. There are settings that let you choose between file types and resolution if you want to keep files smaller and allow more recording time.
Functions are controlled by a combination of touch screen and buttons, and I found them to be pretty intuitive.
The one con if you will is that if you are intending to use this to record sports or anything where there are fast moving objects you are trying to track, you should spend the extra money for model with a viewfinder. The zoom lens does allow you to pull in distant objects, but it's nearly impossible to track anything with a small LCD screen. That is not really a fault of this model, just something to be aware of.
This is my first Camcorder, and I absolutely love it. I love to take pictures of birds, but they are too easily spooked before you get the picture taken. So, I purchased this camcorder with a 50X optical zoom lens. Wonderful! I can be 200 yards away, and still get a decent picture, and they don't fly away. I have set the maximal zoom to 90X, and I still get very good pictures! I have taken a lot of footage of Mule Deer, and I can get as close as I want - in most cases.
I took a picture across the mighty Columbia River and on top of a mountain on the other side in the State of Washington, at least a mile or two away, and I showed the object to my wife. It took her a few minutes to find it, but she was amazed that I could take a picture that far away. In other words, she could clearly make out the object that I took a picture of, and find its location. Most camcorders come with a 20X Optical Zoom, but this has a 50X Optical Zoom! It rocks! This is an awesome wildlife camcorder!
I'm still learning to pan smoothly by hand, but I now have a video head that pans perfectly. It almost cost as much as the camera, but it was worth it. Hoping to get into some action video at a zoo, races, or windsurfing. Having fun, and you will too!
This camera is super clear while recording and transfers to Pc without a glitch. Zoom is ridiculously good that I can see Alaska from my window Clearly now. As a musician the mic is ok if your recording yourself play, (doesn’t have depth like its closest competitor) but for talking and recording concerts if your not an audiophile should be fine.
I love this camcorder! It doesn't take long to charge (maybe a couple hours if that) and the battery lasts a decent amount of time (approximately a day and a half or two with heavy usage and a few days with light usage). The quality of picture/sound it fairly crisp for the price. It does not look professional by any means, but it doesn't look cheap or fuzzy either.
I got this for the purpose of taking home videos and capturing important events in my family. It does the job well and its very easy to maneuver. It's very compact too so it's something I just throw into my bag whenever an event is coming up that I want to capture.
I also love that it has the manual lens cover. It's helps keep the lens safe and clean and I feel it protects the lens pretty well. It has been a great buy for me and I've captured so many videos since!
I do like this. I bought it this model cause I had a HC-v250 Panasonic Wifi support. but I made a mistake, I leaveded connected, while was recording twice, and now my HC-v250 won't tape or take picture. Turns on but after you push the button to Rec/Picture get frozen. This model HC-v180k is beautiful. Full HD, best resolution on video is MP4 format (works better for me, according to my Video Editor), AVCHD still good quality but bigger file size. Love Panasonic Video Camera Recording.
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