Panasonic Full HD Video Camera Camcorder HC-V180K, 50X Optical Zoom, 1/5.8-Inch BSI Sensor, Touch Enabled 2.7-Inch LCD Display (Black)

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 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!

This is 1 of the better entry level camcorders that I have tried and I tried a couple different brands before this 1. Most of the other brands have some manual settings but not too many so you kind of have to live with the auto and preset settings or limited manual settings, I needed a lower priced camcorder with a few more options for manual settings and the panasonic v180 fits the bill, as well as manual focus, you can set white balance, shutter speed and iris as well as mic audio level and i am happy with the picture quality. so I am sure a more expensive camera might do it better and have even more options and better quality video for a entry level camcorder It is pretty good, If i have a knock on it, the sound for me is not the best, I have had a little trouble setting the mic levels so it can still be heard well and not distort but maybe this is just me. So now I just hope the longevity of the unit holds up but time will tell. So if you need a nice entry level camcorder with quite a few features this 1 might fit the bill.

For about 2 years I have been looking for a camera like this. One that will 1) Provide a video to a monitor without having to be in record mode, 2) had an HDMI output, 3) has an AC connector on it and so it is not dependent on batteries , 4) is small / compact, 5) has excellent optical zoom and video capability. I was especially surprised (and suspicious by then low price of the camera, but I trusted the Panasonic name and put it to the test at a 3 day live concert using 2 of these cameras to view video from 2 stages on my hotel room balcony that was easily 300 feet way. These cameras ran for 10 hours straight each of the 3 days non stop, had great pictures, and more than enough zoom power to bring the performance up close. .. all without using a SIM card or recording the performance in any way. The previous year I used telephoto lenses on 2 iPhones to perform this same feat last year. GREAT CAMERAS!.

I purchased two of these to use a live camera sources for a Blackmagic ATEM Mini switcher. Provided a clean HDMI signal (no on screen readouts) and when hooked to the supplied power adapter, worked reliably as a video source during an all-day meeting we were streaming live. For the affordable price they are excellent 1920x1080 camera sources backed by a global camera manufacturer. Small, compact, lightweight, these are a cheap way to get a quality multi-camera setup going.

I researched camcorders and I bought this one because the review were really good. I have owned many camcorders in the past and I am not impressed with the materials it is made out of. Ya its lighter than some because its plastic. I use my camcorders a lot in all types of weather and I feel like this camcorder wouldn't last long with the use it would get. I was also not impressed by the quality of the videos. My sister has a Canon so comparing it to a Canon the video quality of Panasonic is not as clear and darker than a Canon. And for that reason I am returning it and getting a Canon. Don't get me wrong this camcorder does what its supposed to but I would like better video quality