Affordable Panasonic HM-TA20 HD Mobile Camera – Blue (8MP Stills) 3-inch Touchscreen (Tripod Included) – Review & Rating
- Panasonic HM-TA20 HD Mobile Camera with a Tough Design in Blue.
- New
Panasonic HMTA20 Pocket Camcorder Blue Full HD 3m Waterproof 15m Shock Proof HMTA20EBA Cameras Video Camcorders
List Price: £99.99
A godsend for parents of young kids,
A waterproof camera that is also drop-proof and dust proof. Young kids love nothing better than the pool and beach – this is the ideal low-cost camera to take into the water. Not only that but when they grab it off you, smear it with ice cream and promptly drop it, this is likely to survive! Just wash off the sticky paw prints and the sand!
The quality of the HD video is very good, 1080, 720, and 480 MP4 resolutions are available as well as some wierd Apple Mac iFrame res. So your computer should be able to handle at least some of these modes no matter how old. You can also plug it in directly to your TV if it has HDMI (mini HDMI cable required), or use it as a webcam with Skype. It also works well in low light and has a special mode for when its very dark and has an LED light much like many phone cameras.
Unlike some other reviewers I found the digital zoom very smooth – just hold down the W or T buttons, don’t try to move the slider on the touch screen unless you need to zoom out fast. Don’t expect the touch screen to be like an iPhone on a underwater camera for this price – it is resistive like the old Palms not capacitive like the iPhone (which would not work when wet anyway), so a slightly firmer push is required, but it works fine.
The picture is quite small while filming as you have to hold the phone upright and it is widescreen, so you only get the top half of the screen with the bottom half used for the touch controls. However during playback you can turn the screen on its side to use the full width.
Still photos are very good too for this sort of camera however there can be quite a shutter lag in low light so it won’t be replacing my normal still camera.
Comes with a little tripod, wrist strap and USB cable. You’ll need a class 4 or higher SD/SDHC/SDXC card as the built in memory is only good for a few seconds of HD. 16GB cards are currently the best value and will give you 2 and 3/4 hours of full HD 1080 video for less than £20.
Remember that this type of camera is more like a smartphone camera so don’t expect the quality and control of a £800+ DV camera, however as a low-cost, tough, waterproof mini video camera, this is unrivalled and I’m very impressed.
*Update*: Just got back from a week’s holiday with this camera, in the pool or on the beach every day – just kept it in my swimming shorts pocket – was in and out of the water/sea constantly – no leaks, still working perfectly – very pleased with the results! Super tough except for the touch-screen which now has some minor scratches due to keys, etc. Maybe some sort of case is required.
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|Great camcorder,
This is a great camcorder,i could’nt wait to buy it,so i sent for it on thursday and i got it to day,i’m very happy with it,but there’s 2 things that i’m dissapointed with is that the battery is built in,you can’t buy additional batteries,like if the battery runs down,you can’t just take it out and pop in another one,which is a pity realy.The other thing i don’t like about this camera is the USB terminal that pops out,it wobbles a little when you touch it,i’d be afraid of it breaking when plugging in or out the cable,but maybe it’s meant to be like that,much handier to have a USB slot rather than a flip out USB terminal,though a lot of pocket camcorders are like that,but all in all a great camera,it even has a video light if you’re using it in poorly lit places!,when all is said and done,i’d recoment this camera to anyone.
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|Panasonic HM-TA20 HD 8MP Camera,
Very nice easy to use camera. Have produced some excellent photos to date. Had to change out due to faulty unit where water got in and completely stopped it from working. amazon customer service excellent with very quick exchange unit sent the next day. taking night time shots uses the inbuilt flash/permanant light – this can dazzle as it’s extremely bright if pointed at peoples eyes. The HD video shots not bad but when playing back film taken can appear a little jerky -or could be me? All in all I’d recommend this unit.
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