Panasonic 4K Ultra HD Video Camera Camcorder HC-VX981K, 20X Optical Zoom, 1/2.3-Inch BSI Sensor, HDR Capture, Wi-Fi Smartphon

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars | 488 ratings

Price: 797.99

Last update: 01-09-2025


About this item

Get in Close and Detail: 18.91 Megapixel MOS sensor plus 20x Zoom LEICA Decomar Lens (4.08-81.6 millimeter), plus 5-axis Hybrid O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer)
1/2.3-Inch BSI Sensor: The Back Side Illumination Sensor has a large effective area with 8.29M effective pixels, suppressing noise even when shooting in dimly lit conditions. Image Sensor is 1/2.3-inch BSI MOS Sensor
4K Recording and In-Camera Editing: Ultra-sharp 4K Ultra HD recording, plus in-camera editing for 1080p displays; Total Pixels 18.91 megapixels, still image 7.00 megapixels [3:2], 8.29 megapixels [16:9], 6.22 megapixels [4:3]
HDR Movie Feature: Exclusive high-dynamic range feature suppresses blown highlights and blocked shadows for crisper and clearer videos
Wireless Twin Camera: Wirelessly connect your smartphone's video camera as a sub-camera for a picture-in-picture video effect.Recording Format:JPEG (DCF/Exif2.2)

Product information


Top reviews from the United States

Chris Holcombe
5.0 out of 5 stars Good Camera. Good Video Quality.
Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2024
This is an all around great camera. Easy to use with great picture quality especially when shooting mp4 50mbps. 4K is good as well, but I mostly shoot in 1080p then upscale to 4K in post production. Battery life is pretty good. You can charge the battery as you use the camera. Open the flip out screen and it's ready to record. So convenient. The touch screen is not s responsive as I would like, but it is still good enough. Overall, great little camera. I read reviews and weighted my options over a month before I bought it. Best camera out of about 5 that I compared it to at about the same price.
George Hooper
5.0 out of 5 stars A Case for an Awesome Camcorder
Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2024
This is a great camcorder many pros as well as for family home videos love as with the auto functions it turns on opening the monitor then with decent light will takes great videos. Going pro it has additional options per manual control and some many interesting pre-post editing effects before transferring the files to whatever video editing software on your computer. With cinematic effects Panasonic added the dolly zoom effect. Think the movie 'Jaws' with Brody on the beach seeing a kid on a raft getting eaten by a shark and the camera sees his face never changing in distance while the background is zooming in. This dolly shot is built into the camcorder.

This is a sturdy hard case I'm using for the Panasonic HV-VX981K camcorder which is a little larger than many small camcorders so not easy to find a case that fits especially with the wider lens hood for 16:9 recording. It holds the camera and supplied accessories, a second fast wall charger with two of the larger 390 batteries, additional 128Gb SD cards, a case with three 49mm UV, CPL, ND filters and a lens cap to protect them. There is still room for the excellent Sony ICD-UX570 recorder for secondary audio when video recording. In place of filters one could store a Ulanzi RGB Video light for special effects. Overall a compact case offering options for your gear.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BY36RJNH?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1
Customer image
George Hooper
5.0 out of 5 stars A Case for an Awesome Camcorder
Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2024
This is a great camcorder many pros as well as for family home videos love as with the auto functions it turns on opening the monitor then with decent light will takes great videos. Going pro it has additional options per manual control and some many interesting pre-post editing effects before transferring the files to whatever video editing software on your computer. With cinematic effects Panasonic added the dolly zoom effect. Think the movie 'Jaws' with Brody on the beach seeing a kid on a raft getting eaten by a shark and the camera sees his face never changing in distance while the background is zooming in. This dolly shot is built into the camcorder.

This is a sturdy hard case I'm using for the Panasonic HV-VX981K camcorder which is a little larger than many small camcorders so not easy to find a case that fits especially with the wider lens hood for 16:9 recording. It holds the camera and supplied accessories, a second fast wall charger with two of the larger 390 batteries, additional 128Gb SD cards, a case with three 49mm UV, CPL, ND filters and a lens cap to protect them. There is still room for the excellent Sony ICD-UX570 recorder for secondary audio when video recording. In place of filters one could store a Ulanzi RGB Video light for special effects. Overall a compact case offering options for your gear.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BY36RJNH?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1
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Customer image
DJ
5.0 out of 5 stars Quality product
Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2024
Works well, easily used, easily stored

Quality friendly manufacturer
glennmatthew
4.0 out of 5 stars Great Camcorder but doesn't have a Physical Remote
Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2021
Overall, I think this is a great camcorder, great size, easy to use and the video quality has been awesome (thus the 5-stars in the separate categories). I am definitely not a pro and really just use it for recreation, so please make sure you read other reviews which will give you a better assessment on the video quality.

The main reason I am writing this review is to "give someone a heads up" on a couple of things which is the reason why I only gave it 4-stars.

I mainly use this camcorder to record my daughter's soccer games. Again, the video quality looks great. The issue that I am dealing with has to do with my current setup which may or may not apply to you. I decided to purchase a Hague Camera Support Aerial Mast System that has a "manual pan & tilt head" and extends about 20' in height. This will help get a better angle & coverage of the soccer field but requires you to use either wireless camcorder which this is or a field monitor with physical remote or LANC jack.

Unfortunately, this camcorder doesn't come or have the ability of using a physical remote. Nor does it have a LANC Jack. Thus, you have to use the wireless link to your cell phone for you to use it remotely, which is extremely lagging and the delay from the camera to the phone makes this camcorder useless to record sports.

I thought I could use field monitors like the Atomos Ninja and Atomos Shinobi, some of which can cost just as much as the camcorder itself but it still doesn't solve the issue. That brings up another issue but it sounds like this maybe an issue with most camcorders that shoot 4k. If you plan on using an external field monitor, this camcorder will not record/output 4k and will only allow you to record/output HD or 1080p.

Last issue....Panasonic hasn't updated the firmware since it's release and that's truly unfortunate.

As I stated, this camcorder is only an issue when I record soccer games using the aerial mast. It's great for all other things and truly think it's a great value. However, if I knew about this before; I would have gone with another camcorder that comes with either a physical remote or LANC jack. I would also make sure this is a product that gets it firmware updated as well.

Hope that helps,

Glenn
D-Dub
5.0 out of 5 stars This camcorder is great
Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2024
Just love this camcorder so many cool features great videos great pictures a bit pricey but worth it definitely a great buy. Very happy with this camcorder. Plan to use this for vacation and personal home use... delivered early and it looks awesome
Allan P.
5.0 out of 5 stars quality product
Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2024
I liked everything about this camera, great video, easy to navigate menue
Nate Schlabach
5.0 out of 5 stars Best 4k camera for this price
Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2024
I love the simplicity of the zoom function and stability, works so well for the relatively low price
Cameron H.
5.0 out of 5 stars I'm quite pleased with these cameras.
Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2017
I'm pretty happy with this camcorder. We bought two of them and they, like most consumer cameras, are a little clunky out of the box. Features like auto light on/off, auto horizon level, and demo mode, can make it finicky to get your shot the way you want it, but a quick few minutes in the menu, got this camera in good working order. It has a great zoom lens with optics that allow the image to be sharp even at the tele end of the lens. I have noticed that the edges of the picture aren't super sharp when the camera is zoomed all the way out wide. For our application this isn't an issue as we'll be using this as a close up camera 99% of the time. This camera cannot record in 4K and output video via HDMI at the same time (HDMI will go out when you start recording), it can output and record to 1080P at the same time, however. The 4K is a little soft, as you would expect with a consumer camcorder, however the footage looks fantastic when scaled down to 1080p. The built in microphone is hands down the best quality I've ever heard from a built in camcorder mic. It sounds as if I'm using an external recorder. I'm also glad it has a built in video light and nightvision, however as I mentioned earlier, the built in light turns on and off constantly in auto mode, so I recommend disabling auto and switching it on/off manually when needed.

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