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!
Panasonic Full HD Video Camera Camcorder, 20X Optical Zoom, 1/2.3 Inch BSI Sensor, HDR Capture, Wi-Fi Smartphone HC-V785 (Bla
4.4 | 488 ratings
Price: 612.99
Last update: 01-08-2025
About this item
High Sensitivity 1/2.3-inch BSI Sensor for Bright, Beautiful Shots Even in Dim Lighting: The 1/2.3-inch Back Side Illumination Sensor has a large effective area and 34% larger pixels than a 1/5.8-inch sensor for reduced noise in low light.Operating environment : PC - Mac, OS - macOS 11.2, CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo or better.
Level Shot Function for More Stable Images and Less Blurring: Detects and corrects the tilting of captured images; hybrid O.I.S. thoroughly suppress blurring all the way from wide-angle to powerful zoom shots for crisp, clear images
Powerful Zoom in a Compact Camera Body: By driving each of four lens groups separately, the drive ranges are reduced, resulting in high image quality and high-powered zooming in a compact camcorder
Crisp, Clear Details in Both Bright and Dark Areas: By combining two images taken with different exposure times, the HDR Movie function suppresses blown highlights and blocked shadows for crisp, clear videos
Wireless Twin Camera for Picture-in-Picture Shooting with a Smartphone; Using your smartphone with Wi-Fi operation as a sub camera, you can shoot from two angles at the same time
Level Shot Function for More Stable Images and Less Blurring: Detects and corrects the tilting of captured images; hybrid O.I.S. thoroughly suppress blurring all the way from wide-angle to powerful zoom shots for crisp, clear images
Powerful Zoom in a Compact Camera Body: By driving each of four lens groups separately, the drive ranges are reduced, resulting in high image quality and high-powered zooming in a compact camcorder
Crisp, Clear Details in Both Bright and Dark Areas: By combining two images taken with different exposure times, the HDR Movie function suppresses blown highlights and blocked shadows for crisp, clear videos
Wireless Twin Camera for Picture-in-Picture Shooting with a Smartphone; Using your smartphone with Wi-Fi operation as a sub camera, you can shoot from two angles at the same time
Product information
| Product Dimensions | 2.56 x 2.87 x 5.47 inches |
|---|---|
| Item Weight | 12.4 ounces |
| ASIN | B0B5YDSND7 |
| Item model number | HC-V785K |
| Batteries | 1 Lithium Ion batteries required. (included) |
| Customer Reviews |
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars
1,146 ratings
4.4 out of 5 stars |
| Best Sellers Rank | #26,041 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics) #46 in Camcorders |
| Date First Available | June 2, 2022 |
| Manufacturer | Panasonic |
| Country of Origin | Malaysia |
Top reviews from the United States
Charles Carmichael
Spectacular! (just not in low-light)
Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2017Kristen Rosamilia
16 yr old picky approved
Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2024
Keko
Panasonic camera v-series
Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2024ramon l quinones
Perfect
Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2024RichB in AZ
Good enough for youtube videos
Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2024Scubaman
For the price it's an OK cam...
Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2023Linda
Great little camcorder
Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2024charlie chadwick
Great camera for the money
Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2023