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Panasonic 8.3MP High-Definition Digital Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 2.7" LCD Monitor - Black

Model number: HDC-HS250K | SKU: 9206995

This digital camcorder features 3 CMOS image sensors and AVCHD recording to let you capture beautiful, high-quality still images and video.

Average Customer Rating:

4.9 out of 5 (15 Reviews)

15 of 15 (100%) customers would recommend this product to a friend.

Customer Reviews for Panasonic 8.3MP High-Definition Digital Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 2.7" LCD Monitor - Black

Review 1 for Panasonic 8.3MP High-Definition Digital Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 2.7" LCD Monitor - Black

Customer Rating

5.0 5

Awesome Resolution 11/13/2009
By Scotcho85 from Rexburg, ID

Value for Price

4.0 5

Picture Quality

5.0 5

Ease of Use

5.0 5

Features

5.0 5

What's great about it: Plenty of disk space, easy to use, amazing quality videos, 10MP still pictures, touch screen
What's not so great: Battery needs recharging often

"This is a gift for my wife for our anniversary, so I have had it hidden in the house without being able to play around with it too much. With what I have done with it and read about it just seems like it has all of the features that I would ever need. I have hooked it up to our 42" HDTV with an HDMI cable and it just looks amazing. Low light recording looks really good, the digital still at 10MP are great, image stabilization, records 5.1 audio... the list goes on. The only downside is the life of the battery between charges is not great at all, and I will be looking into getting a higher capacity battery some time in the future. Overall, great camcorder at a great price!"

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes

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Review 2 for Panasonic 8.3MP High-Definition Digital Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 2.7" LCD Monitor - Black

Customer Rating

5.0 5

Great choice for us 11/04/2009
By MNsteph7 from Minnesota

Value for Price

4.0 5

Picture Quality

5.0 5

Ease of Use

5.0 5

Features

4.0 5

What's great about it: very easy to use, great picture quality
What's not so great: No problems so far!

"We searched a long time for a video camera and this camera met all our needs. It takes great still photos as well as video and it's easy to use. Great camera!"

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes

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Review 3 for Panasonic 8.3MP High-Definition Digital Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 2.7" LCD Monitor - Black

Customer Rating

4.0 5

Great Video Quality 10/09/2009
By Arteest from Boston, MA

Value for Price

4.0 5

Picture Quality

5.0 5

Ease of Use

4.0 5

Features

3.0 5

What's great about it: Image Quality
What's not so great: Power / battery setup

"I have been using this camera for almost 6 months and I like the quality of the image which is the most important thing. And I also like the fact that I can transfer video via USB. Image is incredible when shooting at highest resolution.
I do have a few dislikes:
1) If you are connecting your camera to a TV and have to use your battery, you have to keep the camera monitor on too, and this will run down your battery faster.
2) It doesn't have a viewfinder and you have to use the camera monitor. This runs down the battery again.
3) Bigger battery will cost you about $130
4) Can't charge battery and run the camera on power at the same time.
5) Still a good camera and I would have bought it again."

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes

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Review 4 for Panasonic 8.3MP High-Definition Digital Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 2.7" LCD Monitor - Black

Customer Rating

5.0 5

Great camcorder 10/04/2009
By Anonymous from Grand Rapids, MI

Value for Price

4.0 5

Picture Quality

5.0 5

Ease of Use

4.0 5

Features

5.0 5

What's great about it: Large hard drive, high def camera and video, basic ease of use
What's not so great: Power up time, Battery life and lack of larger capacity batteries

"We were upgrading from a Hi8mm camcorder about 9 years old. A Best Buy employee gave us a heads up about this model 2 weeks before it was to arrive. We waited for it to arrive and it looked great. Priced fairly high, we had to wait a while for it to go on sale (I never pay full retail and the store would not give me a discount of any sort) and purchased it when it finally went on sale. Well worth the wait. Very easy to use, but has many optional features we have not yet explored yet. We hardly use our digital camera any more, as we can bring one device anywhere we go. You can even take a picture while you are shooting video. A little trouble at first getting it to sync with our Mac, but once learned, it is fairly quick. Sound quality is great and the ability to change the microphone settings helps.

The battery is okay, but not nearly adequate for extended periods of recording. Not even Panasonic offers an extended life battery yet. The model is too new. If you need to power up quickly and take a shot, you'll need to wait a few seconds. It is a bit slow to start up, and since the battery life is short, you really can't keep it in sleep mode without the chance of running the battery out.

We've never been disappointed with any Panasonic products. They still continue to put out solid electronics across the board."

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes

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Review 5 for Panasonic 8.3MP High-Definition Digital Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 2.7" LCD Monitor - Black

Customer Rating

4.0 5

Great HD Camcorder 09/02/2009
By MikeOTX from Frisco, TX

Value for Price

3.0 5

Picture Quality

5.0 5

Ease of Use

5.0 5

Features

4.0 5

What's great about it: Amazing video Quality and Easy to Use right out of the Box
What's not so great: Video editing software lacking.

"I recently upgraded from a MiniDv camcorder to this Panasonic and as far as picture quality goes all i can say is amazing. I have recorded several soccer games at dusk and the camcorder performs flawlessly with good picture quality and coloring. I hooked the camcorder directly up to my 62" HDTV when i got home and the picture quality was better than some programming i get from Dish. The standard battery will get you about 90 minutes of recording and unfortunately it takes 150 minutes to fully charge; I would strongly recommend purchasing a second battery. The software works well for capturing the video from the camcorder to your computer but forget editing after that. First it cannot clip the video in multiple segments to produce your own highlight reel. When you cut the video it takes several minutes each time running a 3.2Ghz Dual Core CPU and an overall conversion from M2TS to MP2 would take the better part of the day."

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes

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Review 6 for Panasonic 8.3MP High-Definition Digital Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 2.7" LCD Monitor - Black

Customer Rating

5.0 5

Great camera. Amazing HD Video! 09/01/2009
By paintrain from Maine

Value for Price

4.0 5

Picture Quality

5.0 5

Ease of Use

5.0 5

Features

4.0 5

What's great about it: Easy to use, amazing video quality, huge hard drive
What's not so great: Battery life, touch screen response, no Mac software, still image quality

"I spent weeks researching HD camcorders to replace my Sony DCR-SR200, and clearly chose a winner. The HD video is absolutely amazing!! The still image quality seems to vary. Sometimes it is pretty good, at other times not good at all. I had hoped to replace my Sony Cyber-shot with this device, but find myself still carrying two cameras. The touch screen is not as responsive as my Sony camcorder's and certainly lacks compared to an iTouch. So far none of these issues have negatively affected my experience.

If you are considering an HD camcorder, definitely take a look at this one. You cannot go wrong with it."

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes

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Review 7 for Panasonic 8.3MP High-Definition Digital Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 2.7" LCD Monitor - Black

Customer Rating

5.0 5

Amazing Picture Quality 08/26/2009
By shstrang98 from West Monroe, LA

Value for Price

5.0 5

Picture Quality

5.0 5

Ease of Use

5.0 5

Features

5.0 5

What's great about it: Beautiful Video, Nicely Built, Made in Japan Rather than China, etc.
What's not so great: No Viewfinder, No dedicated Manual Audio Record Level Control on Outside

"If you've been using any of the DVD/Chip-based storage camcorders you will find the increase in video quality with this camcorder to be drastic. I have a 1999 Sony digital 8 camcorder which produces good video quality and one of the newer Sony DVD/Memory Stick "hybrid" camcorders which sucks.
The jump in video quality was stunning. I did some test recordings and burned them onto DVD-R media. When I played them back on our LG BD370 and Sony bd550 bluray players both times even my wife's jaw dropped. It's hard to use the other two camcorders now (especially the DVD based one) after using the new Hi Def model.
Our TV's are only 720p and this camcorder is capable of up to 1080i so I can't wait to play these back on a 1080p TV.
Right now it's on sale for <$800 and since I paid $900 for it Best Buy refunded the difference. But I would have gladly paid $1300 for this camcorder.
I know that even at $800 it's a large chunk of change to spend at one time but if you don't mind paying it you will NOT regret it."

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes

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Review 8 for Panasonic 8.3MP High-Definition Digital Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 2.7" LCD Monitor - Black

Customer Rating

5.0 5

Best Camera ever created! 08/13/2009
By Anonymous from Florida

Value for Price

5.0 5

Picture Quality

5.0 5

Ease of Use

4.0 5

Features

5.0 5

What's great about it: Awesome Quality, feels like you are actually reliving whatever you recorded!
What's not so great: Short battery life, and can't figure out how to burn to a HD DVD.

"This Camera is great! I used it for the first time when I got back from Iraq, and I loved every second of it. It has a great zoom, and the High definition is outstanding! the only thing that bothered me was that I couldn't figure out the software that it came with, I don't know if I have the right hardware to complete an HD DVD though. Other than that, I bought an extra battery, and a stand, I highly recommend! Overall, this camera is a one of a kind, especially for this price!"

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes

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Review 9 for Panasonic 8.3MP High-Definition Digital Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 2.7" LCD Monitor - Black

Customer Rating

5.0 5

I highly recommend this camera if you have childrn 07/05/2009
By Pauly0914 from Dallas

Value for Price

5.0 5

Picture Quality

5.0 5

Ease of Use

5.0 5

Features

5.0 5

What's great about it: very clear, user friendly and a touch screen makes it easy to use
What's not so great: battery life is short, buy an extra

"This camera is the right camera if your a parent. It is good in light and indoors. My wife likes the fact that its light weight and user friendly. I looked at every camera in the store, this is definately the best deal."

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes

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Review 10 for Panasonic 8.3MP High-Definition Digital Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 2.7" LCD Monitor - Black

Customer Rating

5.0 5

panasonic hdc hs250k camcorder 06/29/2009
By Andy101 from battle creek, mi

Value for Price

5.0 5

Picture Quality

5.0 5

Ease of Use

5.0 5

Features

5.0 5

What's great about it: features
What's not so great: I have to buy accessories from other store

"BestBuy offers best price for this camcorder. It has many good features, such as 1080p quality video... You have to pay a lot more to buy other brand camcorders with same features. What I am not happy about my purchase of this product is that I have to buy a mini HDMI to HDMI cable (1080p quality) from a different store."

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes

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Review 11 for Panasonic 8.3MP High-Definition Digital Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 2.7" LCD Monitor - Black

Customer Rating

5.0 5

All around great camera! 05/31/2009
By Anonymous from Chicago Area

Value for Price

5.0 5

Picture Quality

5.0 5

Ease of Use

4.0 5

Features

4.0 5

What's great about it: light weight, great picture, easy start-up, value for what is offered!
What's not so great: click thru menu to change certain features, no mic input, no hot shoe.

"I researched several HD camcorders and always found myself coming back to this Panasonic. This unit is replacing a Panasonic DVD camcorder which I would never deal with again. It is too much trouble carrying around extra discs and finalizing the disc after recording. With this unit having a 120G hard drive there is nothing extra to carry. You can't beat the value of this camcorder when compared to other units that offer 30, 60 or 80G hard drives. I also like the SD card feature this camcorder provides. You may record directly to the hard drive or the card which is a great feature if you taking a quick video snippet. I also like the photo feature this camcorder offers. The photos are great quality and you may take photos while recording video. Out of the box it was an easy start-up. The video and pictures I have recorded so far look awesome! The 700 zoom feature has to be set with a series of click through's from the menu. This is somewhat annoying but when it was set the zoom feature worked great. The image stabilization works great too. I think this camcorder is very comfortable to hold and is fairly simple to operate. Right now I have nothing bad to say about this camera. I like it and I am very happy I bought it. I would recommend that you consider this unit if you are looking to purchase a HD camcorder."

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes

1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

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Review 12 for Panasonic 8.3MP High-Definition Digital Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 2.7" LCD Monitor - Black

Customer Rating

5.0 5

Great and fast camera 05/03/2009
By MKG123 from Wichita, KS

Value for Price

5.0 5

Picture Quality

5.0 5

Ease of Use

5.0 5

Features

5.0 5

What's great about it: Speed, and quality of video
What's not so great: Should have more video options. Short batter life

"This is one of the 3 3cmos new cameras that Panasonic is bringing to BestBuy and I couldn't wait till I get mine. Great video and very fast and easy to use. Recording in manual mode its easy as well and it gives you more options of customizing the video. I did buy ton of little accessory for it and that even made the camera worth more.. For almost a week I did test the camera very well with recording under different conditions and its a great performer for its size. I m happy with it."

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes

1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

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Review 13 for Panasonic 8.3MP High-Definition Digital Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 2.7" LCD Monitor - Black

Customer Rating

5.0 5

Really Nice Easy to use camara 04/26/2009
By TrAvA from Orlando, FL

Value for Price

4.0 5

Picture Quality

5.0 5

Ease of Use

5.0 5

Features

4.0 5

What's great about it: best for outdoors, is like watching a blu-ray movie trough your camara
What's not so great: it don't have actual nightvision or recording flash:(

"Really great Camara, I was lookin at the most expensive ones, but to be honest with you I think this camara has features that most expensive camara don't and if they do it's still the same offer, for example, 120gb's $1,300 dollar camaras offer 120gb's and with a 10.6mp's that to me is better then the actual 12mp's, I had a digital camara that is a 12.1mp on it and i use only 10.0mps on it to make the screen wide. so it is pretty much a perfect camcorder/camara. At first when you use panasonic software it's kinda confusing the only thing im tryin to figure out is how to burn the videos using that program which im going to ask pretty soon but everything else is simple. you want to edit your video then go right ahead, if you wanna cut certain thing on the video go right again, if you want to make the video shorter to put it say on youtube go right ahead, it's a pretty nice camara to say it is worth the buy, I do recommend this camara. Even though it is hard to find at stores, I live in Orlando and I drove all the way to Ocoee to get this camcorder, and also with an extra recording flash light is a must buy if u want that extra feature, i bought mines and it works really good. If you buy this camara you will enjoy it. Hope my review helped."

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes

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Review 14 for Panasonic 8.3MP High-Definition Digital Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 2.7" LCD Monitor - Black

Customer Rating

5.0 5

Awesome 04/21/2009
By Pelon360 from san marcos

Value for Price

5.0 5

Picture Quality

5.0 5

Ease of Use

5.0 5

Features

5.0 5

What's great about it: it has great quality and tons of features
What's not so great: its night vision isn't as great as i would like it to be

"this camcorder is a great product and good for my new productions. it is easy to use and you can store 50 hours of video on its 120 gig hard drive. the battery it came with is alright but it only last about two or tree hours."

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes

1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

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Review 15 for Panasonic 8.3MP High-Definition Digital Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 2.7" LCD Monitor - Black

Customer Rating

5.0 5

Great camera, easy to use 04/05/2009
By TimsToy from WI

Value for Price

5.0 5

Picture Quality

5.0 5

Ease of Use

5.0 5

Features

5.0 5

What's great about it: Size, features, price, quality of video and pictures
What's not so great: No viewfinder- distraction when filming in an audience??? Needs more adjst. for LCD brightness.

"Wow, great features and made very well. Seems more durable than other manufacturer's product. The menu makes it a lot easier to use. Very happy with my purchase! My research paid off. Picture quality is great on my HD TV. Was hard to find the camera in a store. I'm still playing with it, there are so many features!"

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes

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