Review: Panasonic HC-X20 Camcorder

It’s been a while since I reviewed a dedicated camcorder. In fact, I cannot even remember which one it was. The odds are it was a Panasonic, as Sony and Canon have not exactly been coming forward with camcorders over the last couple of years.

Anyway, I have to say, after this hiatus, it was a nice feeling having the familiar proper camcorder shape in my hands again – and hopefully the gap between models will not be as long this time.

The model in question is the Panasonic HC-X20, a 4K unit designed for events, or what we used to call, run’n’gun shooting. It a full-on professional camcorder with all the fruit, just not shoulder mounted, and therefore not heavy and unwieldy.

So, what does “all the fruit” actually mean?

Technical Stuff

The HC-X20 has a 1” 15 megapixel sensor capable of shooting 4K 60p 4:2:0 10 bit and 4K 30p 4:2:2 10 bit video, shooting through a wide 24.5mm lens that supports 20x optical zoom. This means you have the equivalent of a 490mm telephoto lens in 35mm terms.

If you are REALLY technically minded, to quote Panasonic, “The HC-X20 Supports a high bit rate of 200 Mbps for 59.94p/50p video recording with HEVC (LongGOP/10 bit 4:2:0/MOV) codec. The Super Slow-motion function supports 10-bit recording in FHD at 120/100fps* and 4K (UHD) VFR from 2 to 60fps for over-cranked and under-cranked shots”.

For stable shooting, it has a 5-axis hybrid optical image stabilisation (OIS) system with ultra-high definition (UHD) as well as full high definition (FHD). The HC-X20 also offers slo-mo from 2-60fps with variable frame rate (VFR).

As is somewhat expected these days, Face Detection is built in, and Panny says that by adding colour recognition, they have improved the tracking when a face moves.

One feature events shooters will love is the HC-X20s built in live streaming with full compatibility with RTSP/RTP/RTMP/RTMPS modes for direct connection to social media like Facebook and YouTube. As a bonus, you also get wireless control via a smartphone or tablet.

I remember back to the early days when manufacturers of digital cameras were attempting to one up themselves with ridiculous claims for digital zoom factors. In the pro camcorder world, the equivalent to a lesser degree was manual rings. Not a lot has changed it seems, with the HC-X20 sporting three of these for focus, zoom and iris.

Oh don’t get me wrong, I love this aspect of pro cameras, and seriously, if you have never used a camera with these before, you’ll be astounded at the ease and amount of control you get.

In short, a very welcome feature.

If you want even more specification details, click here.

Ergonomics

To anyone familiar with this type of camera, picking up on the control layout and structures of the HC-X20 will be a snap. Ostensibly, all you need are under your fingertips on the left side of the camera, and the three manual rings around the barrel of the lens do the rest.

You have access to three user defined keys for oft called or operations,  provision of two SD card slots, and in addition to the inbuilt mic, the option of using another 2 via full size XLR connections – one on the rear and one on the handle.

There are 4 preset electronic ND filters and an IR filter to boot.

The 3.5” (8.8cm) LCD screen slides out from the front part of the handle with 270° rotation and, pleasantly, is bright enough even in bright midday summer sunlight, although the onscreen instruction messages do get a little faint.

For any accessories you might want to add such as external monitors, wireless mic transmitters etc, Panasonic has supplied four pre-drilled/threaded mounting points on the top of the main handle just in front of the tiltable viewfinder.

In addition to the zoom ring, there are zoom rockers on the top of the camera and on the right hand side.

Next to the rear mounted battery and removable under a hinged cover, are connections for USB-C and full-size HDMI.

All this put together gives you a total weight of 2Kg, without any additional mics.

In Use

It was good to be able to use a ‘proper’ camcorder again. I have said often (mostly to anyone that will listen) that the ergonomics of the dSLR / mirrorless style of camera are not conducive to long term handheld videoing, as is done in sport, events or even news gathering shooting.

My primary test of this, which sadly I didn’t have a chance to try with this review, is to follow a stunt aeroplane pilot as he does his thing. Within a minute or two at most with a dSLR / mirrorless, my arms want to fall off. With a camera such as the Panasonic HC-X20, I can shoot for much longer without too much fatigue.

Another major factor for me, and it may be a small thing for most, is that with the viewfinder slightly offset to the left of the main body, me being left eyed, it was very comfortable to shoot with which as I tend to do this most of the time, only using the LCD for low down shots.

The controls were easy to find by touch, and functions such as zooming on the rocker switches was nice and smooth. And the quality of the imagery speaks for itself.

There was one issue I had not initially accounted for. I normally do all my testing using Verbatim 128GB SD cards, and up until now have had no issues. However, with the HC-X20, I kept getting an error message saying the card was not suitable. A quick check with Panasonic told me this card was not fast enough and so I had to go and get the recommended card, a SanDisk Extreme Plus 128GB (AUD$48), but even this was the minimum spec, and to get a card that would cover all the recording specs, I’d need a V60 card that was would have set me back AUD$188! The Samsung T5 I use on my Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera Pro 6K with 500GB only costs fractionally more than that.

Conclusion

I enjoyed using the HC-X20 and felt sad packing it back up to return to Panasonic (they needed it for a function or some such thing).

It ticks just about all the boxes for me in what makes a great camcorder for the stuff I’d use one for – motor sport, fishing and events. Checking pricing around the place seems to show a bit of a disparity though as various outlets (within Australia) have it listed between AUD$4699 down to AUD$3355. The latter seems more like I’d expect, especially as this model does not have a Leica lens, instead using a Panasonic one.

If you are looking at updating to 4K, or indeed, thinking of testing the waters outside a dSLR or mirrorless for video, I can’t think of a better unit to start with – but obviously with these swinging prices, check around. And be aware of the SD card specifications needed.