My needs are for run/gun video and slow motion in a well lit studio environment. First of all I have been using a Panasonic HDC-TM900 for nearly 4 years and would give that camera 5 stars. I was hoping the HC-VX870 would be a 4K upgrade to the TM-900, but it falls short.

Right, 4K is great, zoom is too. BUT a stabilization bug destroys everything. All 4 devices which I tested (one bought and returned) show very unpleasant small but very visible shaking on my 70" 4K tv. It shakes allways, very little without zoom, much worse with zoom. Monopod does not help.

The HC-VX870 is the second model down in Panasonic's new 4K camcorder range after the HC-WX970 that we reviewed recently . It's a very similar specification, but misses one key feature – a second 'selfie' camera.

4K camcorder shooting for under ￡700; Comprehensive manual settings with control dial; WiFi connectivity

No lens ring; just a lens dial; Small sensor compared to a DSLR

Pretty good. More features than you are likely to use. Many features do not work in 4K mode! Check what does work if you need them in 4K Starts a new clip after 4 Gig, about 9 minutes and 30 seconds in 4K mode.

Affordable 4K Responsive focus Lightweight Wireless pairing with smartphones/cameras Focus dial difficult to use Unfriendly Power button placement Like with the digital cameras in present day, camcorders have suffered from the evolution of the smartphone camera.

First to have 4K at this price point is great. Also, this is a very light camera versus some of its competitors. One con for now is the price of batteries even in the third party realm.

Simply put, the quality you get for the amount you pay is not work it. This camera is hyped up way too much based on its features, you can buy a camera for half of this price and get better quality.

I use this as a companion to my Canon 1200 EOS rather than a long range telephoto lens; The zoom and definition is amazing; At around 360g it's way lighter than a DSLR with 700+mm lens; As a camcorder it's probably the best value on the market; Packed with features and capability.

The menu isn't the most intuitive for a beginner but once one starts to explore it it quickly becomes familiar; As a last resort it's always possible to do a factory reset and start again; A larger screen would be nice but that would require a larger body.

Works as both recorder or Camera for image magnification. Recording at 720P is better than my eyes!! ;-)

Compact; Convenient; Easy to use; Exceeded expectations; Inexpensive