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Customer Ratings & Reviews

Your price for this item is $919.99

Customer reviews

Rating 4.5 out of 5 stars with 324 reviews

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Rating by feature

  • Value

    Rating 4.4 out of 5 stars

  • Quality

    Rating 4.5 out of 5 stars

  • Ease of Use

    Rating 4.5 out of 5 stars

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90%would recommend to a friend

Customers are saying

Customers often highlight the HC-VX870K's excellent video quality, ease of use, and compact size. Many users are impressed with the 4K video quality and find the camcorder easy to operate, even for those who are not tech-savvy. While some users have concerns about battery life, overall, customers are pleased with the camcorder's performance and image quality.

This summary was generated by AI based on customer reviews.

The vast majority of our reviews come from verified purchases. Reviews from customers may include My Best Buy members, employees, and Tech Insider Network members (as tagged). Select reviewers may receive discounted products, promotional considerations or entries into drawings for honest, helpful reviews.
Page 1 Showing 1-20 of 323 reviews
  • Pros mentioned:
    Zoom
    Cons mentioned:
    Low light performance

    Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Miles better than any Sony or Canon camcorder!

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    Posted .
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    This camcorder has been a fantastic purchase for me. I do professional video and I sometimes use this camcorder on pro shoots. Its smaller sensor relative to stills-style cameras does result in worse low-light performance, but that's about the only complaint I have. When I need a long zoom or a relatively wide shot, it handles both nicely, and getting an extra angle has saved several of my paid shoots from unpredictable errors like the performers on stage moving out of view of the wide A-camera. It has been invaluable for live streaming where I couldn't get close to the subject(s) and I needed a long zoom but would never be able to afford the crazy cannon-sized lenses needed for larger cameras to reach long distances. This camcorder is worth every cent. Warning: it doesn't shoot at 24 fps, so die-hard filmmakers that can't accept shooting in 30/60 fps and decimating to 24 fps in post will not be happy. I'll gladly take more frames per second any day, so this camcorder is a great fit for me.

    I would recommend this to a friend
    • Brand response from Panasonic Team
      Posted .

      Thank you for the wonderful review and for taking the time to share your feedback with us. Our priority is customer service and we are ecstatic that we met that mark! Panasonic

  • Pros mentioned:
    Ease of use, Video quality, Zoom

    Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Great buy, awesome 4K camera !

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    Posted . Owned for 1 month when reviewed.
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    I love this camera, it’s very simple to operate and records fantastic 4K footage….the zoom is absolutely amazing on it. It has a WiFi flip screen option , I highly suggest purchasing this camera . Worth every penny. I added a microphone & tripod for my hunting excursions!

    I would recommend this to a friend
    • Brand response from Panasonic Team
      Posted .

      Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us and the community! We are grateful for the 5 stars and glad to know you are enjoying the product. -C Panasonic

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Definite best value in a budget 4K camcorder

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    Posted .
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    I am a photographer and videographer with a lot of cameras in my collection. I have a Panasonic G7 (larger sensor, 4K capable, but not a camcorder) which I can directly compare this to. Despite the video produced by the G7 being objectively better, this camcorder has become my go-to video device for some purposes. A video-capable DSLR is generally better in a controlled environment because it has a bigger sensor and a higher video bitrate, but a DSLR will never be a camcorder. When you walk out your front door and want to record something spontaneously, your DSLR's automatic performance will be worse and the way you hold it for video and use the zoom capability will be quite uncomfortable. If you're choosing between a 4K DSLR and this camcorder for video production, you can't go wrong with this camcorder. There are benefits to a smaller sensor and this capitalizes on those, particularly the longer zoom ranges. I have shot "close" videos of helicopters flying over me that I could never do with the best DSLR and telephoto lens (480mm @ 35mm equivalent) I own. Auto-focus is very fast. There is no visible purple fringing even at maximum zoom. The manual mode requires that you choose shutter speed before you choose iris and gain, however this is in stark contrast to even the double-price Sony FDR-AX100 I was desperate to buy a few months ago, a camcorder which has a bigger sensor yet only allows ONE THING to be manual at a time; if you set Sony 4K camcorders to manual shutter and then set a manual ANYTHING ELSE, they'll kick the iris back to automatic! Contrast this to the Panasonic which allows full manual settings and the Sony camcorders look crippled by comparison. Image quality in daylight is equal to my G7; in darker settings the limitations of a 1/2.3" BSI sensor become apparent and noise reduction smoothing kicks in hard, but it is still reasonable. With adequate lighting most of the NR smoothing goes away and the image looks great. Highlight roll-off is superior to Sony camcorders which have banding problems. 120fps slow-motion support is GREAT to have around. Overall, this camcorder is a great purchase. Despite having Canon and Panasonic DSLRs with nice lenses that cost a lot more, this camcorder is competitive with them and sometimes makes me wonder why I blew all that money on the other systems. I know that my other cameras have better low-light performance due to larger sensors and huge-aperture prime lenses, but when you need any sort of image automation they start to look sub-par in comparison to any camcorder...especially this one. If you are going to do a lot of video with automatic settings (not in a fully controlled environment) and you have little interest in still photography, I'd recommend this over the G7 w/14-42mm kit lens. If you're looking for maximum image quality and good low-light performance and vastly superior fully manual controls, the G7 is a clear winner. Each has its purpose and this fills its purpose well. The only con I can think of is that the "photo" button is poorly located and when I go for the zoom control I sometimes hit the photo button. One final note: the photos attached are still frames from 4K videos taken with this camera. The "photo" mode is pretty terrible though; don't expect that the photo button will produce anything good at all. This is not a photo camera.

    I would recommend this to a friend
    • Brand response from Panasonic Team
      Posted .

      Thank you for the review.. Panasonic

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Great for 4K TV

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    Posted .
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    I hadn't used a camcorder for several years as I've been using my iPhone. However, I missed having a decent zoom lens and wanted better quality to capture vacations and family events. I recently bought a 4K TV and decided it was time to buy a suitable camcorder. I looked online for awhile at different makes but kept coming back to this model from Panasonic. I bought it and have been using it for about two weeks and so far I really like it. The playback on the 4K TV looks awesome! Super sharp and great colors. There are lots of features with the unit for 1080 video but many of these are not available when 4K recoding is selected. This doesn't bother me as I really wanted a simple camcorder that my wife could use too. Keeping the unit in standby is great since as soon as you open the viewing screen the camera is ready to use. The zoom lens is very good and with the automatic stability feature you don't get a shaky image when at 25x optical magnification. I also like that playback is organized by the scene so you can quickly review what you just taped or completely delete a scene later (something you couldn't do with older tape units). It is also convenient that my TV's remote control will operate the camera in playback since a separate remote is not included. It has the ability to use your cellphone as a secondary camera and superimpose that video in the corner of the main video image (i.e., focus on someone's facial expressions while capturing the event they are watching). A shoulder strap is not included so I plan on getting one as I don't want to lug around a big camera bag or hold the unit in my hand all the time. The unit is very light, so I could carry it, and it fits well in my hand but again I'll buy a simple strap. I have a 64 GB card in it now and will eventually transfer the video to my external hard drive but haven't tried that yet. One minor item to note is the paper manual it comes with is truncated and only gives the basic information so you have to go online to get the full manual. Again, not a big issue for me as I downloaded it to my cellphone and can now refer to it anytime. So far the battery life is good (90 min on 4K) even when using the zoom lens. The camera does take still pictures at different resolutions with one at over 25 MB per image but I haven't done much with that yet. To date, I am very satisfied with the unit and look forward to exploring and using some of the other features it offers.

    I would recommend this to a friend
    • Brand response from Panasonic Team
      Posted .

      Thank you for the review.. Panasonic

  • Pros mentioned:
    Ease of use, Video quality

    Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Amazing

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    Posted . Owned for 6 months when reviewed.
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    Love it cant stop using it good for family videos pic

    I would recommend this to a friend
    • Brand response from Panasonic Team
      Posted .

      Hello! It's so great to hear that the product meets your expectations! Thank you for the review! -M Panasonic

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Honest review

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    Posted .
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    Best cameras I’ve used! No overheating like GoPros do either!!

    I would recommend this to a friend
    • Brand response from Panasonic Team
      Posted .

      Wow, thank you! We're honored to hear it's one of the best you've used. Reliability is a top priority for us, so it's great to know you're getting solid performance without the overheating issues. Here’s to capturing many more great moments! - S Panasonic

  • Pros mentioned:
    Video quality

    Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Working Great

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    Posted . Owned for 1 month when reviewed.
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    Working great we have two of these for live stream at church. Much better than the older cam we had. The picture quality is great on this cam.

    I would recommend this to a friend
    • Brand response from Panasonic Team
      Posted .

      Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and feedback with us. We're grateful for your honest feedback and we're glad you feel we're on the right track! -M Panasonic

  • Pros mentioned:
    Video quality

    Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Best

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    Posted . Owned for 1 month when reviewed.
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    This is my little baby. I love it perfect for what I do

    I would recommend this to a friend
    • Brand response from Panasonic Team
      Posted .

      Thank you for your input! We are happy to hear you're enjoying the product! -M Panasonic

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Panasonic 4k with wi-fi

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    Posted . Owned for 3 weeks when reviewed.
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    This camcorder is easy to use. It has sharp crisp colors, with some unique features that stands out. Like NFC for easy phone connections, Wi-Fi screen in screen and more. Absolutely love it and recommend it.

    I would recommend this to a friend
    • Brand response from Panasonic Team
      Posted .

      Thank you for your 5-star rating! We are happy to hear you are pleased with the product. Panasonic

  • Rated 1 out of 5 stars

    Not Excellent Condition - Customer Service NO HELP

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    Posted . Owned for less than 1 week when reviewed.
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    This review is a reflection on Best Buy. I took a chance and purchased the "Excellent Condition" open box item. It arrived as you can see in the pics, the accessories were tossed in the box, not in their original packaging and the instruction book looks as if was dropped in water. The item, at best, is in good condition. Customer service was no help. The 2nd rep offered be a partial refund and we got cutoff - when I got back in the new rep said that they could not offer a partial refund so I asked for a supervisor - again even less help. It seemed as if I was inconveniencing her...my options are to go to the store so I can see what I am getting (literally that is what she said) of I can go mail it. I had this delivered for a reason - so those are out. I invested my time into cleaning the product, really that's all it took, some time invested. This has been extraordinarily disappointing...

    No, I would not recommend this to a friend
    • Brand response from Panasonic Team
      Posted .

      Thank you for bringing this to our attention! Your feedback helps us do better. We are truly sorry to hear about the situation you experienced with the seller! - S Panasonic

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    GREAT quality!! 4K

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    Posted .
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    Pros: *Great 4K quality *Great in low light conditions *Ext mic input *Light Build in *Acceptable 4K photo quality Cons: *Nothing

    I would recommend this to a friend
    • Brand response from Panasonic Team
      Posted .

      Thank you for the review.. Panasonic

  • Pros mentioned:
    Video quality
    Cons mentioned:
    Battery life

    Rated 4 out of 5 stars

    Good quality camcorder

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    Posted .
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    I got this back in camcorder to replace a sony that couldn't keep a clear picture. I have two kids that play lots of soccer. This is my workhorse i use to record all their games with. It's great because i can stream a video feed to a phone or tablet using image app. So i have this on a pole and stream it to a samsung tablet that i use to ensure I have the action in view. It has worked great for the almost 3 years i have had it. It works well. It has its quirks, though. It's almost impossible to find any firmware updates if there are any. Ustream through the Lumix club has not worked since IBM bought them years ago. So if your wanting to stream, expect to purchase an elgato capture card. As of right now though, the image quality is still exceptional after probably recording somewhere around 125 games and every christmas and it functions well still. One thing i did have to do was to purchase an oversized battery for it on amazon. The stock battery will not record an entire hour and 10 minute game. This is a great 4k camera though. It has way outlasted my last sony. I paid $699 in Nov 2017 and I feel like I have gotten my money's worth easily out of this camera. I can atest though, if your using this to record sports, this camera is great. I have never had it lose focus during filming. Good value, great picture. It has gotten lots of highlights.

    I would recommend this to a friend
    • Brand response from Panasonic Team
      Posted .

      Thank you for sharing your experience and kind words with Panasonic. Enjoy! Panasonic

  • Pros mentioned:
    Size, Video quality, Zoom

    Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Price bugs a worth camcorder

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    Posted . Owned for 1 year when reviewed.
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    I bought this camcorder purely for the 4K and for the size and price, it does a great job. I also have the FZ1000 and the image quality is comparable. Chromatic aberration is worse, audio is better, manual controls are worse, stabilization is better. The reach on the VX870 zoom is a tiny bit better and when 4K is output to 720p -- the real benefit of 4K -- there's a bit more room in the frame to zoom and pan and still maintain sharpness. Both cameras are great at this, though, and the effective reach for clear HD nature photography is astounding. If I only had one $900 4K camera on a desert island, it would be the FZ1000. If I wanted more room to pack food and water, I'd take the VX870!

    I would recommend this to a friend
    • Brand response from Panasonic Team
      Posted .

      Thank you for providing us with your detailed feedback! Your input is important to us, as it helps us improve our technology and ensure customer satisfaction. Panasonic

  • Pros mentioned:
    Ease of use, Zoom

    Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Like a sony Camcorder but, better.

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    Posted . Owned for less than 1 week when reviewed.
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    I bought this camcorder because I did not want the BOKA effect which is a problem with normal DSLR point and shoots. This camcorder may not come with a diaopter but it does the same thing. Now this model beats out the Sony because it has better features that the Sony does not offer like a bigger sensor, similar technology but, without the hefty price of a sony. It has great features and quality build. Yes, it is a smaller size than the Sony AX43 but, it works so much better. Panasonic parts have same quality parts and abilities. It has a smooth zoom. The camcorder is simple to use and not bulky I would recommend this item because it better than a cell phone with a bigger sensor.

    I would recommend this to a friend
    • Brand response from Panasonic Team
      Posted .

      Thank you for recommending us, we are delighted to read your positive thoughts! -C Panasonic

  • Pros mentioned:
    Ease of use, Video quality, Zoom

    Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Great camcorder

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    Posted . Owned for 2 weeks when reviewed.
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    I bought this to record a recital. Never having used one before, it was easy to user. The default settings and no external mic picked up the sound really well. And the picture was greate. Zoom feature was easy to use. I bought this one over the cheaper one because this one has the feature to put it on a tripod.

    I would recommend this to a friend
    • Brand response from Panasonic Team
      Posted .

      Thank you for your 5-star review, we deeply appreciate it! -M Panasonic

  • Pros mentioned:
    Video quality, Zoom

    Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Nice Upgrade

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    Posted . Owned for 3 weeks when reviewed.
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    After many many years with my old movie camera I finally needed an upgrade. I'm glad my hours of online searching led me to this fantastic camcorder. I've used it for a month now and am still learning all of it's features. I love the clarity of the videos and also all the setting you can set for pictures and video. This camcorder can make my shots look closer to professional shots. I had read a review about the sound not being that good, but I haven't noticed any thing with my unit. I had read the battery takes 1 1/2 hours to fully charge so I bought two extra batteries for UN-interrupted filming. Like my last camcorder, this one only charges the battery when connected to the camcorder. I filmed 3 days of activities during this past fourth of July with our entire family and never ran out of power during a days shoot. I plugged it in at night and never had to actually use the extra batteries. It is nice to know that you can continue filming when having the extra batteries. I would have no problem now filming an entire wedding without worrying about running out of power. I like the feel of the camera and all of the function buttons and pretty much self explanatory. Zoom is really great and I got some shots this past weekend of some fawns and a couple of turkeys on our up North property. I went ahead a bought the 256 card and have not had to transfer anything I've shot for the past 3 weeks. That really saves some time and allows you the freedom of not being a slave to emptying a full SD card. When I did transfer the videos and pictures, they came out great on the PC. I haven't worked with the w-fi or some of the other trick features yet but am looking forward to it. I love this camcorder and would suggest it for the price and features to anyone. Glad I did the research to find this jewel.

    I would recommend this to a friend
    • Brand response from Panasonic Team
      Posted .

      Thank you for the review. Panasonic

  • Pros mentioned:
    Size, Video quality
    Cons mentioned:
    Battery life

    Rated 4 out of 5 stars

    Great Camera for a beginner

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    Posted .
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    This camera does everything well. Movies and stills both produce very good pictures. The camera also lets you take still pics while recording video. Its size makes it convenient to use but battery life is average. A second battery is highly recommended. A separate battery charger is not part of the package. The camera doubles as the charger when not in use. This might become inconvenient. For the price point, this is a very satisfying unit. The software and apps that support it are downloaded from the Internet, and perform as advertised.

    I would recommend this to a friend
    • Brand response from Panasonic Team
      Posted .

      Thank you for the review.. Panasonic

  • Pros mentioned:
    Ease of use, Video quality

    Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Easy to use and great HD!

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    Posted .
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    I needed a high quality and easy-to-use digital HD camera for my ongoing family history video project. For the price, the Panasonic HC-VX870K 4K Ultra HD camcorder just couldn't be beat. I've recorded many hours of older family members recounting their past and have many more connections to document--this camera will help me to do just that--and in great Ultra HD fashion.

    I would recommend this to a friend
    • Brand response from Panasonic Team
      Posted .

      Thank you for choosing Panasonic. Enjoy! Panasonic

  • Pros mentioned:
    Video quality
    Cons mentioned:
    Battery life

    Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Great Camcorder for the price

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    Posted . Owned for 3 weeks when reviewed.
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    This camcorder is a great camera all together. It is not as great as the Sony one I use to have but gets the job done. I do have one quirk about it and that is the battery runs out quickly so I have to take in and see what the remedy is for this. Overall great shots and videos and for the price you really cant go wrong.

    I would recommend this to a friend
    • Brand response from Panasonic Team
      Posted .

      We deeply appreciate you took the time to provide us with your feedback! We are happy to hear the product meets your expectations. -C Panasonic

  • Pros mentioned:
    Ease of use, Zoom

    Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Exacellent camera

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    Posted . Owned for 3 weeks when reviewed.
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    This is an excellent camera! I have made 3 or 4 YouTube videos using this camera and they look great. It has a great zoom and is every easy to operate.

    I would recommend this to a friend
    • Brand response from Panasonic Team
      Posted .

      Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us. We're thrilled to have earned your 5-star rating. - S Panasonic

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