Just FYI, in case anyone cares
Panasonic TZ30 (AKA, ZS20 in the USA) live concert video samples
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV0TusjYFb8 (external audio & rested on barrier)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHyyaQRIm3s (Onboard audio, though not full band so hard to judge - held up in the air & full zoom for much of it)
Zoom range is very good, stabilisation is very good, low light exposure is better than I was expecting. There is decidedly too much in-cam denoising going on, it's too contrasty and there doesn't seem to be any way of manually controlling the exposure or focus when shooting video. I'd love to be corrected on this. You can change the way the auto exposure is metered (whole frame, centre of frame or balance of the two), but not much else. I'm wondering if the face detection mode works in video, that'd be fine enough for a concert. Still, the auto focus and exposure seem to cope well.
The on-cam audio for sample number 1 sounds perfectly fine, and I was 6ft away from a speaker. Death Metal shows with 300bpm kick drum EQed and bloated to space and back will probably cause an issue, but this not exactly quiet and the cam handled the audio fine. Not that you'd want to just stick to cam audio, but it's servicable if you have to.
I do wish there was a 25p mode, with, say, a Bitrate of 24 Mbit/Sec. 50p at 28 Mbit/Sec just sounds a little on the low side to me, and, frankly, I don't need 50p. It'd be nice to have the option of 50p, but if I had to choose permanently between 25p at 24Mbps or 50p at 28Mbps, I'd choose the former.
100 min show took up around 20GB (as it should have done, bitrate wise). Recording stopped every 30 mins but only took a second or two to finish saving and be able to hit record again. The official battery life estimates (65 mins at 1080p50 28Mbps) are accurate, from my experience so far.
I was torn between buying this or the Sony HX30V. I don't have a HX30V to compare with, but I'm not regretting my decision to go Panasonic. It will be annying if it turns out that the HX30V has more manual controls in video mode though.
It is not, of course, as good a genuine camcorder, but its size enables you to film in places that a genuine camcorder would not go (like, the front row - especially over here in Euroland where, by and large, P&S sized cams can be held in the face of security all night without a single batted eyelid), and with that in mind it's fantastic. I filmed the entire show of the first sample link from the same location in the same quality, and would I have been able to roll my dear darling Canon HV20 in that tiny ass venue? As much as I love my baby to pieces... no I fucking would not, not even in Euroland.