Finally, I wanted to check my specs for my camera as you suggest, but I can't find any truly reliable way to check the specs for my camera.
Panasonic's own website doesn't specify the bitrates for this model. Have any suggestions there?
Better not to overanalyse things as long as we're talking about normal consumer cameras. In these cameras the recorded clips are optimised for easy playback and transfer to other viewing devices rather than for easy editing or image quality. The quality differences are likely to be negligible, anyway.
Both AVCHD and mp4 options provided by the camera are two different playback options rather than editing options, and the AVCHD is optimised for easy playback in some Sony/Panasonic TV's of that era and for easy transfer onto DVD's. Which in today's world is no longer that relevant, obviously.
The mp4 format is provided as an alternative for easy transfer and playback in devices that don't support the AVCHD format. Therefore there may not be much, if any difference between the two in bitrate, but that doesn't necessarily mean they will be identical in quality.
They're both rather heavily compressed H264 formats in different file wrappers, but if my memory is serving me right, the AVCHD option may have a slightly better sound than the mp4 one.
So the mp4 option is probably the easier to transfer one, with the caveat of slightly more compromised quality in general. But as said, I haven't 'fought' with the AVCHD format for ages, and there's not much point in delving much deeper into this, as the differences are negligible, anyway. Use whatever format suits your needs and workflow.
Nevertheless, keep in mind that if/when you go with the route of prying the compressed .mts files out of the AVCHD folders, you are also likely to throw away any quality benefit there may have been, and thus you might as well work with the mp4 option. With less work.
But if / when your goal is to get the best result for editing, as implied in your header, that would probably be the transcoded AVCHD files. Whether the transcoding is done with a separate transcoder app or inside the NLE.
Is that what you mean by the "bigger number is better" part?
Nope. By bigger number is better I was referring to the bitrate number. For example, 28mbps (typically AVCHD) being slightly better than 24mpbs (typically mp4, depending on the camera) or lower. Yes, the difference is small in this example, and the 'bigger number is better' is just a general rule of thumb. It also depends on the resolution of the video.
But again, don't get obsessed by the minutia, leave that to the hardcore pedants. In your case, choose whichever option works for you. Whether that's the easiest to handle file format or the ideal format for editing. It's up to you.
Now, log out of the internet and go out to shoot something.
