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Panasonic Palmcorder PV-GS200 Mini DV CamcorderWith a built in digital still camera feature, the new camcorders can also record high-resolution digital still images utilizing the...
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With a built in digital still camera feature, the new camcorders can also record high-resolution digital still images utilizing the versatile SD Memory Card. Both the 1.2 Megapixel PV-GS120 and 2.3 Megapixel PV-GS200 feature a 10x telescopic optical zoom lens; a 700x digital zoom that allows for amazing 700:1 clear, close-ups from wide angle to full telephoto zoom; and a Macro Zoom feature, which lets users shoot extreme close-ups at distances as close as 40cm. \n
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13 Reviews from Shopping.com
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Incredible video quality
| Author's Rating: |
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Pros: Excellent video quality, 3 CCD's, small size, easy to use
Cons: Bad manual, included sd card is a joke, problems with flash and video editing software
The Bottom Line:
Excellent video quality, small size, great technology, definately recommended
This camcorder produces incredible video quality. I bought mine 2 months ago and had the opportunity to use it extensively. It has a lot going for it in things that mattered most to me and I am sure a lot of other buyers as well. Firstly 3 separate CCD's produce amazing colors and the picture in normal or bright light is very good. Low light is ok, I don't really do any single candle shooting and I am pretty sure 99% of us regular consumers don't shoot at light levels when you can't see what you are shooting, so measuring video capabilities at those levels does not make any sense to me (a word to all the review sites, dvspot, camcorderinfo et al, though you are doing great job otherwise). Secondly it is small, which is a very big plus especially considering the technology it packs. The battery life is better than most included battery, though I would advise to buy a spare battery.
Panasonic provides almost everything in the box
CGA-DU14 li-ion battery
AC Adapter / Battery charger
8MB SD Memory card
Wired and wireless remote controls
Lens cap w/tether
Shoulder strap
A/V cable
USB cable
CD-ROM with USB drivers, DV Studio (video editing - PC only), G726 Audio Decoder (PC only), Webcam driver (PC only), and ArcSoft (image editing - PC/Mac) software
95 page manual
Now on to what's lacking and the problems-
1)The manual included is truly the worst manual ever, it does not provide any detailed information, is very sketchy in details. But most of the controls and functions are intuitive that helps.
2)The provided video editing software is useless, for me it didn't even recognize the camcorder attached to the PC. I tried both USB and firewire connection, but nothing. Luckily I already had arcsoft showbiz suite installed on my computer which worked nicely and I could edit my video, copy it to a DVD and the rest. That's another product I would recommend if you are looking for video editing and managing software.
3) I am having problems with the inbuilt flash to popup with stills, as it doesn't. In manual shooting for stills I can manually make it flash but on automatic mode though the display says flash is needed but still the flsh does not flash.
But in the end, the video quality is so much better than other comparable camcorders that I am sold on this. And mind you that is not an asy task as this is the third camcorder I bought in my quest for perfect camcorder. I first bought canon optura 20 which I returned within a week, and got sony HC40 which I was sort of satisfied with but not completely so I returned that as well and settled on panasonic GS 200. And I do not intend to return this.
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