Panasonic PV-GS300 Mini DV Camcorder
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- Recording System: NTSC
- Camcorder Type: Digital
- Recording Media: Mini DV
- Optical Zoom: 10x
- Weight: 0.99 lb.
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Panasonic PV-GS 300 - A Camcorder that Grows with a Novice-Easy, Fun Great Video
Pros
Easy to use, great video recording, manual options
Cons
I would rather pay less and not have the still camera
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
A great camcorder that you won't soon outgrow
I have wanted a video camera for a long time. So for my birthday this year I purchased a Panasonic PV-GS 300 Mini DV Digital Camcorder.
The Basics
The Panasonic PV-GS 300 Digital Camcorder is a feature packed video camera that doubles as a still camera. It offers 3 CCD for high quality image reproduction, a 10x optical Leica lens with 700x digital zoom, 3.1 Megapixel still image recording and Optical Image Stabilizer (OSI) to reduce shake from the image. Recording is done on a miniDV tape or directly to a PC. The camera includes a color viewfinder and 2.7" LCD display. Navigation of menus is accomplished with a one-finger joystick. Included is a 2 hour battery and remote control.
Let's Cut to the Chase
I won't leave you in suspense, I love this camera. I don't think it could be any better. How can I say this with a definite lack of experience with camcorders? Simple. The Panasonic PV-GS 300 does what I want it to, better than I thought it would and easier than I thought possible.
The camera arrived just in time to be charged and ready for my daughter's nursery school graduation. I didn't have time to read the thick manual so I took a deep breath and popped in the battery, turned on the camera and opened the screen. I was lead through the step by step instructions for set-up and I was ready to use it. The joystick control on the back of the camera was intuitive. I slipped in a tape, rotated the control dial to the picture of the red camera and I was in recording mode. A single press of the button positioned right under my thumb and I was recording. It worked great in the low light conditions of our house and I was even able to capture my daughters sleeping just with the light from the hallway.
Play back was just as easy. I turned the dial to the green camcorder picture and the screen resembled a VCR control panel. I had no problem figuring out how to move the joystick to rewind the tape, play and stop my test video on the built in screen. I was pleased with the quality of the video with just ordinary household light. All of the colors were bright and accurately reproduced.
At graduation the next morning the camera worked well in the large and echoing all purpose room. The children's singing is clear as are the announcements from their teachers. While certainly not professional quality the sound is much less hollow than from other home videos I have watched. The built in processor does indeed almost completely eliminate the wobbly effect from holding the camera by hand. The zoom is logically placed on top and easy to use.
I opened up the instruction manual for the first time when we wanted to play back the graduation video at home. I had some difficulty finding the exact port to connect the camera to the TV but with the pictures in the manual I had no trouble figuring it out. The remote control made it easy to sit on the couch and just enjoy the video, including watching my daughter's favorite parts a few time. Overall the camcorder is small, reasonably lightweight and easy to use.
I Knew What I Wanted - I Was Just Wrong!
I had never used a camcorder before so I knew wanted something that would be easy to use. I thought that mean a DVD recorder; just pop in a disk and be done with the whole thing. After all this is the 21st century and tapes were so 80s. I wasn't planning on doing any editing so a simple pop and play DVD recording system seemed like the idea choice.
Then I started doing some research and learned that for my needs tape was definitely the way to go. I'm a mom and I wanted to use our camcorder to capture both the special events and the day to day activities of my children. Digital tape is a far superior media for long term storage of video, and that is what this purchase was all about. While DVDs are easy to pop into a player and enjoy they aren't the best way to preserve precious footage.
Tape offers the best of both worlds. The tapes themselves, when properly stored and used should last (almost) forever. For easy and repeated playback the video footage can be converted to DVD essentially using the original tape as your backup and archive. At first I was a bit overwhelmed at the idea of converting tape to DVD, but it is well worth the effort and I find I do more editing than I thought just because I can and it is easy.
I am Not a Videographer, Nor Do I Play One at Epinions
I don't know my saturation level from my aperture; and I'm not going to pretend to. That said, in the several months of using this camera I have leaned a lot about the Panasonic PV-GS 300 since I first took it out of the box.
Zoom
When I was making my buying decision I almost passed on the Panasonic PV-GS 300 because it only had a 10X optical zoom. I knew that the 700X digital zoom was meaningless as it would only serve to make my video and pictures fuzzy. Other cameras going for less had 25X optical zoom and I figured more was better. So far 10X has been more than sufficient for my uses. In fact more often than not I find myself backing away from my filming to capture more of the scene in my video, not less. But when I do use it, the zoom is slow and steady and doesn't give you that sudden jumpy feeling when watching it on playback. The video quality does not decrease at all even at the 10X zoom. I've sat across the dining room table from my 3 year old and used all 10X to zoom in on her eye, which fills the entire screen. On playback I can clearly see the small brown streak across her otherwise blue iris. Ten is enough!
Optical Image Stabilizer
I become more and more impressed with the OIS technology every time I use the camera. Even with the battery and tape installed this camera is ther light. While light is nice when carrying it, holding something so lightweight steady for an extended period of time can be difficult. The normal wobbling from your hand is not transferred to the video; it looks as though the camera were placed on a tripod.
Audio
I consider the audio adequate but not exactly impressive. I'm sure adding on a microphone would improve the quality, but it is good enough for our home use. The Panasonic PV-GS 300 does do a good job of eliminating excess background noise. When recording outside you don't hear the annoying sound of wind blowing against the microphone during playback and we use this outside quite a bit. Supposedly using the video zoom also zooms the audio to pick up distant sounds. I can't say that I've noticed the feature but supposedly it is there.
Still Pictures
While it was not a consideration in my purchase of this camcorder I really do like the included still camera although you do need to purchase the SD card separately. Just another spin of the dial and you are in still picture mode with all of the features you expect including a zoom, flash, red-eye reduction etc. The pictures are clear and crisp and the color is good, at least for our purposes. Our regular digital camera seems to do a little better job staying true to color. I love the convenience of only having to carry one camera with us, but we generally still bring both so my husband and I can each man a camera.
Manual Mode
There are a surprising amount of manual adjustments you can make to the camera, including manual focus. Supposedly you can fiddle with the aperture and other settings to improve the image in low light and backlit situations. Other than to play with them because they are there I haven't found a use for all of the manual adjustments – yet!
Software
The software included makes it easy to load the video up to your PC, do some minor editing and then burn it to a DVD. This could easily become a new and obsessive hobby. If it does I will certainly upgrade my software, but for now the bundled software is sufficient for minor edits and adding titles.
Battery Life
The battery life seems to live up to Panasonic's claim of about 2 hours in video mode. Once the battery is nearly dead I charge it overnight and it is ready the next morning. When using the camera for playback or uploading to the PC I do try and remember to use the AC plug to preserve the battery life. The battery life is a good match to for a 60 minute tape.
Final Thoughts
I am completely satisfied with my video camera purchase. It is easy to use and could be the only digital camera we need in the house. I ultimately decided on the Panasonic PV-GS 300 because of the manual features. I know that should this hobby grow I am not going to outgrow this camera quickly. As my knowledge and use increase I am sure I will enjoy the manual options this camera provides as well as the performance of the point and shoot automatic settings. Available for less than $500 I do think the Panasonic PV-GS 300 is a terrific value!
The Basics
The Panasonic PV-GS 300 Digital Camcorder is a feature packed video camera that doubles as a still camera. It offers 3 CCD for high quality image reproduction, a 10x optical Leica lens with 700x digital zoom, 3.1 Megapixel still image recording and Optical Image Stabilizer (OSI) to reduce shake from the image. Recording is done on a miniDV tape or directly to a PC. The camera includes a color viewfinder and 2.7" LCD display. Navigation of menus is accomplished with a one-finger joystick. Included is a 2 hour battery and remote control.
Let's Cut to the Chase
I won't leave you in suspense, I love this camera. I don't think it could be any better. How can I say this with a definite lack of experience with camcorders? Simple. The Panasonic PV-GS 300 does what I want it to, better than I thought it would and easier than I thought possible.
The camera arrived just in time to be charged and ready for my daughter's nursery school graduation. I didn't have time to read the thick manual so I took a deep breath and popped in the battery, turned on the camera and opened the screen. I was lead through the step by step instructions for set-up and I was ready to use it. The joystick control on the back of the camera was intuitive. I slipped in a tape, rotated the control dial to the picture of the red camera and I was in recording mode. A single press of the button positioned right under my thumb and I was recording. It worked great in the low light conditions of our house and I was even able to capture my daughters sleeping just with the light from the hallway.
Play back was just as easy. I turned the dial to the green camcorder picture and the screen resembled a VCR control panel. I had no problem figuring out how to move the joystick to rewind the tape, play and stop my test video on the built in screen. I was pleased with the quality of the video with just ordinary household light. All of the colors were bright and accurately reproduced.
At graduation the next morning the camera worked well in the large and echoing all purpose room. The children's singing is clear as are the announcements from their teachers. While certainly not professional quality the sound is much less hollow than from other home videos I have watched. The built in processor does indeed almost completely eliminate the wobbly effect from holding the camera by hand. The zoom is logically placed on top and easy to use.
I opened up the instruction manual for the first time when we wanted to play back the graduation video at home. I had some difficulty finding the exact port to connect the camera to the TV but with the pictures in the manual I had no trouble figuring it out. The remote control made it easy to sit on the couch and just enjoy the video, including watching my daughter's favorite parts a few time. Overall the camcorder is small, reasonably lightweight and easy to use.
I Knew What I Wanted - I Was Just Wrong!
I had never used a camcorder before so I knew wanted something that would be easy to use. I thought that mean a DVD recorder; just pop in a disk and be done with the whole thing. After all this is the 21st century and tapes were so 80s. I wasn't planning on doing any editing so a simple pop and play DVD recording system seemed like the idea choice.
Then I started doing some research and learned that for my needs tape was definitely the way to go. I'm a mom and I wanted to use our camcorder to capture both the special events and the day to day activities of my children. Digital tape is a far superior media for long term storage of video, and that is what this purchase was all about. While DVDs are easy to pop into a player and enjoy they aren't the best way to preserve precious footage.
Tape offers the best of both worlds. The tapes themselves, when properly stored and used should last (almost) forever. For easy and repeated playback the video footage can be converted to DVD essentially using the original tape as your backup and archive. At first I was a bit overwhelmed at the idea of converting tape to DVD, but it is well worth the effort and I find I do more editing than I thought just because I can and it is easy.
I am Not a Videographer, Nor Do I Play One at Epinions
I don't know my saturation level from my aperture; and I'm not going to pretend to. That said, in the several months of using this camera I have leaned a lot about the Panasonic PV-GS 300 since I first took it out of the box.
Zoom
When I was making my buying decision I almost passed on the Panasonic PV-GS 300 because it only had a 10X optical zoom. I knew that the 700X digital zoom was meaningless as it would only serve to make my video and pictures fuzzy. Other cameras going for less had 25X optical zoom and I figured more was better. So far 10X has been more than sufficient for my uses. In fact more often than not I find myself backing away from my filming to capture more of the scene in my video, not less. But when I do use it, the zoom is slow and steady and doesn't give you that sudden jumpy feeling when watching it on playback. The video quality does not decrease at all even at the 10X zoom. I've sat across the dining room table from my 3 year old and used all 10X to zoom in on her eye, which fills the entire screen. On playback I can clearly see the small brown streak across her otherwise blue iris. Ten is enough!
Optical Image Stabilizer
I become more and more impressed with the OIS technology every time I use the camera. Even with the battery and tape installed this camera is ther light. While light is nice when carrying it, holding something so lightweight steady for an extended period of time can be difficult. The normal wobbling from your hand is not transferred to the video; it looks as though the camera were placed on a tripod.
Audio
I consider the audio adequate but not exactly impressive. I'm sure adding on a microphone would improve the quality, but it is good enough for our home use. The Panasonic PV-GS 300 does do a good job of eliminating excess background noise. When recording outside you don't hear the annoying sound of wind blowing against the microphone during playback and we use this outside quite a bit. Supposedly using the video zoom also zooms the audio to pick up distant sounds. I can't say that I've noticed the feature but supposedly it is there.
Still Pictures
While it was not a consideration in my purchase of this camcorder I really do like the included still camera although you do need to purchase the SD card separately. Just another spin of the dial and you are in still picture mode with all of the features you expect including a zoom, flash, red-eye reduction etc. The pictures are clear and crisp and the color is good, at least for our purposes. Our regular digital camera seems to do a little better job staying true to color. I love the convenience of only having to carry one camera with us, but we generally still bring both so my husband and I can each man a camera.
Manual Mode
There are a surprising amount of manual adjustments you can make to the camera, including manual focus. Supposedly you can fiddle with the aperture and other settings to improve the image in low light and backlit situations. Other than to play with them because they are there I haven't found a use for all of the manual adjustments – yet!
Software
The software included makes it easy to load the video up to your PC, do some minor editing and then burn it to a DVD. This could easily become a new and obsessive hobby. If it does I will certainly upgrade my software, but for now the bundled software is sufficient for minor edits and adding titles.
Battery Life
The battery life seems to live up to Panasonic's claim of about 2 hours in video mode. Once the battery is nearly dead I charge it overnight and it is ready the next morning. When using the camera for playback or uploading to the PC I do try and remember to use the AC plug to preserve the battery life. The battery life is a good match to for a 60 minute tape.
Final Thoughts
I am completely satisfied with my video camera purchase. It is easy to use and could be the only digital camera we need in the house. I ultimately decided on the Panasonic PV-GS 300 because of the manual features. I know that should this hobby grow I am not going to outgrow this camera quickly. As my knowledge and use increase I am sure I will enjoy the manual options this camera provides as well as the performance of the point and shoot automatic settings. Available for less than $500 I do think the Panasonic PV-GS 300 is a terrific value!
