Panasonic PV-L759 VHS-C Analog Camcorder

My Panasonic Palmcorder Palmsight PV-L779 is a dream-come true. I allowed my magical camcorder-digital still camera combination to age for almost a year so that I could thoroughly analyze the features and functioning throughout a long test period. Now the verdict is in?three unadulterated cheers for this whiz of a picture-taking, picture-making combo.

For ten years we lugged our heavy duty ark of an original vhs-format JVC camcorder all over the country and a few places outside of it. Keeping a maintenance agreement intact was a good idea, since, as the camera aged there were more and more things to go wrong, inclding, in its present limbo state, green-hued or pink-hued pictures when the light is low.

So one of the primary things I was looking for in a new palm-sized camcorder besides its light weight (Got that)size was an easy-to-use attached light. Got that, too. We also got 5-Head full-size dedicated head, digital EIS stabilization, a 4.0? color LCD monitor and a 300x/26x hi-definition zoom. Got it all. Videos taken with the Panasonic camcorder play in your normal VCR simply by snapping the mini-cassette into a full-size "play-pak" adaptor-case. Got that, too.

The unplanned, unexpected and thoroughly delightful bonus in our Panasonic beauty is the built-in Digital Still Camera that takes fabulous pictures with little or no adjustment. We hadn't counted on it when we went shopping that day last November. We were simply looking for a palm-sized camcorder to take on our upcoming Hawaiian and British vacations.

Ordinarily, not being technologically matriculated, I shy away from gadgets that are multi-purposed. Too many things to go wrong. But this product as demonstrated looked so great, and was so reasonable in cost during a special sale at Sear's, we tried it, and in the year since we purchased our palmcorder we?ve been pleasantly surprised. Nothing?s gone wrong, and the amazing capabilities of digital still camera use continue to expand for us as we learn more and more about how to use it.

We can send pictures by e-mail, save them to a disk or hard drive, print them out on glossy, matte or ordinary paper or even, if I can believe what I?m reading, to video format! And have slides made from them, to join our zillions of other family and travel slides!

This thing is amazing. To be scientific about it, the switch from camcorder to digital still only requires the flick of one switch, and the sliding of a second one to ?REC.? Easy enough. Stills can be played back on the LCD, and so can the videos. On a recent trip to Britain, it was wonderfully simple to switch to the digital still, when a particular frame in the LCD caught my eye. ?That?d make a great snapshot,? I?d think. Or a great illustration for an article I?m proposing. Bingo!

Flick a button, slide another, and hit the red dot. You?re done. There?s also a focusing mechanism that I?m still playing with. Accurate focus is certainly vital in video use but I?m not sure I use it correctly for taking stills. However, the quality of the stills is excellent. A massed field of flowers printed on glossy paper is unbelievably detailed and defined, expresses the hundreds of shades of colors, and with the varied functions available in the photo-shot software and, in the printer?s software, can be almost infinitely enhanced, for example, sharpen, soften, brush-stroke, brighten, darken, etc.,etc., using the built-in software that comes with it.

A few design features flaw the Panasonic combination drastically. The function selection button ?VCR-Video-Photo-Off? is a thumb-operated little switch awkward to operate, and not in the line of sight when you are holding the camera ready to shoot. It is, not to make too much of the pun, a real turn-off. The selection mechanism for choosing digital still shots to review is also awkward; it uses the same button for VCR choices when viewing a video. Dual use makes for confusion every time.

Other difficulties that come from design defects: some operating switches are totally obscured from view when using the LCD screen for video focussing. (They?re located under the flip-over view-finder, which can be used instead of the LCD, preferable in certain high lighting situations when too much glare on the LCD panel makes it fade from view, even with tilting adjustments which are available, and a darkening feature, also available.)

The Panasonic combo comes with a two-hour battery, PCX card for transfer to computer, necessary cables and the computer software, Panasonic Digital PhotoShoot Driver for Windows. SHooting in "fine" mode, I can take 100 pictures on my digital before I run out of room. I don't recommend the secondary mode.

Despite its design flaws, the wonder machine manages to function well. It has, as I?ve hinted, possibilities for creativity filming I?m still discovering. The videos we?ve recorded are not the absolute best we?ve ever seen, but the bonus digital still camera feature more than makes up for it, and we only spent in the $600.oo range. That's good news for old-timers who spent $1,000.00 on the ark we?re gradually retiring!