Panasonic PV-GS320 3.1MP 3CCD MiniDV Camcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
 | Average Customer Rating: Recommend For impressive video and still images, Panasonic PV-GS320 is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, but is not short on innovative features. This camcorder incorporates the same type of 3CCD imaging system used in Panasonic's celebrated professional camcorders. Individual CCDs are used to reproduce the red, green and blue colors that compose an image for vivid, true-to-life pictures with remarkable depth and presence. The PV-GS320 also… Product details and pricing info |
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56 Customer Reviews Posted
- MiniDV review
- I've only used the product once to take videos and then capture it on my PC. I had no problems and the quality was good. The menus were easy to understand, access and operate. The included software was also easy enough to use once I played with it a bit. I doubt I'll ever use the still picture capability of the MiniDV since I already have a higher resolution digital SLR, but the instructions looked pretty straight forward.
- 2008-03-11, 2 of 2 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- great looking video so far
- I found this to be a pretty good camera in terms of picture quality for the money. I bought this one because of the 3CCD technology. I also stopped by the big box stores to get a personal feel for the controls before buying online and thought the Panasonic thumbwheel type of control felt pretty good. Went with MiniDisk versus DVD writing models cause I did not want the conversion to DVD format on the camera - rip it back to my PC for editing - then back to DVD. I think the hand strap is a bit loose but not a big deal. Would have liked to see it come with a 6 to 4 firewire cable instead of the USB cable. But I guess if I had a PC and it came with a firewire then I'd want it the other way around.... Overall the camera plugged into my MAC and downloaded easily. The conversion over to Imovie and IDVD were pretty impressive.
- 2008-03-10, 3 of 3 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Nice camera albeit missing a few things
- I just picked up this camera locally to use as a backup/crash cam for a AG-DVX200 prosumer camcorder. It works fine and by all means is a good camera for the money but there a few features that are annoying enough that some folks might want to avoid it (none of these points are a deal breaker for my purposes).
1) There is no audio input so you're stuck with the microphone that is in the camera.
2) The USB, DV and power ports are located behind the battery. This wouldn't be so bad except for the next point.
3) The charger will not power the camera and charge the battery at the same time. This is a good way to force us to purchase a second battery. We need a second battery anyway..
4) The hand strap position makes NO sense. It is far too low slung making the camera fit loose in your hand. Once you loosen your grip on the camera, it flops around in your hand uncontrollably. Not a problem if once you grip it again. Bah!
5) The hot shoe is actually a cold shoe so there is no way to trigger an external flash when using the still camera mode.
While those points are enough to sway away most users, this camera is about low cost high quality video, not the normal features consumers have come to expect. The camera is solid and produces a fine picture. The controls are usable with one hand so you can make adjustments on the fly fairly easily. Pressing the camera button during video recording or playback will cause a still image to be recorded to the SD memory card - kinda neat. Finally, it works with Linux so dvgrab just pulls down video on demand.
I'd give this camera a 7 overall and a 9 on picture quality. For the price, it's probably the best picture wise. You have to decide if the negatives are a show stopper or not.
I think for someone who is interested in a low cost high quality SD (standard definition) camcorder with picture quality being the number one requirement, this little camcorder is the ticket. - 2008-02-17, 15 of 15 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Lo que buscaba
- Esta era la cámara que estaba buscando. Bajo precio y gran calidad de imagen para el mismo. Es excelente en días soleados, maneja muy bien los contrastes y el color tiene un tono natural. Las fotos son aceptables y sirven muy bien para el album de recuerdos y mejor si se quieren enviar por internet. La recomiendo si eres un aficionado que quiere un buen acabado en su imagen de video.
- 2008-02-15, 1 of 11 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Brilliant Video Images
- I bought my GS320 over Christmas and have been truly impressed with it.
The reason I got it was to videotape mobility scooters for product reviews.
I didn't even truly understand what they mean by a great image until I viewed my first videos from this camcorder. I was amazed by the clarity and detail of the images.
The GS320 is a great balance of what you need to produce 1st class videos at a reasonable cost.
I highly recommend it.
Glenn
[...] - 2008-02-12, 2 of 2 people found this review helpful, Rated:
