Great Camera
Written: Nov 04 '03
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Durability: |
|
|
| Battery Life: |
 |
|
| Movie Quality: |
|
|
|
Pros: Awesome camera with many professional features
Cons: What it lacks is more than made up for by what it offers
The Bottom Line: If you can afford it, and you want a camera that is as close to the top notch professional grade camera's as you can get, buy it!
|
|
|
| silverpenguin's Full Review: Panasonic AG-DVC15 Mini DV Digital Camcorder |
I worked at a TV station, and although we primarily used Panasonic DV-500 camera, we had several of these laying around. We would use them quite often for the more "dangerous" jobs, like sidelines at football games, or unmanned camera setups. One of the key factors we looked for when buying equipment was durability. We are constantly on the go, and the ability to throw it in the back of the truck with all the other equipment is a must. These camera's passed the test, and boy can they take a beating! We had one of our crew guys leave one of these on top of the SUV, and drive off as the rest of us watched it skitter across the pavement. The plastic housing was cracked, but it still worked perfectly. The torture we put them through, and for them still to work, proves to me that they are designed very well, and just for that I would recommend this camera, but there's a lot more to like about them.
Another task we used them for primarily was to import the video into the computers. The DV-500, while it had the capability to import footage, would cause more trouble, like the computer wouldn't recognize it, and just the fact that it was a much bigger camera, and took up a lot of desk space, so we would take the Mini-DV from the other camera's, drop it into the DV-15, and we were in business. We never had a single problem with the computers recognizing the camera.
The DV-15 is substantially cheaper than the big boys, but you get a lot of the same features. It's really easy to white balance and change the shutter speed. It has XLR jacks on the back, and an audio meter on the side to make minor audio adjustments which made it very useful. On the side of the camera it has Analog, and S-Video out jacks, which we would use when setting them up for out live broadcasts. It has 3CCD's which give you amazing image quality, hence why we used it in a professional setting. The fold out screen was very handy for setting the camera's up, but if you're shoulder holding it, a better idea is to use the color eyepiece viewfinder.
The only problems with this camera is that the eyepiece viewfinder doesn't slide out enough, making it hard to use. Your focus range is very minimal, the camera has to be at least 4 feet from the object to focus on it. There is no manual zoom control, and you can't change the lens. THe battery life was a pain. The batteries would only last maybe 45 minutes to an hour. But the batteries are cheap, so we stocked up and it wasn't a problem for us. But For all the other features you get, it makes up for all it lacks.
This is a great professional grade camcorder, and I would highly recommend it to anyone, consumer or professional.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): Great Camera
Recommended for: Professional Videographers - Broadcast Quality Videos
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
silverpenguin
|
|
Location: Winter Park, FL, USA
Reviews written: 9
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
Film student who has a lot of experience relating to cars, technology, and movies.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.