Patience pays off.
Written: Oct 09 '02
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Pros: Crammed with features. Excellent quality. Very compact.
Cons: Not a camera for those who don't read instructions.
The Bottom Line: I give this product the highest rating, based on the features, quality of pictures, and price. I don't think there are any better deals in this price range out there.
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| homefndr's Full Review: Panasonic Palmcorder® PV-DV901 Mini DV Camcor... |
I wanted a good quality digital camcorder for under $900.00, and could wait for prices to moderate. The Panasonic PV-DV901 fit the profile for a camcorder that had a full package of features and recent price drops made it just the thing. On the market for over a year, when it first came out, the PV-DV901 was about as packed with features as a camera in the $1,200-$1,500+ range could get. This model comes with just about everything a non-professional camcorder user could want. It has a mega pixel 1200X900 CCD lens system. Some more expensive camcorders have a sub-mega pixel capability and produce truly comparably inferior resolution stills. It came with a 16 Meg SD memory card. A decent Li-Ion battery and charger/AC adaptor is included. The camera has USB AND Firewire computer connectivity, and includes serial and analog input/output capability...including cables (except for the Firewire.) There is a software package by ArcSoft, which I deem usable, but clunky. I prefer to use Adobe Photoshop, with which the camera works flawlessly...downloading and editing photos. The camera package even included a USB card reader for the memory card. It's a truly complete camera for computer editing and playback. Good optical (10x) and digital (100x) zoom capabilities, sharp pictures, a wireless remote control with full features...Small, light weight, what's not here? This camera has it all.
The basic camera functions are easy to learn, but not (for me at least) immediately intuitive. I find the manual to be a bit cryptic but adequate. Even as cryptic as it is, there are still 70 pages of instructions and illustrations for the operation of the camera with all of the features it has. The camera is very compact, and the buttons that operate the various functions are necessarily quite small and multi-functional. The tiny buttons and switches have a drawback. If you have large hands and fingers, operating this camera can seem a little tedious. With a little experience in operation, the camera becomes much easier to operate, but one needs to do some practice, and spend some time learning it before taking it out to shoot an important event like a wedding. It could save some frustration, as there are a lot of features that aren’t readily usable for a new owner without doing your “homework.” You must spend an hour or so with the camera and the manual in hand, to begin to be comfortable with its operation. I rated the ease of use as "average" however, it might be much more difficult for some who don't take the time to read the manual and learn it before use.
This camera is an excellent choice for the person who wants a lot of capability and a wide variety of features to make fairly sophisticated movies and good (not excellent) quality digital stills. If you want high quality digital stills, a 2 or 3 Mega Pixel digital still camera is obviously much better. But if you are happy with snapshot quality stills for emailing or 4x6 prints, this camera works fine. Also, if you are looking for a simple "point and shoot" camcorder...you might be more comfortable with one that has fewer features, though at the sale price of $545.00 I paid for the PV-DV901, the lesser cameras out there at about the same price don't seem like much of a bargain.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 545
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Epinions.com ID:
homefndr
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Location: Russellville, AR USA
Reviews written: 27
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
Retired AF Pilot. Married two kids, one grandchild. Hobbies, computers, golf, flying.
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