This camera delivers the goods. 3 chip CCD setup with 800K pixels per CCD plus Leicia Dicomar 10X optics make for image quality that beats everything anywhere close to this price. Canon GL2 and Sony VX2000 have very little over this cameras' image quality besides a higher price tag. Manual, or at least semi-manual, control over most functions. Wonderful, BIG, 3.5" high resolution LCD monitor. Excellent battery life. Built in SD drive which I hear is part of Panasonics future tapeless recording strategy. It has top / side loading DV tape that wont require the cameras' removal from a tripod, which is very important to me. The built in mic is just consumer-quality-ok. But add a Beachtek XLR adaptor and a good mic and all that is behind you. I like the stealth factor this camera offers the guerilla filmmaker. It's small and unobtrusive. You can walk down the street shooting and nobody says "Hey! what are you people doing?" Some will complain about the low light sensitivity, but that is a factor with virtually all mini DV cameras. Camcorders just can't do low light well, let's all face it and get some light on our subjects. The 1/6" CCD's probably play a role in that, but a smaller CCD changes the focal length of the lens and makes the image more film-like with regard to depth of field. Larger CCD's have that huge depth of field that just LOOKS like video. 1/6" CCD's do better, especially with 800K pixels.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 1150.00