Panasonic PV-GS70 Mini DV Camcorder with 3 CCD Design
Written: Nov 24 '03 (Updated Apr 13 '05)
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Pros: 3CCD design produces vibrant colors, easy to use, excellent picture quality for the price
Cons: Slight green emphasis, low-light performance could be better
The Bottom Line: The GS70 is a camcorder that packs impressive technology and produces vibrant colors and good detail level for the price. I highly recommend it at this price point.
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| dkozin's Full Review: Panasonic Palmcorder® PV-GS70 Mini DV Camcord... |
The main selling point of the Panasonic PV-GS70 would be the fact that it features a professional-style 3CCD design - three separate CCD for red green and blue color, whereas majority of consumer-grade camcorders has only one CCD for all colors.
Other impressive features include the lens produced by the German camera manufacturer Leica, still photo mode and analog inputs. The camcorder is digital and uses MiniDV tapes.
Performance
Perhaps due to the use of three separate CCD sensors, the camcorder produces very wide range of colors, but with a slight green emphasis. The camcorder also seem to overemphasize edges of objects as if it had overly aggressive edge enhancement setting.
The detail level is very good, although it seems to be a little worse than the, substantially pricier, Sony DCR-TRV70 (which has only one CCD, but of 2.1-megapixel resolution, comparing to Panasonic's 3 CCDs of 460K pixel each - 1.2-megapixel total).
The camcorder's low light performance trails Sony DCR-TRV70, which is not a surprise since it uses 1/6-inch CCDs (unlike Sony’s 1/4-inch).
Zoom and Optics
The camcorder has 10x optical zoom, which is enough for the casual shooting. The camcorder uses an electronic image stabilizer to reduce unwanted shake of the image, which quite effective.
In addition to the auto and manual focus settings, there is Macro Focus, which lets you focus on objects as close as 0.8” from the lens.
Features
The camcorder allows you to use the manual focus when you need to. You adjust it using the focus ring around the lens, which is convenient. Also, the camcorder has manual white balance and exposure in addition to the automatic settings and the controls for them are easy to access.
The camcorder has a flash for taking digital still pictures in the dark. It also features a 2.5-inch LCD screen with 113,000-pixel resolution. Some buttons are located underneath the LCD and are only accessible when the LCD is moved out of the way.
The camcorder is compact and convenient to hold. It features several auto exposure modes, special effects, fade in and out.
Audio
The camcorder’s tape transport is less noisy than Sony's. Still, the camcorders that record on tape use spinning video head drums that produce whirring noise and this Panasonic is no exception, at least when you are zoomed out.
The camcorder has a microphone that zooms with the video zoom. To improve the situation even more, you have an option of connecting an external microphone. The wind noise can be reduced by engaging the Wind Cut function.
Otherwise, the camcorder’s audio recording capability is very impressive with digital recording featuring wide dynamic range and low inherent noise.
Still Pictures
The camcorder can take digital still pictures at 1280x960 pixels or 640x480. You can also record MPEG4 movies on the supplied 8Mb Secure Digital memory card. The USB connection lets you stream video to your PC.
In addition to two resolutions, you can choose from three compression modes: Fine, Normal and Economy. The better the quality, the fewer photos fits on one memory card. The highest-resolution Fine mode lets you fit 8 pictures on an 8MB SD Card.
Connectivity
The camcorder has FireWire (IEEE 1394) connector as well as a USB 1.1 (slow) jack. It also allows you record from analog source through its analog input (A/V and S-Video) and output analog video through the A/V/S-Video out.
Battery
The camcorder uses a Lithium-Ion battery that lasts about 90 minutes.
Bottom Line
The GS70 is a camcorder that packs impressive technology and produces vibrant colors and good detail level for the price. I highly recommend it at this price point.
My Reviews of Other Digital Camcorders
Sony DVD Camcorders:
Sony DCR-DVD201 Handycam DVD Camcorder Review
Sony DCR-DVD101 Handycam DVD Camcorder Review
Sony MiniDV Camcorders:
Sony DCR-HC40 1-Megapixel Handycam Mini DV Digital Camcorder Review
Sony DCR-HC30 Handycam Mini DV Digital Camcorder Review
Sony DCR-HC20 Handycam Mini DV Digital Camcorder Review
Sony Digital8 Camcorders:
Sony DCR-TRV460 Handycam Digital8 Digital Camcorder Review
Panasonic MiniDV Camcorders:
Panasonic PV-GS200 Palmcorder 3CCD Mini DV Digital Camcorder Review
Panasonic PV-GS120 Palmcorder Mini DV Digital 3CCD Camcorder Review
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 750
Recommended for: Trendsetters - Hip and Stylish Gadgets
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Epinions.com ID:
dkozin
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 in Electronics |
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Location: California
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About Me:
I love to push buttons on electronic (audio and video) equipment. It makes me happy.
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