Panasonic PV-DV953 Mini DV Camcorder

Pros: 3CCD's, compact size (for the features), remarkable picture quality.
Cons: Few, but the combination control/ A/V jack lacks flexibility, and placement is less desirable

This camera delivers the goods. 3 chip CCD setup with 800K pixels per CCD plus Leicia Dicomar 10X op ...

Pros: Excellent picture Focus Ring Very reliable Pro features like zebra pattern Top loading
Cons: Cannot download stills with Mac. Instruction manual vague. Microphone and aux inputs poorly located

I had been looking for a 3 CCD camera for quite some time. Having used the Canon ZR10 for several years, I had been strongly considering the GL2. However, over the past year, my Canon started to give me more and more problems and the price of the GL2 had ...

Pros: 3-CCD camera with lots of features, optical stabilization, excellent color, excellent audio
Cons: 16:9 mode does not look right when played on a 16:9 TV

I wanted to replace my analog camcorder with a good quality digital camcorder, and the most important requirement was video quality in 16:9 mode. Somewhere I read that this camcorder was designed with 16:9 mode in mind, so based on that and the rave ...

Pros: 3mp stills, easy to use, pop up flash, 3CCD
Cons: High repair costs, not reliable, green images

I loved this camcorder when I first got it. Lots of features but still easy to use. Large LCD screen. Pop up flash for stills which are impressive at 3mp on a video camera. Video is great. I loved it so much I convinced my sister to buy it. ...

Pros: movie quality, ease of use, price, image stabilization, lens, focusing system,LCD
Cons: low light perfomance, still camera, manual, software

I used this camcorder for about two weeks. I am very impressed with the quality of the most importan ...

Pros: 3 chip camera, great color, compact size
Cons: Can't use headphone and AV out at same time

Got this camera off of Ebay and I have been impressed with it every time I use it. Very Sharp picture (both video and stills) The still shots are rated at 3 megapix but it looks nicer than that. The tape loads through the top rather than the bottom of the camera. You can monitor the sound with a meter that displays on the LCD. The on-board menus are pretty simple and straight forward. Overall, I got a great deal with this camera and I would recommend anyone to purchase it if you can find it. The Panasonic GS-400 took the place of it.

Pros: great video
Cons: poor low-light, poor sound

So, we've been fairly happy with the camera, however I pulled it out to use after an extended period (six months or so). The red CCD it completely malfunctioning - red jumpy lines throughout the image. I know it's not the screen as I did some playback from previous tapes. The warrantee only covers the chips for six months. Pretty expensive for creating only a handful of tapes!

Pros: Nice price for 3CCD camcorder is all this has going for it
Cons: POOR low-light shooting makes this a disappointment at any price

Well balanced camcorder with nice 3.5" LCD screen. The 3CCD imager works well outdoors during daylight hours and in very bright indoor conditions. Moderate to low light performance is HORRIBLE! For virtually any indoor home setting, video comes out way too dark. I sold my DV953 after a few weeks because of the poor low-light performance as I take a lot of home movies with my camcorder. That was even adjusting the settings as much as I could to turn up the gain.

Port placement is also horrible. I use the firewire port weekly, but accessing it under the hand strap is difficult.

These negatives make this camcorder a poor buy at any price. I got rid of mine in a few weeks and bought a Sony 1CCD cam which I love and takes better video.