Panasonic PVGS120 3CCD MiniDV Camcorder

Rating:
Summary: Just received this camcorder
Review: This is my first camcorder and I have only had it a couple days. A couple observations. First off, the manual is preposterously bad. Pages and pages devoted to getting STILL photos from the camcorder. And virtually NOTHING on how to shoot and process video. I don't know about you, but I did not buy a camcorder to shoot still photos. I already have a camera. I bought this to shoot video. You would think that the manual would BEGIN with information on how to shoot video and go into detail. Well, that is not the case. In my opinion it is not illustrated well either. A couple full scale photos of the camera from different angles with features labelled would be a useful addition. Instead the manual is populated with tiny little line drawings.

If you are considering this camera, understand right from the start that if you intend to transfer video to your PC you will have to go out and buy a Firewire card and cable. The camera comes with a USB cable and software, unfortunately these are only useful for processing STILL photos. That is why the manual only discusses STILL photos and how to use their software to process STILL photos.

After purchasing a Firewire card and cable I found myself unable to connect the cable to the camera. This was due to a misunderstanding on my part of where the arrow on one of the little line drawings was pointing. So, I was trying to connect the DV cable (Firewire) to the USB port. The USB port is under a rubber flap on the right side of the camera. It wasn't until the next day that I realised there was another rubber flap on the rear of the camera below the battery and the first rubber flap. Again, if the instruction manual was better conceived, I could have avoided several hours of frustration. Once I found the correct port and connected the camcorder to my PC I was able to get the video into the PC by ignoring the instructions in the manual that tell you to select the "PC" on the mode dial and instead switched it to Tape Playback mode.

The camcorder can also be hooked up directly to a TV. The cable has 3 plugs, one white, one red, one yellow. The instruction manual is in black and white so good luck figuring out which one is the video feed and which the audio. (Turns out the yellow is video, the red and white are audio. But I had to dig up the TV manual to find that out).

I really can't say enough bad things about the manual, it is really that awful. The camera itself is an amazing device, surprisingly light and compact and the quality of the images is superb. The color is brilliant and the sound quality is also very good.

I am looking forward to getting past this initial getting acquainted stage. I wish Panasonic had done more to make it less frustrating.

Rating:
Summary: C'mon People
Review: Whether or not it comes with a firewire cable is of no importance. I don't believe any of these DV cams come with one. Just spend $20 to buy a kit that comes with a firewire card, a firewire cable and entry-level editing software. Enough said.

Now, in terms of quality, from my first observations I've gotten good video. Outdoors these digital cams are all good. This one will have better color rendition and won't blow out highlights as much, due to its 3 CCDs. Not as high resolution as some, but I doubt one can tell in the final image. Indoors it's better than most other consumer DV cams, which actually isn't saying much. It has less grain and more color than the others, but still isn't great. You have to spend $2,000 to get a digital camcorder that does well in low light. The GS120 automatically turns off the electronic image stabilization in low light, which helps with low light but makes for shakey video if you zoom in.