Rating: 
Summary: The little camera that could.
Review: I was skeptical about the size of this camera. When it came in I was very impressed with its capabilities. Color is very rich and lifelike. Low light is adequate. The feel in the hand is quite comfortable. It feels natural and is easy to keep still. Top loading is the way all camcorders should be. Still photography is a definite plus for this camcorder. Normally I just use my digital camera. What I like best about the still photo capabilities of this camcorder is the burst mode. It can take 10 pictures in about 3.5 seconds. Love it and recommend it highly.
Rating: 
Summary: Great pictures - but shaky
Review: I've owned Sony Hi8 cameras before and finally decided to jump to MiniDV with this Panasonic GS200.While this Panasonic really delivers great picture quality and colour, my real gripe is the stability of the image when hand-held ... it's awful compared to a Sony (yes, I did have image stability turned on!) It really needs to be used with a tripod. Other features of the camera are impressive although it has too many things crammed into menu's. Some things are difficult to find - especially when adding titles. I really miss the thumb-wheel navigation that a Sony has. Also impressed with the digital stills, although when compared with a digital stills camera, the images are fuzzy around sharp edges. Overall, it serves my purposes as I need good picture quality and colour. The 3CCD's are excellent and battery life is reasonable.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent image stabilizer
Review: Just ordered my Panasonic PV-GS200 and would like to share one issue I found.
During my search for the MiniDV, I read a few reviews and some of them mentioned that this model is pretty much the same as Panasonic PV-GS120 and has a terrible imaging stabilizer. And I also see other postings here and there that they think Sony has the best IS (imaging stabilizer) and Panasonic needs much improvements. Since IS is important to me, I decided to go to a local Fry's to hand test these Mini-DVs.
I tried most of the sub $1000 models in the store including Sony's (like DCR-HC85/65/40, TRV22/...), Canons (only horizontal models like Elura 65/70 and Optura XI and a few others), and Panasonic PV-GS120 and 200. The PV-GS120 has indeed a very bad image stabalizer as I can see the image shaking a lot in the screen. But the PV-GS200 is definitely a much better improvement and not the same as GS120.
Actaully, I tried zoom to very close object, and zoom to very far object, the PV-GS200 beats all Canons and is the same, if not better than, any Sony I tested.
I then go to a 2nd store to test to make sure all PV-GS200 has the same imaging stablizer. In the 2nd store, it still beats all Canon's and in par with any Sony (actually better than some old Sony's).
I don't know why people saying it has a bad imaging stablizer, but you should definitely test yourself.
This is a great model with great functionality.
Eric.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't buy it for the computer program.
Review: The Panasonic PV-GS200 is a great camera as all the other reviewers have mentioned. Don't buy this camera for the computer program, DV Studio3. I have Win XP Home and installed the software that was included with the camera. I have yet to find out how it works as the program freezes as soon as you start it. I get the splash screen and that's it. I usually have to use the task manager to shut down the program. I contacted Panasonic via their website and after two weeks, have not received a response (not even an acknowledgement that they received my question). Camera is great but the program is the pits. -- Update: Finally got a response from Panasonic (three weeks). They recommended I use Windows Movie Maker to download the video. That worked.
Rating:
Summary: Panasonic! Get down!
Review: This is a great camcorder! 3CCD - Simple; one for red, one for green and one for blue. Add one Leica Dicomar lens equals great video with vibrant colors. 2.3MP stills that look better than many digital cameras. 10x optical zoom, 25x or 700x digital zoom. At 700 times I cannot hold it still. Even a tripod will not clear up the image. Images at 200x or 300x are ok. The 25x setting is most useful. 2.5-inch LCD, mediocre (5x7) still photos while taping but good 2.3mp stills in digital camera mode. It plays a little camera shutter sound when you snap a photo, cute. Good manual focusing, decent flash, zoom mic, quick start, the SD card hides under the control panel. They even included a better battery. My 256MB card hold hundreds of high res photos and/or 1.5 hours of MPEG4 video. Awesome. Oh ya, it tapes MiniDV too. The addition of MPEG4 and a digical camera is worth the money compared to the PVGS120. The bad? NO FIREWIRE CABLE! But just about every other conceivable cable known to man. (people)
Rating:
Summary: A professional opinion...
Review: To address the concerns of another reviewer about low light performance: cameras work much differently than your eyes. There is no camcorder, even the digital Betacams we use at work that cost tens of thousands of dollars, that will look good in a basement lit with a 100 watt bulb. The other night I tried it in a dim room and was impressed at how good it looked. A little grainy, but again, much better than any other camera in this price range, thanks to the 3CCD's and ability to manually white balance to correct for the conditions.
I've had a couple of good miniDV camcorders, including one JVC model that does well in low light, but the PVGS200 blows them away in performance.
In my opinion, if you want a better camcorder you'll have to look into the $2500+ prosumer models like the Canon GL2 or Sony VX2100.
The GS200 has several features that make it a great first choice for those who want to learn about serious digital filmmaking without having to mortgage the house to try it out. Features like manual control of white balance, iris, gain, shutter speed and best of all, focus, via a focus ring on the lens. Best of all, it has a microphone jack. Invest another $125 in a quality XLR converter like a BeachTek box and you can hook up any professional mic for better control over your sound. The built in zoom mic works well and motor noise is not a concern at all.
The LCD monitor is of high quality, and the overall build quality is good. The chasis is mostly high-impact plastic, but it feels robust. The tape-loading mechanism is very sturdy (much more so than any other DV camera I've used) and loads tapes from the top, which is rare.
The image stabilization is about the same as any other camcorder and should be used as little as possible. Again, no electronic stabilization will work in low light. Use a tripod whenever possible to keep your productions professional looking.
The best part is the incredible color seperation that the 3CCD's provide. All professional cameras use 3 chips to seperate color and the results here are very impressive, even in lower light.
If you're looking to step up to something serious but can't justify spending as much as a down-payment on a car, definitely consider the PCGS200.
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