Panasonic PVGS15 MiniDV Compact Digital Camcorder w/24x Optical Zoom
by Panasonic

List Price: $499.99
Our Price: $169.87
You Save: $330.12 (66%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Digital Camera
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Digital Photo Product Details

• MiniDV camcorder and still camera with 680,000-pixel CCD
• 24x optical zoom lens (digital zoom to 800x) and image stabilizer
• 2.5-inch LCD swings open 120 degrees and color viewfinder
• Low-light recording settings and EfficiBright LED Light
• Rechargeable Li-ion battery pack lasts for up to 3 hours

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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Panasonic PVGS15 MiniDV Compact Digital Camcorder w/24x Optical Zoom

Customer Review: Great first digital camcorder
Summary: 5 Stars

VALUE: This is a great buy for price/performance. I think I got more than I paid for. I love features but I'm not rich enough to pay for perfection. I had planned on the $400-$600 range based on reviews, hands-on at Sears, etc. Sony has the night-shot (which I really would have liked) but I didn't like the touch screen LCD. Canon 65/75/85 units did not seem as user-friendly to me.

Zoom: The 24x optical is SPECTACULAR. Turn the digital zoom off unless you are on a tripod and have very good full-spectrum lighting, then only 50x. Hard to hold still at 20x and above, even with stabilization. The variable speed zoom control is easy to use and easy to control the speed.

Sound: Built-in zoom mic picked up chirping of little birds over the sound of waves at the beach. Little to no motor noise. If you are shooting and talking, your voice is somewhat muddled. I'm sure an ext. mic would improve sound.

Picture: Colors seem very true to my non-expert eyes with default settings. Better (not just brighter) light makes better video. In imperfect outdoor light, colors not very saturated using auto WB. I will try some adjustments for clouds/fog or filtered sun. Auto WB mode is pretty good indoors, incandescent or flourescent. LED light is useful only within 4-5 ft depending on ambient light. There are 2 LED light modes, one with slower shutter and one with normal. LED can also be used with MagicPix, but I don't think it would help much. MagicPix is for very slow scenes in low light, although zooming or motion may produce interesting psychadelic effects.

Controls: The new model no longer has the menu wheel; a menu button is placed inside the viewfinder door. You use a 5-key directional pad (which doubles as the VCR control) to navigate menus. Simple enough, but defintely a 2-handed task now - you cannot hold still enough to change menu options while filming. There is no one-button toggle to show/hide the date in your recorded video. Other than that, controls are intuitive and relatively simple. Zoom control is great. During VCR playback, zoom button controls volume from the tiny (but adequate) speaker. When playback is paused, zoom button acts as a single-frame jog wheel (nice feature, but slow). VCR searching is too fast for my taste, but still usable. In recording mode, there is a handy "check" button to review the last 2-3 seconds of video.

Photos: 640x480 good only for e-mail or monitor, otherwise worthless to me except in an emergency. The included 8mb SD card holds roughly 45 pix in fine mode. You can snap a photo live or from already-recorded scenes.

Ease of use: My wife is technophobic, so if she can operate it, it passes the test. She shot a few minutes of video using all automatic options and seems comfortable with it. I can fiddle with options when I choose, or shoot in auto if I want. Most people will be fine operating 1-handed. I was most comfortable using 2 hands, right hand close to right shoulder to minimize bending wrist backward. Boot-up time is very fast, 3-4 seconds without using quick-start feature, <2 sec with.

Battery: Included charger charged the battery in 1 hr 15 minutes, which lasts for almost 1 hour of shooting video, plus playing with features, light, playback, etc. I will get another battery sometime, useful for vacation or long events.

Description of Panasonic PVGS15 MiniDV Compact Digital Camcorder w/24x Optical Zoom

Optics
The PV-GS15 is equipped with a 1/6-inch, 680,000-pixel CCD and 22x optical zoom It also features a 800x digital zoom that allows you to zoom in on incredible close-ups.

Digital Stills
In addition to shooting video, the PV-GS15 can also capture digital still images up to 640 x 480 pixels--good for sending photos to friends and family over e-mail or posting to your Web site. They are stored to the Secure Digital (SD)/MultiMedia (MMC) memory card slot. The Direct Mode Dial can be used in digital still mode lets you quickly select the desired digital camera mode, such as Record, Playback, Card Record, or Card Playback.

More Features
The 2.5-inch LCD screen can be opened a full 120 degrees away from the camcorder's body, making it easier to view motion images as theyÕre being captured.

The Quick Start feature enables the PV-GS15 to begin taping 1.3 seconds after turning the power on so those unexpectedÊmoments wonÕt be missed.ÊAfter pressing the Quick Start button, the camcorder will bring up the previous settings that you were shooting with--even if they were manually entered.

The Soft Skin Detail function detects the different skin tones being recorded and softens the focus to create a realistic blend.

Other features include:

• The image-enhancing MagicPix feature allows for rich videos under low-light conditions.
• Digital Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) helps take the jitter out of hand-held video recording and compensate for unintentional hand and camcorder movement.
• Web cam capability, which is ideal for video conferencing with friends or family, or use as a simple monitoring device when consumers are away from home.
• The unsnapping hand strap doubles as wrist loops, enabling you to carry the camcorder like a small bag or purse.
• Color viewfinder

Inputs and Outputs
The PV-GS15 comes with the standard DV IEEE 1394 port (also known as FireWire; Panasonic refers to this connection as iLink) for a super-fast, lossless connection to a PC or other DV machines.

MiniDV Format
MiniDV is the preferred format for personal and broadcast-quality video, and it is highly regarded for its high audio and image quality. With up to 540 lines of horizontal resolution and minimum color noise, MiniDV delivers a 2 percent clearer picture than analog camcorder formats. This is all delivered on a cassette that's 1/12th the size of a standard VHS tape. A MiniDV tape offers digital recording time of 2 full hours--20 times the capacity of a CD.

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