Panasonic PVGS15 MiniDV Compact Digital Camcorder w/24x Optical Zoom Editorial Review: Panasonic's vision of the digital future is driven by the needs and aspirations of its business customers and millions of consumers around the world who use its products every day. The company shares their dream to live a fuller life by providing ways of working smarter and enjoying the rewards of technological advances.MultiCam camcorders feature digital camcorder and digital still camera capabilities, all in one easy-to-use camcorder.
Customer Reviews: Drawbacks overwhelm the positives I bought this camcorder for my wife. After using it for a while, we just stopped. Indoor pictures, even with lights on, are very grainy. And unfortunately, we would shoot a lot indoors.
In order to move the video to a computer, you need a Firewire cable and Firewire on your computer, and additional software not supplied with the camcorder. I wouldn't mind this, execpt the camcorder also has USB connectivity. Everyone has USB, but you can't send the video over USB, only still pics.
The basic shooting controls are easy enough to figure out, but beyond that, the controls are very unintuitive. The control panel tucked in where the LCD screen comes out has myriad buttons, and it's not obvious what they all do.
I remember shortly after I bought this, Consumer Reports came out with their evaluations of Camcorders. This one was at the very bottom of the ones they rated, and in my opinion, for good reason.
This camera is a bucket of bolts I have a Panasonic camcorder, PV-GS15, five months short of being two years old. Now it is broke and does not work. However before it died, the screen kept turning blue with a message to hit the reset button. Doing so provided no positive results. I telephoned Panasonic and questioned the reason for this reset button, and their technical support could not offer an explanation. I noticed all Panasonic camcorders have this annoying reset button, while other manufacturers do not have this defect of an option. I suggest buying your camcorder from anyone but Panasonic.
Fixed it once, then broke again After buying camera, worked fine then i started having to reset it constantly. I sent it in, came back working fine. Same thing started up again, and now i cant play back. Also, terrible quality when filming indoors. Very grainy.
A little old, but still a great buy! I bought this camcorder a couple of years ago, when it was the latest version of the pv-gs# series. It has proven a great purchase, with tons of features for a great price.
My favorite features are:
(1) 24x optical zoom--plenty for virtually any need
(2) Appearance/feel--I will have a hard time when I need to find a replacement; why don't they make nice-looking, comfortable camcorders anymore?
(3) PhotoShot--pics are never blurry, and its a breeze to use
(4) All the add-ons--SoftSkin, Backlight, LED light, WindCut, ZoomMic...
(5)Price--Outrageously low next to comps!
I dislike:
(1) Magicpix--doesn't do a great job, but I understand there's not much better out there
(2) D-zoom--never been successful using it, so just turn it off. Who needs 800x zoom anyway?
(3) You cannot burn video to a DVD or anything without buying pricey software
(4) Recently all components must be in perfect alignment or am asked to press the reset button. Anyone familiar with this?
Also, not a good camcorder to tape storms etc. where it is directly exposed to rain; if it gets wet, dry it out ASAP. I used it to record severe weather several times last year without thinking about it, and ended up corroding the battery contacts (which are nearly impossible to clean thoroughly).
Bottom line--this guy gives plenty of bang for the buck, especially at its new price. Logically, there is no need to buy the "latest and greatest" model, when there is a well-equipped "last-year's" model at a remarkably lower price.
If you're sold, act fast--this is a discontinued model so once its gone its gone forever. Good luck!
great camcorder THIS CAMERA IS GREAT FOR THE AMEATEUR AS WELL AS FOR THE MORE EXPERIANCED! FOR ME THIS CAMERA WAS PERFECT BECAUSE I EXPECTED A GREAT, EASY-TO-USE CAMCORDER FOR A LOW PRICE; THIS IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE BETTER CAMERAS IN ITS PRICE CATAGORY ($300-$400). I HAVE BEEN USING THIS CAMCORDER FOR OVER A YEAR, MAINLY FOR CREATING MOVIES THROUGH WHICH ITS GOOD FEATURES HAVE ENABLED ME TO BE WELL SATISFIED. I LOOKED FOR A GOOD CAMERA WITH DECENT SP-FX AND GOOD LIGHTING. THE LIGHTING FOR THIS CAMERA IS PRETTY GOOD AND SUFFICENT FOR WORKING WITH AT NIGHT. THE ZOOM IS A VERY GOOD FEATURE FOR THIS PRICE CATEGORY (24x) AND I HAVE USED THIS TO TAKE PICTURES FROM A CRUISE SHIP TO THE SHORE WHEN PORTING. I HAVE NOTICED HOWEVER (FOR MOST CAMCORDERS) YOU MUST HAVE A STEADY HAND WHEN ZOOMED IN ALL THE WAY AND FOR THE MORE EXPERIANCED FILM MAKERS A TRIPOD IS A MUST (THIS PERTAINS TO ALL CAMCORDERS HOWEVER(IN MY MIND)). THE CAMERA IS BUILT VERY WELL. I AM IMPRESSED THAT IT SURVIVED ME FOR OVER A YEAR. THIS HAS BEEN USED IN EVERY SITUATION THOUGHT POSSIBLE AND I HAVE FOUND NO DAMAGE YET. I ALSO ADMIRE THE SET UP VERY WELL. THE MENU IS SETUP INSIDE OF WHERE THE SCREEN FLIPS OUT AND THIS NOT ONLY MAKES THE CAMERA COMPACT BUT EASY-TO NAVIGATE/USE AS WELL. THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE CAMCORDER SET-UPS I HAVE SEEN WHEN LOOKING MAINLY BECAUSE EVERYTHING FEELS LIKE IT'S IN ITS OWN PLACE AND IT EASILY GRASPED AND FEELS GOOD ON THE HAND. I PURCHASED MINE FROM COSTCO FOR $300 LAST YEAR WHICH IS VERY CHEAP FOR THIS CAMCORDER, HOWEVER THIS WAS A SPECIAL AND IT DIDN'T COME WITH ALL THE ACCESORIES (NOT EVEN THE REMOTE) THAT THE REGULAR PRODUCT HAS. IF YOU WANT THESE ACCESORIES I SUGGEST YOU BUY IT FROM ANOTHER STORE FOR AROUND $350-$450. I HAVE DONE MY HOMEWORK ON THIS PRICE CATAGORY OF CAMERAS AND I AM VERY IMPRESSED WITH MY DESCISION!
Closer Look
