Panasonic Panasonic PV-GS250 MiniDV Digital Camcorder

Panasonic PV-GS250

Panasonic PV-GS250 MiniDV Digital Camcorder Review, by Richard Baguley June 23, 2005

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• Reviewed by: ngupta44

  Strengths: True to life colorsEasy to handleLots of featuresMicrophoneA/V dubbing

  Weaknesses: None

  Overall: This is my first handycam and the quality is wonderful. I have compared it with other camcorders and found that this one gives very good results. The navigation via joystick is very useful and the control buttons are not spread around like others. Overall, its a wonderful product.

• Reviewed by: ben12saheb

  Strengths: 3CCD, Video Quality, Picture Quality, Picture Modes, Great sports feature, Great optical immage stabilization.

  Weaknesses: poor low light quality

  Overall: This camcorder is overall a 10/10 for many reasons. I have had it for about 2 months and love it. I use it alot in the mountains for recording friends snowboard. i like to use the LCD screen and tilt it toward me so i can get down low as i ride and record my friends. The optical immage stabilization works great. when i play it back, you see no shaky movement. I use this camcorder all outside in the bright sun. This camcorder wins over all others outside in the sun. I love its built in Digital camera. I also love all its features like my favorite, sports mode. the pictures come pretty clear on fast moving objects and come out fairly sharp. It comes with a software called motion DV studio which enables you to get your video on the computer without a firewire port. The Video comes out great on the computer. One thing though you better record on 4:3 mode unless if you have a widescreen TV. When you film 16:9 it comes up squished on your TV unless if you have a widescree. I had to learn the hard way. You might want to copy this if you want to learn how to get your video on your computer. you first open the motion Dv program and click edit with assistance. then follow the easy instructions to get it on your computer. The only Thing i dont like is the night mode(its not like i shoot in the night anyway) but when you switch it on, it comes in very delayed. Like when you record it seems like you are watching it at 1 frame per second. but this is only in very dark places. it does great indoors even with a faint ammount of light. I reccomend this camcorder for the people that use it outside alot. if you dont dont bother with it. overall its a gerat camcorder for its size, and how easy it is to figure out.

• Reviewed by: docnas

  Strengths: 3 CCDs that produce an oustanding video quality; compact; digital still camera with manageable 3.1 MP; superb optical image stabilization

  Weaknesses: low light issues; joystick operation takes sometime to master; battery life

  Overall: I purchased this camera after reading an expert review in camcorder.com. I was impressed with panasonic repair records and the excellent review given on this camera. I'd been using Sony video products and hadn't tried any other brands and never had a digital camcorder before (so nothing to compare with). What impresed me so much is the picture quality and optical image stabilization which ranks highest among camcorders to date. So far this is the smallest and lightest camcorder I have with so many outstanding features, though am still learning the joystick mode operation.I bought a 43mm UV filter together with this camera (it affords some extra protection on its lens).Overall, I am delighted with this purchase.

• Reviewed by: heathernde

  Strengths: Ease of Use, Excellent photo & video quality

  Weaknesses: needs bright light indoors and battery life stinks

  Overall: I purchased this camcorder after reviews many. This one got excellent reviews and I know why. This cam is very easy to use and operate. I love taking the still shots while videotaping an event. I would recommend this product to anyone !!

• Reviewed by: zubb99

  Strengths: Excellent video resolution and color, easy joystick menu operation, respectable 3.1 MP still pictures, Optical rather than Electronic Image Stabilization

  Weaknesses: Typical average digital camcorder low light performance, zoom toggle lever placement, limited 10x Optical Zoom

  Overall: I purchased this camcorder based on professional reviews compared with similar priced brands. I wanted a camcorder with as large a still picture capability that was available. When I travel, I primarily take video and I no longer want to carry a separate still camera. I was about to purchase the Panasonic GS400 until the consumer reviews began complaining of the noisy tape transport. I was not going spend over a $1000 dollars and end up with a defective camera. Picture QualityI am extremely pleased with the video picture quality, particularly the colors. The video, in low light situations, is the best I have seen from a digital camcorder, including Sony. I create DVD ?slide shows? of the 2048x1512 photos with background narration and music and view them on TV. The quality of the photos is better than I expected from a 3.1 meg camera and are excellent for the way I view them.FeaturesI shoot mostly using the viewfinder and I really appreciate the ease of using the innovative joystick to access the menus (i.e. backlight, blank tape search, flash on/off, etc.) without taking my eye from the viewfinder. Switching from video recording mode to the photo memory card mode is very easy. Photos can also be taken while in the tape recording mode, but they are limited to 640x480. Other excellent features that I like and frequently use are: Optical Image Stabilizer (not EIS), manual focus, manual shutter speed/aperture adjustment, zoom microphone, flash level adjustment, and wind noise reduction. The camera?s only negative feature is that its optical zoom is only 10x and is controlled by an awkwardly placed slide switch that takes some getting used to. I would prefer a rocker type switch. These few negative features did not deter me from giving the camera 5 stars and with the price continuing to drop from the time I purchased it in July, I consider this camcorder an excellent choice.