Customer Reviews

Panasonic PV-GS120 3CCD MiniDV Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I payed for half of my camcorder which came to be about $450 with the extra batteries and wires you needed to get for the camera. I'm only 13 so $450 is a lot to spend for me but it was well worth it. I'll tell you what I wanted to know about a camera in a review before I bought one...
-the zoom is good, not as good as some of the other models in the store but it is also not as shaky.
-it has a zoom mic which allows you to shoot someone talking from far awa distances without them having to talk much louder then usual for the camera to pick up the sound.
-the pictures is what you pay for in a 3CCD camera. there is one chip for red, one for green, and one for blue. This makes the imagery OUTSTANDING.
-The camera is comfortable in my small hands and my dad's big hands... all you need to do is adjust the strap on it for it to fit our hand perfectly.
-i must be honest... the bad things about it is the battery life on the battery it comes with is only fourty five minutes but if you buy an extened battery it is 1 hour and 15 minutes and if you use both that adds up to about 2 hours of filming time.
-I also don't like that it doesn't come with a light but magic pix is sometimes helpful if you are shooting at a still object in the dark but it slows down the pixels so much that if you move it it could be very blurry, still, with a tripod it could be useful.
-i like the easy mini DV format. Some people are now saying that it's beyond in technology but realy... if you want to edit your tape then you have to get mini DV's... they're not hard to use and they are less expensive. You'll have to plan on shooting a perfect film with a DVD camcorder.
-the manuel tells you all of the things hiden inside of your camera like cinema mode, spotlight mode, sports mode, low-light mode so you can use he camera to it's full potential.
-overall i really was very happy with this camera and i am sure i am forgetting something but i hope my review was helpful to you.

Panasonic out did themselves by releasing two 3CCD camcorders below the $1000 price point (the other being the PV-GS200). No other consumer DV cam boasts 3CCDs, and the difference in image quality really shows. Getting a similar image quality from any other brand of DV cam requires spending at least $1500. The only reason I gave this camcorder 4 stars instead of 5 is because the battery life is far too short. Even with an extra battery, this camcorder beats out everything in the same price range from Canon, Sony, JVC, etc.

I was like anybody else, which camera to buy? The first thing I did , bought a Pinnacle AV/DV Firewire card and Studio v.9 software package. I have a Nikon D70, so I was looking for a camcorder not a digital camera.
I made my decision the "dirty way": I bought 3 different cameras from 3 different stores (made sure they will not charge re-stocking fee if I return it within 2 weeks) I will not mention the stores, but the cameras were my final 3 after extensive online research. Sony DCR HC40, Panasonic PV-GS120 and Canon Optura 65.
I took all three home, made a 20 minutes movie with each camera: low light, medium light indoors and outdoors, macro, etc... I've uploaded the movies from the camera I took it with, unto Pinnacle Studio v9, and then I burned a DVD of this 1 hour movie.
To make the long story short, I did return the Sony and the Canon, and here is why:
- 3CCD really works, you can't match the color separation, even if the "one" CCD is larger and has more pixels.
- Panasonic's picture quality was almost broadcast quality, vivid colors and sharp edges, Canon and Sony looked like a very good Hi8.
-Canon was horrible in low light, and my palm never got used to it.
-Sony's touch screen is Stupid, why would you wanna use your oily fingers on the screen which you are using to see what are you capturing.
-Sony's night vision shot might work with 1% of the population, I don't really want to look at grainy green pictures.
-Carl Zeiss makes very good lenses, but this Leica is superior to Sony's (notice that Panasonic is using Leica only on their "top" models)If this camera would have a Leica badge on it instead of Panasonic, this camera would be 3 times more $.Please see Panasonic and Leica dicams.
-Set the sound to 16 bit and you will better sound pick up than Sony or Canon.
-Yes, Sony Steady Shot is better than EIS, but I don't have shaky hands, and never use digital zoom more than the 20x.
Few things I would change on the Panasonic:1, The manual focus is weird. 2, use of an internal lense cap. 3, Could use a 20x optical zoom. Other than that, I am very happy with this camera, I've paid $500 at Costco.

There is no doubt that this is an excellent camcorder. Compared to PVGS200 Panasonic and going for that one because of few extra features. Worth the extra cost (for me at least). Main reason I am writing this review is because there are few features that are listed on Amazon site for this camcorder but they are not available in this model (they are in PVGS200 model). Here are those:

MPEG4 Movie Recording

MagicWire Remote Control

Built-in Auto Pop-up Flash

Again these features are *not* present in PVGS120 model.

Have had the unit 6 months, and been through 10 tapes of kids, events, and such. The unit has been flawless, with two exceptions. First, is battery life on the default battery. I quickly determined that a spare battery was needed and picked up the CGA-DU21 which gives me a solid 4-5 hours of shooting time when I combine the two batteries.

The second issue is the button layout on the "folding screen" area. The layout is ambiguous and some more thought should have gone into making those functions usable WHILE shooting (e.g. Fade, date/time stamp, etc.)

The screen is very nice, but has a narrow viewing angle. Low light performance is great and when you have plenty of light, the color is wonderful. I'm very pleased about my purchase. If you plan to use the camera for still digital, you may want to get the unit with the higher res camera.

I also added a 512 MB SD card to it so that I can use this as a digi cam for those times when enlargements aren't likely. The shots make great 4x6 prints even with the lower end unit (1.2 megapixels.) I recently came back from holiday with 2 full DV tapes and over 90 beautiful photographs all from the same camera. The photos aren't anything like my Canon Digital Rebel, but are as good as any point-and-shoot digital camera with 2 megapixels can be.

Another quick point. It's hard to find a point-and-shoot digital camera with a fast lens (usually they are f3.5 or slower) ... but with a digicam, you automatically get like an f1.4 and can take digital stills in very low light (kids on stage, etc)... they are a tad grainy, but when you're out of flash range or flash isn't allowed, it's great.

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.

Overall quite good, but overpriced. Poor in low light, when also the image stabilisation cuts off. But bright light pictures really good. I think the Canon Elura 60 at about $150 less is a better buy, however. Problem with all of these mini-DV's is how to get a DVD-quality picture onto a DVD....the max resolution I get is about 700xsomething, and that requires a firewire IEEE card and cable (extra $30++)...and the burned DVD's do not look as good as analog off the SVideo. Why pay big bucks and get cheap results ? Keep your budget below $400 for now.

first of all, let me say that analog-digital passthrough does work on this camera. i have seen many reviews discussing whether or not this model includes this feature. mine certainly does. for some reason, it seems to work better if there is no tape in the camera. however, the video capture is top-notch. (i was just using a mac and imovie, but it should work with most other software as well.)

This is a great camera so far. I ordered a sony dcr-hc40 and was not happy. see my review for that one online at amazon. at any rate, a big plus is that this one actually works. the picture quality is great. i actually prefer the shape of this one to the sony, despite the fact that it is a bit larger. it tends to be easier to hold than the smaller sony.

the only thing i don't like about this one is that it doesn't have night-shot. from what i can tell, only the sonys do. for most people this wouldn't matter that much, but since i am a scientist, i require the night vision for some of my work.

I have recently purchased the Panasonic PV-GS120 camcorder.

A lot of research went into this, and the aspects that tilted me in its favour were:
- superior video quality
- good sound pickup
- compact size & good feel
- Accessories like a full function remote controller and ability to be connected to a PC for full video & still shots transfer.

The zoom is OK. 10x optical zoom may seem a little less compared to other models which give around 20x of optical zoom. But add to that the digital zoom, and you'll be happy. The 700x zoom is a disapponting - in practical terms you get good pics upto around 30x. Beyond that the picture deteriorates significantly. 30x is however good enough for me.

All in all, I am pretty satisfied with it.

Some people say that Sony is the best in camcorders - perhaps so - but I have been using Panasonic products for a long time, and so far I have never had reason to be unhappy.

I recommend this product. Considering that a camcorder is primarily for video, and chances are that you will shoot more often in bright/lit up places, you will not be disappointed with this product.

Do a good hunt on the web before you buy one. I managed to get this for around $180 less (for a new piece) than what most retailers were selling it for.

Hope this helped you.

My wife & I were looking for a point & shoot with great image quality. After reading a professional review of this camcorder, we found it to suit our needs the best (Capturing important moments for our son, such as birthdays and other milestones - he's 11 mos. old now). We also wanted to capture some lower-light situations such as Xmas tree lighting, and the quality of low-light image was important. The one downside that we found out after purchase was that MagicPix is processor intensive, and frame rate slows down to a crawl. The low-light boost really only affords you the opporutnity for stationary subjects, otherwise the image gets blurred. The up-side is that the low-light boost is pretty remarkable, and the image quality is very, very good. We are also very happy with the sound quality.

I marvel most of all at the size - it fits comfortably in the hand, and weighs only about one pound. I also like the hot shoe for flash, light or sound accessories.

If you have the budget for this camera, it is the best for the money.