Panasonic PV-GS19 MiniDV Camcorder w/24x Optical Zoom

by Panasonic

Product Details

Product Manual [6.32mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7 x 5 inches ; 9 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0007QN86K
• Item model number: PV-GS19
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,977 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: March 1, 2005

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The new compact PV-GS19, PV-GS31 and, PV-GS35 digital video camcorders are full-featured models that incorporate the most powerful optical zoom available, up to 30x on one model. These camcorders allow you to see up close no matter how far way you may be.

Panasonic's Mode Dial with joystick control puts many features at the tip of your thumb

Among the other innovative features included on these models is the easy to use one-touch navigation. A convenient thumb wheel lets the user quickly access major functions such as JPEG playback, memory-card recording, and tape recording, while a new joystick allows easy navigation of the controls using the thumb only.

The new camcorder models were developed to maximize the quality of the video recording by concentrating on those features that consumers will use most often. One such feature is the image-enhancing MagicPix, which creates rich videos under low-light conditions. An electronic image stabilization (EIS) system compensates for hand and camcorder jitter.

A digital still camera feature can be used to snap still images and save them to an SD Memory Card, while USB capability provides a convenient way to transfer digital video and still images to a PC for archiving, e-mailing, and more. The PV-GS35 also includes USB 2.0 high speed with Motion DV Studio video-editing PC software for editing video footage.

The MagicPix feature enhances images shot in low-light conditions.

Features of the Panasonic PV-GS19:

• Compact design
• Still picture capability
• SD slot
• 24x optical zoom
• 800x digital zoom
• Electronic image stabilization
• USB 2.0

Product Description

CL) PANASONIC PV-GS19 DV CAMCORDER

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

88 of 92 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Slightly misleading capabilities, but overall great., July 9, 2005

By 

John B. Batzel (Philadelphia area, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Panasonic PV-GS19 MiniDV Camcorder w/24x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

This has been an excellent camera for filming our less-than-a-year old daughter, indoors and out. The quality is quite good, and the camera is fairly feature-full. However, the one problem we've had is in connecting this camera to our computer. Panasonic does not have a driver up on their web site to let us download video from the camera using USB. We can download still photos, but not video. The most recent drivers don't seem to support this version of the camera.

However, the Firewire(IEEE 1394, DV) connection is recognized by Windows XP immediately and supports the camera quite well. Since we added on Firewire support for our computer, we've been downloading video and editing it easily. With Firewire, the camera also functions as a webcam.

The only thing I wish the camera had was a simple audio-in connector. The only audio the camera records is from its built-in microphone. The higher-end cameras in this line have this feature -- if you're going to record church events and the like and want to hook into the sound system, you'll want a higher end camera.

Overall, we're very happy with this camera. Just that matter of both the online texts and the manual not being clear that USB will not let you download video, you need Firewire for that.

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It does work with your PC!, December 27, 2005

By 

D. Heffentrager (Lancaster, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Panasonic PV-GS19 MiniDV Camcorder w/24x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

My son bought this camera on his own this past summer to take videos of his friends skateboarding, etc. His desire was to get video editing software to add sound effects, music, titles, etc. The camera works great and does what is advertised. Always keep in perspective that a $300 something camera will not match up with the features and extras that a $1000 something camera offers.

The real reason for my posting this message relates to how to connect this camera to your PC to download videos. This is how it will work.

1. Ignore the USB connection stuff in the manual. Good for still picture transfer and webcam stuff only. Look at page 43 in the manual: "PC Connection With DV Interfac Cable". You must use this method to transfer video.

2. You need a "firewire" IEEE 1394 OHCI compliant card in your computer. I purchased and added a PCI Trendnet TFU-H33PI to my 5 year old HP XL773 computer that I also recently loaded Windows XP.

3. Here is the KEY. I bought a cheap SanMAX 4pin to 6pin 1394 cable. Could not get the camera to be recognized by the computer OS. With XP it should recognize the camera as soon as you connect it and turn it on with the camera set to playback mode. XP will treat it like new hardware the first time. I tried everything to reload the card software and search online for drivers and through forums for answers. Then I remembered that my neighbor does video editing. I took my sons camera over to his house and his computer recognized the PV-GS19 Panasonic camera right away. I then plugged my SanMAX cheap cable into his computer... NOTHING. IT WAS THE CABLE. I borrowed his Belkin shielded $25+ cable and plugged it into my computer and it WORKED.

Moral of the story. Don't skimp on the firewire cable. They are not all created equal.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Small & Light, December 26, 2005

By 

BGG (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Panasonic PV-GS19 MiniDV Camcorder w/24x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

I was taking good video 20 minutes after opening the box.The camera is easy to use and you can compensate for dark scenes quickly by changing a video setting with the cameras joystick.I had no trouble copying video from the camera to my computer ( XP ) via the USB connection. The windows movie maker program worked fine.Be aware that Panasonic does not supply a USB cable with its camera.