Panasonic PV-GS250 3.1MP 3CCD MiniDV Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom

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Product Details

Product Manual [6.31mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7 x 5 inches ; 4.3 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0007QN87Y
• Item model number: PV-GS250
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,270 in Camera & Photo (See Bestsellers in Camera & Photo)

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  Camera & Photo > Camcorders > Digital MiniDV

• Date first available at Amazon.com: March 1, 2005

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Decription
Customers interested in the best that camcorder technology has to offer will be impressed by the new compact PV-GS65, PV-GS150, and PV-GS250 3CCD camcorders from Panasonic.

Illustration of 3CCD imaging device inside the PV-GS250

These models are small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, but aren't short on innovative features. Equipped with a 3CCD imaging system, high-powered digital still capability, and ease of use, these new digital video cameras will deliver high-quality digital still and moving images for the novice and expert videographer alike.

These top-of-the-line camcorders incorporate the same type of 3CCD imaging system used in Panasonic's celebrated professional camcorders. Individual CCDs are used to reproduce the red, green, and blue colors that compose an image for vivid, true-to-life pictures with remarkable depth and presence. The PV-GS150 and PV-GS250 also feature the sophisticated Leica Dicomar lens, which has become known for its ability to capture and finely render the most delicate nuances of light and shade.

High-resolution digital still images can be captured via the models' built-in digital still camera feature, which records to a stamp-sized SD memory card. The 1.2-megapixel PV-GS65, 2.3-megapixel PV-GS150, and 3.1-megapixel PV-GS250 feature a 10x telescopic optical zoom lens; a 700x digital zoom that allows for amazing 700:1 clear close-ups from wide angle to full telephoto zoom; and a macro zoom feature, which lets users shoot extreme close-ups at distances as near as 40 centimeters.

Transferring recorded video to a PC is also quick and easy via the USB port included on each model. All three models incorporate USB 2.0; however, the PV-GS150 and PV-GS250 support USB 2.0 high speed, enabling real-time video transfers. All three models have miniDV outputs to maximize compatibility with the PC.

10x optical zoom of the PV-GS250

To steady shaky video, the new PV-GS65 and PV-GS150 incorporate digital electronic image stabilization (EIS), which compensates for unintentional hand and camcorder movement. The PV-GS250 uses optical image stabilization, which intuitively compensates for any hand movement, so that every shot is beautifully crisp and clear.

The PV-GS250 also includes a manual focus ring giving the user more creative control over the video being captured. Additionally, all models include a Soft Skin Detail function that detects skin's different tones and softens the focus to create a realistic blend.

Features of the Panasonic PV-GS250

• 3CCD digital video camera
• 10x optical zoom; 700x digital zoom
• Optical image stabilization
• 3.1 megapixel still picture capability
• Leica lens; manual focus ring
• SD slot
• USB 2.0

Product Description
The Panasonic PV-GS250 MiniDV Camcorder has a powerful combination of innovative features that will redefine your photography and digital video. Its 10x optical and 700x digital zoom will provide you with sharp, detailed images that show incredible depth and presence. The fantastic Leica Dicomar lens captures and finely renders nuances of light and shade. Electronic Image Stabilization(EIS) provides you with perfect pictures and video. The 3.1-megapixel CCD gives photographers the best that camcorder technology has to offer. Soft Skin Detail creates a realistic skin tone Records to SD card Hi-Speed USB 2.0 port MiniDV output Unit Dimensions - approx. 3 (h) x 3.25 (w) x 6 (d) Unit Weight - 1.1 lbs.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Camcorder!, June 2, 2005

By	PawPaw (B'ham, AL USA) - See all my reviews

Excellent picture quality in good lighting. The colors are bright & vivid with good contrast. I was pleased with picture quality on indoor shots as long as there was reasonable lighting. It exceeded my expectations based on the reviewer's comments about low light issues. I don't expect to shoot in the dark anyway. The Optical Image Stabilization worked very well. The camcorder was much easier to handle than I expected with it being so small. You can take a snap shot while shooting video. The snapshot shutter button is right next to the zoom slider so it is convenient to do both at the same time without shaking the video. Controls are well placed and easy to use. It has many excellent features but it takes a little time to learn to use them, especially since the manual is so poor. Panasonic would do their customers, and themselves, a great service by hiring an expert to develop their end user manuals. My product came through OneCall and the service was excellent. I highly recommend this camcorder.

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good camcorder -- highly recommended, September 3, 2005

By	Keith - See all my reviews

I did my research, and bought this camcorder based on video quality and features.

Most reviews give this camcorder the highest marks on video quality in good light. It often gets comments about the quality in low light, but from my experience in normal indoor lighting at nighttime, the quality was not very grainy, but was bright with very good color reproduction. The focus is very good, and quick as the scene changes.

I wasn't planning to use the still camera, but the quality is acceptable for times when you need a shot and nothing else is available. This has the best quality still shot than any other camcorder I've seen, and my results are better than some of the sample shots I've seen online.

I transfer my video to DVD using Ulead DVD Workshop, and the quality I ultimately get for the end result is extremely good. I shoot in widescreen mode, which does a very good job. It might be nice to have a 16:9 LCD screen, but the 4:3 LDC does well.

Pros:

* Excellent (the best) video quality. Detail is sharp, and the color is accurate. No grain, except in low light and even that is better than most camcorders. My previous camcorder was terribly grainy, the PV-GS250 is far better in comparisson.
* I like the controls, features and ease of use. It is light, and fits my hand well with all the buttons in easy reach.
* Excellent video quality.
* The Optical Image Stabilization works well, and helps to produce better quality video (sharper) than EIS systems.
* Excellent video quality.
* It's nice having the still camera for times when I don't want to lug my digital still camera around.
* Did I mention, excellent video quality.

Cons:
* Outdoor nighttime shooting doesn't give you many options. Using standard mode produces dark video, the magid-pix is too few frames per second so you have ghosts floating across the scene instead of people. It would be nice to be able to manually set the shutter speed below 60 to produce more fps than the magic-pix but still have light video. Also, it would be nice to be able to add more gain for the nighttime video (yes this would add graininess, but it would be nice to have this option available).
* It would be nice to have the option to produce progressive scan 30fps video.

I think this will be a camcorder that I will be using for years to come. I don't see a need to buy and HD camcorder yet, as I will only downconvert it to NTSC for DVD playback. Low end HD camcorders are now still about 3 times the cost of this one. The detail I get from the pv-gs250 on my 55 inch hi-def set is incredible (much better than standard def broadcast, satellite) and about the quality of some of the best DVDs. It doesn't compare to hi-def broadcasts, but I suspect the low end HD camcorders are no comparisson either.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Camcorder, works fine with Mac OS X 10.4, October 29, 2005

By	Dennis C. De Mars (Santa Monica, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

After reading numerous camcorder reviews I decided that this one was the best value despite the fact that it costs somewhat more than I was planning to spend. However, I had some trepidation after reading the "Mac Users beware" review below, but as some other Mac users with 10.4 seemed to be using this camcorder with no complaints, I decided to go ahead and buy it.

The camcorder seems to work fine with my computer running OS X 10.4.2. To download movies a firewire cable (4 pin to 6 pin), which is not included with the camera, must be used. I can also get still photos just fine, but the special USB cable included with the camera must be used for that purpose.

To summarize: for video editing with iMovie, use a Firewire cable and set the camera to video playback mode. For downloading still photos from the SD card, use the USB cable and set the camera to "PC" mode.

As far as the camera goes, the video function is excellent. As for the still photos, I was hoping for 3 megapixel performance but when recording at 2048x1512 size, when viewing at 100% there is extreme mottling/graininess. The 1600x1200 looks good in the bright portions, still with perceptible mottling in the shadows. The 1280x960 size looks pretty sharp. This was based on some indoor photos using flash; I haven't repeated this yet in bright sunlight. Even so, I just want to point out that a real 3 megapixel camera would have better performance in a typical indoor/flash situation, so the "3.1 MEGA PIXEL Still Picture Recording" blurb printed on the body is somewhat misleading. However, I'm still giving five stars because I can't see dinging a camcorder for still picture performance, if you really need it you will use a digital camera. The fact is, I can count on pretty sharp 1280x960 photos and in some cases that will be enough to allow me to leave the still camera at home (and keep in mind you get 10x zoom with optical image stabilization with those photos).

Controls are designed for mostly one-handed operation, which is great! (...at least if you are right handed.) If you want to use the manual features, they are easy and fast to access.