Customer Reviews

Panasonic PV-GS9 MiniDV Camcorder w/20x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I've been looking for a camcorder for several months, and have been comparing prices and features both on the web and in the stores. Based on my needs I was looking for the biggest bang for my buck. I saw this Panasonic PV-GS9 Palmcorder for $349 that included an extra free, longer life battery. I couldn't go wrong.

My needs were simple. I wanted something palm-size, and this fits the bill. It doesn't take still digital photos, but I already have 2 digital cameras. It will, however, allow you to snap single photos on the tape, which you can transfer to PC, as opposed to a Secure Digital card that the more expensive models have. It has a USB connection, a firewire connection, and an analog audio/video connection. The cable is provided for the latter, but not the first two. You can use the USB connection to allow the camcorder to be used as a web cam, but you will need software for that. I hooked up the analog connection to a USB Pinnacle Studio USB box I have, and it worked great. My Pinnacle Studio v.8 transferred the clips on the tape. You can save to CD or to your PC. I then tried a firewire cable connected to my laptop. Instantly, Windows Movie Maker opened up and automatically rewound the tape, then it transferred the movie, and allowed me to edit it, and save it as a WMV file. I use WinXP, which requires nothing else to work. You will need to download some drivers if you have Windows 98.

I have not tried the connection to the TV yet, but will soon. It works great in low light situations. It has a stereo zoom microphone. I could not hear any motor noise in my playback on the PC. Sound was crisp and clear, and the full screen video was crystal clear and very sharp. Depending on how hard you touch the zoom button, you can make the picture zoom in as slow or as fast as you want.

It comes with no editing software or cables, except for the AV cable. But then I didn't need anything extra, as I already had all the hardware and software I needed. It does not come with any digital tapes, so you will have to buy those. It comes with a Li-Ion battery and charger, and a cable to allow you to use the camcorder while plugged into the charger. In fact it is suggested you do that while hooked up to the PC to prevent battery drainage. Battery charging is very quick. The manual has 82 pages, is for this model and three other models, and is packed with information; and for my age, I need reading glasses to see all the small print and illustrations. It has Image Stabilization, but no remote control. The 2.5 inch digital viewfinder is very clear and easy to see, even with these "aged" eyes. The camcorder has an easy to use menu button, which is accessible when the digital viewfinder is opened.

For my needs, it is perfect. I love it, am very happy with it, and expect to get a lot of use out of it. Even with the tiny print in the manual, I still give it all 5's.

For a while, my friends and I have been searching for a digital camcorder to make movies with. We had one already but it was...bad...to say the least. We needed something new.

I got this camcorder and absolutely love it. The picture quality and sound quality is amazing. I can now record at a crisp, clear 720*480 resolution.

Another pro: the zoom is amazing. Don't believe it when it says 800x zoom because that's just false, but if you turn the digital zoom down to 50x, the quality still remains almost the same as optical zoom.

Within minutes after I opened it, I had transfered a video onto my computer using windows movie maker, and saved it as an avi. All you need is a firewire cable (which I bought at the time I bought the camera).

I can't think of any cons for this camera because it has exceeded my expectations in every way.

You can also transfer videos from your computer back on to the camera using the firewire cable, and then record them onto VHS tapes.

Hi! Just wanted to let others know out there that after reading the reviews left on Amazon I was a bit leary about getting the accesories for this camcorder given to me as a gift. However, I called the phone number in the manual and immediately had the cable and software shipped to me. I had no problems getting through on the phone or recieving the accesories. Just an F.Y.I. for others who might read the previous reviews regarding accesories and make their decision from them, they weren't that expensive (under $20 for both) and worth it if you are trying to get good use out of a nice camcorder for a minimal price.

I bought this camcorder, like everybody else, because i need small, digital, and low-cost. this camera does all that, and the outdoors video quality is excellent.

It's not fair to compare this model with 3CCD or other much more costly models, but i will say that the EIS is not very good, and particularly poor when used in low light-lots of image smear. Of course, i think EIS stinks, period...

Overall, buy it. Best at price point.

I was looking for a simple, low cost digital camcorder. This fits the bill. There are a bunch of interesting effects built in, none of which I'll ever use because I plan to edit video in iMovie on my Macintosh and output to DVD using iDVD. For $350, it did the job straight out of the box.

I have just finished recording my first videotape with the Panasonic PV-GS9 and would like to make the following comments.

First, the camcorder is easy to use and is a basically a point and shoot camcorder.

For the more discriminating users I would like to point out some of the shortcomings of the camera.

1) I have found that the automatic focus is quite slow sometimes and sometimes would not work at all. I was photographing some hummingbirds up close and the camera would not focus on the feeder maybe because the color was white.

2) Dark subjects came out overexposed rather than rendering the intense colors one would like to have gotten.

3) Panasonic does not provide the software or cable to download to one's computer and it has been a real bitch trying to get the folks to respond to e-mail. I currently have three e-mails out to the service folks trying to find out how I might get the software. I received an answer to one e-mail directing me to a site where I could download the software but when I got there the link was a dead link. I have written three times about this and no one has answered my e-mails. Additionally, the e-mail with the dead link stated that the cable for downloading the movies to the computer "...is currently on back order with the factory for 4-6 weeks."

I cannot imagine what one might do if something goes wrong with the camcorder.

Despite the negatives I love the fact that I can get close up shots of birds from a safe distance without disturbing the birds and the camera will focus almost right at the edge of the lens. One could do close ups of ants if he wanted to. One really needs a tripod for the extended zooming range. You cannot hold this camera still at the 50X digital zoom.

I bought this camera, hooked up the firewire and loaded movies into MovieMaker on WindowsXP a couple of times. Then, I tried to use it and it did nothing. I tried other cables, other firewire devices, and determined the problem was in the camera, so I returned it. Amazon was great about the return and sent me a new one - and the same thing happened. The firewire worked a few times and then did nothing. I even tried it hooked up to another computer this time with no results.

I found a piece of paper tucked in the instructions saying that you must turn off your PC and camera, connect in a certain order and then turn them on or else the camera may be damaged. Are they serious? They expect me to shut down my PC and restart everytime I want to load video from this camera? I sure wouldn't recommend this camera.

For the price this Camera Rocks !! I've had it for close to 2 years and for the price it's awesome.. I've used it to video tape Basketball and Football games .. Just an outstanding value.. The battery last at least over an hour .. Picture quality is great .. Check out some of my video at www.pleasantgrovesports.com .. Go to either Basketball or Football links .. click J.V. and then one of the kids last name for a short video clip..

I shot all of the football video from the stands .. outstanding zoom !!

If you can still find this video camera ... buy it .. especially if it's around $ 200 dollars ..

I use pinnacle 9 and adobe for video editing ..

My camera came with the standard A.V. cables .. and i expected to have to buy, or have , the other cables needed to connect to my computer ..

Thanks Panasonic !!

For under $300 you shouldn't expect a high quality all-around video camera. You will get exactly what you are paying for.

It records great outdoor video. Indoor video is OK, but not the greatest. Good enough for documenting our family events and travels. Audio is good also.

Easy to use, light to carry around, and robust enough for clumsy handling. I have owned it over a year now and have no complaints.

No video camera brings connection cables or software, so buy the cable if you expect to edit movies on your PC (buy an extra battery also)... regarding Software I had no problems hooking it on to my Mac and downloading and editing movies in no time.

A very good buy!

The only -ve things I found are:
-no flash light (I knew that before buying).
-magic-pix helps to take picture in dark only if the subject is very still.
-for USB connection the software in not downloadable for free. You have to buy software from Panasonic for $11 besides USB cable which is another $8.
In spite of theses shortcomings I still like this camcorder and would highly recommend it.