Panasonic PVDV52 MiniDV Digital Camcorder w/ 2.5" Color LCD

by Panasonic

Product Details

Product Manual [5.87mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 2.9 x 3.5 inches ; 2.2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005YTWY
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,747 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 4, 1973

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Panasonic's low-end MiniDV camcorder, the PV-DV52, doesn't have all of the features of its pricier siblings--like a zoom mic or a larger LCD--but it does capture high-quality video in a light, tight package.

Although its 10x optical zoom is lower than other camcorders, it still provides a close-up image for average recording, and a hefty 700x digital zoom capability as well. The image stabilization feature of the PV-DV52 worked well, keeping our frame steady even during one-handed filming.

The PV-DV52 will capture still images as well, but only at 640 x 480 resolution. It also stores images to tape, which sometimes makes them difficult to locate in order to transfer them to PC.

Speaking of transferring, you'll need a FireWire port to move video and stills over at high speed, as the camera doesn't include USB connectivity. It does offer a serial connection, but that is only for transferring still images, as moving video via a serial connection would be akin to draining a lake with a stirring straw.

Some of Panasonic's more expensive MiniDV camcorders offer a 3.5-inch LCD, but the 2.5-inch color LCD of the PV-DV52 proved large enough for average use. The PV-DV52 also offers some nice features for low-light recording (although not for no-light recording), including the MagicPix digital enhancement mode and a built-in light with a 10-foot range.

Tapes eject from the top of the PV-DV52, allowing you to keep the camera on an optional tripod when popping in a new tape. And the battery--which lasted a little over an hour--charges separately from the camera, which makes it easier to have a backup fully charged.

For the price, the Panasonic PV-DV52 allows for high-quality video recording without requiring a big investment. It's a great starter camcorder for a family on a budget. --J. Curtis

Pros:

• Light and compact
• Sharp video image
• Inexpensive

Cons:

• No storage card for stills
• Lower optical zoom

Amazon.com Product Description

Digital camcorders have finally reached both a level of both technological sophistication and affordability, and Panasonic's PV-DV52 is prime example. Casual video users will be pleased with the 2.5-inch LCD screen, 10x optical zoom, digital still capability, and a built-in video light.

Lens
With an optical zoom magnification of 10x, the DV52 also has a digital zoom, which works by electronically enhancing the optical image, and can magnify the picture up to 700 times. The digital image stabilization system keeps the picture steady and solid throughout zooms and camera shakes.

Digital Stills
The camcorder has a mode called progressive photo shoot, so that images captured will not have the jagged lines of interlaced video and instead come out clear and undistorted.

Inputs and Outputs
The DC252 comes with the standard DV IEEE 1394 port (also known as FireWire) for a super-fast, lossless connection to a PC or other DV machines. RCA connections are used for direct viewing on a television or VHS dubbing.

MiniDV Format
MiniDV digital technology delivers clear, sharp video with up to 500 lines of horizontal resolution--far superior to the 240 lines of resolution offered by 8mm camcorders. You'll also get minimal color noise interference for a more stable picture.

Using Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) technology, Panasonic's MiniDV camcorders provide pristine sound. Choose from 12-bit or 16-bit audio recording modes.

• 16-bit audio includes a set of stereo audio tracks to produce CD-quality sound.
• 12-bit audio utilizes two sets of audio tracks so you can easily add background music or commentary into your videos while maintaining the existing soundtrack.

This is all delivered on a cassette that's 1/12th the size of a standard VHS tape. A MiniDV tape offers digital recording time of two full hours--20 times the capacity of a CD.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

324 of 325 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great value on a solid, no-nonsense Digital Camcorder, April 18, 2002

By 

Tim Allison "Tim Allison" (Manteca, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Panasonic PVDV52 MiniDV Digital Camcorder w/ 2.5" Color LCD (Electronics)

This camera is great both for what it is and what it is not. On this model, Panasonic did a nice job of putting it's money and focus into quality video components, not bells & whistles. Many other cameras try to lure you with extraneous features like advanced onboard editing capability, digital still/memory stick photography, remote controls etc.. There's nothing wrong with those features and they are always an added bonus, however they are probably not the primary concern you should have when buying a good, value-priced, digital camcorder.
This camera is priced well below it's major competitors (except JVC) and affords you the savings to purchase other products that will produce better solutions than those extraneous features can offer.

For example:
* If you want digital video editing, buy a good PC/Mac kit like Pinnacle Studio 7(includes 1394 card and user friendly software) and get real movie making capability like background music, sounds, transitions, titles and more.
* If you want a digital still camera, take the money you save here and go buy a real 2-3-mega-pixel camera, don't settle for the .5 -.7 mega pixel you might get with a... camcorder that will only produce a small (3x5) quality digital still.
--------------------------
Note: Generally speaking a digital camera produces quality stills in correlation with it's mega-pixel rating.
1 mega-pixel = 3x5
2 mega-pixel = 5x7
3 mega-pixel = 8x10
and so on...

*If you still want digital still capability on your camcorder look at the CCD rating and compare it to this correlation chart, to see the quality/size you can expect. This camera is considered a (.7MP) which will only produce quality digital stills from 1x3 up to 3x5.
-------------------------------------
For most folks, It is probably more important that a camcorder takes great video - in all conditions and is easy to use.
At these very basic functions the PVDV52 is quite strong.

PROS:
- Might not sound impressive but 680,000 pixel (.7 MP) resolution makes for great video (significantly higher resolution than many similarly price camcorders).
- Solid features: 12/16 bit sound, (EIS)image stabilization, 1394 firewire transfer, external headphone jack & good microphone pickup.
- Good in lowlight recording(one of the best feature sets you will find in a low-end camcorder) - They include: Auto digital lowlight enhancement, dark subject backlight & a external lamp for limited nightime recording (good up to 10 feet).
- Top feed tape: allows you to keep the camera on the tripod, while changing the tape (I challenge you to do that with current bottom feed cameras).
- Separate battery charger: allows you to charge the battery independent of the camera.
- Great quality and value: Panasonic holds 7 of the top 10 spots in Consumer Reports Digital Camcorder ratings for quality, value & reliability.

CONS:
- 10x Optical Zoom is a bit wimpy, though it is on par with most cameras in it's price range. It does however pale in comparison to Sony's 20-25x optical zoom.
- A few extra jacks would have been useful. It does not include: an external microphone jack or auxillary video/audo in or an S-video out (all useful otions).
- You cannot using lowlight recording feature AND image stabilization feature at the same time (a bummer for handheld lowlight recording - if this is important to you, it could be a significant deficiency).

# This a Great Camera for: Folks who want to pay for strong video capability and not all the extras - who want to record at length on a tripod without taking the camera off the tripod to change tapes - Who want significant lowlight recording capability - Who want a very small and light affordable video solution.

# Not such a Great Camera for: Folks who want hot shoe capability (for add on accessories like better microphones and lights)- Don't care about taking the camera off the tripod to change tapes - Want a digital still/memory stick capability (no matter how poor the image quality). Want extended optical zoom capability (beyond 10x)- Want image stabilization AND lowlight recording capability simultaneously.
**For folks in this category you might checkout the Sony TRV340(though it is only .5MP)**

* Note: The PVDV52 will take a digital still but:
1. It is recorded to the tape and not easy to locate for retrieval.
2. The image quality is nowhere near what a standard digital still camera can produce.

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very nice camera, September 6, 2002

By 

"cloudia" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Panasonic PVDV52 MiniDV Digital Camcorder w/ 2.5" Color LCD (Electronics)

This is my first video camera, and I'm very pleased with it. The detail and the sound are great. I can hear my kitten jumping on leaves, and the detail is great due to the high pixelation. (680K) It picks up colors very well. I had no disappointments with the zoom, though the optical zoom is reputedly low end, it seemed fine to me. And there is also a phenomenal digital zoom which should make up to some extent for anyone who has high zoom needs. It worked right out of the box with a very intuitive interface that required practically no reading of directions, except for the image stabilizer function which I haven't wanted to use yet because camera shake hasn't really been that bad. The low light compensator is basically just a continuous flash, and that does eat up battery time. The worse thing about this camera is that there isn't a lot of battery time. That's fine if you're doing domestic projects like filming your pets, kids or backyard barbecues. It might be more of a pain if you took the camera abroad and were not exceedingly organized about your time and keeping the battery charged.

Also the camera worked great with my Mac Ibook. All I had to do was plug into the Firewire slot, get the Firewire driver for Quicktime, and I could record clips into my computer and make a wonderful little web movie. It's a great basic video camera for someone like me who's never had a movie camera of any kind and wants to edit on computer. And the price is also right.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simplicity is key., January 12, 2003

By 

Zartog the Magnificent (Alexandria, VA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Panasonic PVDV52 MiniDV Digital Camcorder w/ 2.5" Color LCD (Electronics)

This digital camera has everything you need. Don't waste your money on those overpriced gadgety cameras, when all you need is something to capture good quality digital video.

I've played around with quite a few DV cameras, and almost all of them were impossible to figure out. Too many buttons. This camera only has the necessities. My only complaint about the ergonomics is that the record button could be placed better. I usually take my thumb off of it after I hit record, so I have to go searching for it when I want to pause or stop recording, so a lot of my video has a visible jiggle at the end where I was fumbling for the record toggle.

The quality of the video is superb. It gets a little grainy in low light, but no worse than any DV camera I've seen below $900.

Oh, one thing to note. This camera doesn't come with a DV tape to get you started. So, you better put a 3-pack in your shpping cart before you check out. I'd recommend a second battery, too.

This camera doesn't have an analog pass-thru, so you can't use it to transfer your old 8mm videos to DV.... but that's something you'd do only once anyway, right? Why spend the extra bucks on a camera that can do it then?

This is a great deal. If you are the bare-bones type, get this. You'll be pleased.