Panasonic PVDV852 MiniDV Multicam Digital Camcorder w/ 2.5" Color LCD, Color Viewfinder & 8MB SD Memory Card

by Panasonic

Product Details

Product Manual [10.88mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 2.9 x 3.5 inches ; 2.2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000065AGE
• Item model number: PV-DV852
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #59,720 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 23, 2002

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The PV-DV852 will appeal to amateur filmmakers and home-video enthusiasts alike because of its unique combination of features and performance. The a large 2.5-inch LCD screen and color viewfinder make things easy to see, and your shooting experience is enhanced by a 10x optical zoom, digital still capability, and a zoom mic that automatically magnifies sensitivity as you zoom in. You can also record MPEG4 movies for Internet sharing and e-mail.

Lens
With a lens developed by world-renowned lens maker Leica AG, the DV852 has an optical zoom magnification of 10x along with a 200x digital zoom, which works by electronically enhancing the optical image. The optical image stabilization system keeps the picture steady and solid throughout zooms and camera shakes without compromising picture quality.

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. You can store the stills on DV tape or on the included 8 MB Secure Digital card (the DV852 is also compatible with MultiMediaCards). The convenient pop-up flash unit comes in handy for low-light environments.

Inputs and Outputs
The DV852 comes with the standard DV IEEE 1394 port (also called FireWire) for no-loss connections to PCs or other DV machines. By using the USB port or RS-232C serial connection, you can easily transfer your digital stills. RCA connections are used for direct viewing on a television or for 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 get minimal color noise interference for a more stable picture. You'll also get excellent sound quality in either 12-bit or 16-bit audio recording modes.

• 16-bit audio includes one 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 to your videos while maintaining the existing soundtrack.

This is all delivered on a cassette that's 1/12 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

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good picture but read on, February 9, 2003

By 

Vincent Kurpan "vince_n_nancy" (Hillsboro, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Panasonic PVDV852 MiniDV Multicam Digital Camcorder w/ 2.5" Color LCD, Color Viewfinder & 8MB SD Memory Card (Electronics)

We bought this in a store where they had scores of camera plugged in and you could scan around with all of them. This one consistently had the most natural color and exposure... even better than some very expensive ones (of course you can't always say what adjustments have been goofed up on some of the display cameras) After using the camera for a week or so we find that that indoors the video is nearly on a par with broadcast quality. You would never suspect is was a home video. It's very clean and properly exposed. Low light performance is also very good if you employ the Magicpix digital effect.

Outdoors it is also quite good but, being a bit more challenging, you might be able to tell it's not the travel channel you're watching (but it's still very good)

Now here's the bad news.
The optical image stbilizer is OK but you do stil have to be very careful to get good video. It does not iron out the bigger shakes like the electronic ones do. So I am not so thrilled with the stabilizer.

Still pictures, if you care, are good 1M pics but nothing more. They are useful.

Surprise! The lens is mismarked and will not accept 43mm filters or auxiliary lenses. In fact it won't accept ANY filters because it is 50mm (not 49 and not 52) and therefore non-standard. So you can forget about getting a wide angle lens for it. This is a problem for us... No polarizer, no wide angle lense. So, at this point we are not sure we'll keep the camera.. even though we have been favorably impresed with the basic quality.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars About 43mm filter, November 13, 2003

By 

Andrey_S (CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Panasonic PVDV852 MiniDV Multicam Digital Camcorder w/ 2.5" Color LCD, Color Viewfinder & 8MB SD Memory Card (Electronics)

Just to correct previous reviewer: how to attach 43mm filter or add-on lens (from the manual):
"When you want to attach a Tele Conversion Lens (not supplied) or a Wide Conversion Lens (not supplied), be sure to first remove the lens Hood by turning it counterclockwise."
I removed lens Hoood, attached 43mm filter and putted Hood back.