Customer Reviews

Panasonic PVGS70 MiniDV Ultra Compact Camcorder with 2.5" LCD, 3CCD, and 8MB SD

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I got this camera from [store] and had to return it for reasons explained below.
Pros: Incredibly small for a 3CCD, it almost fits in your pocket. Excellent color reproduction. Great price. Long life on the battery included.
Cons: There is only one problem with this model but it is a huge defect and basically a deal breaker, the image stabilizer does not work at all. In fact Panasonic should delete that feature from their specs because it is totally misleading. A tiny sized camera requires a better stabilizer. Oh, I know what you are thinking: "I have a rock steady hand...perhaps I can handle this camera" but think again, I am a professional cameraman with very steady hands and this camera is useless w/o a tripod. You absolutely can not walk while videotaping (as I often do while traveling). Hand held zooming is shaky and unusable. Videotaping handheld even using the wideangle will always render too many blurred scenes which you will have to edit painstakingly later. The only place this camera would work is inside a Studio and using a professional tripod. The good news is that the sister model, the 3CCD Panasonic PV-DV953, has an "optical stabilizer" which is supposed to be better but it will cost you twice as much! Still at $$$$ it is still a decent price if you compare it with the older 3CCD camcorders ($$$$ and up). Best advice I can give you is to wait until the unit price drops and to try it before you buy it. Bring a blank DV tape to your favorite store and test everything, including the stabilizer. (Oh, yes, and don't bother reading Consumer Reviews that bestow all 5 stars to any product here, you might as well read an ad from the manufacturer, it will be more accurate and just as bias) :-)

at a list price of less than a thousand bucks and a street price of under eight hundred, the panasonic pv-gs70 is an incredible value. there is no other 3CCD camcorder in the market today that will come close to the gs70's price point. i compared this with the sony pc-105 and trv-33 and in my opinion, the panasonic pv-gs70 comes out on top. here's why:

pros:
- the video quality is amazing. color reproduction is amazing - having 3CCDs definitely make a difference here.
- although not the smallest camcorder out there, the design is compact and the this camcorder weighs just a shade over 1 lb.
- 1 MP still capability. for still pics, no camcorder will beat a decent digital camera but it's nice to know that in a pinch, you can use your camcorder to capture stills.
- miniDV media is widely supported.
- great connectivity options: firewire, USB, S-video, headphone, mic input, etc.
- leica dicomar lens.
- magic pix function - allows video capture even for very low light situations (just don't expect quality footage).
- built in pop-up flash for taking photos.
- ability to record mpeg videos directly to SD card.
- the built-in mic zooms to your target in coordination with the lens.
- top-loading cassette mechanism - this is very convenient as it means that you don't have to remove the camcorder from the tripod when it's time to load a new tape.
- the price. 3CCDs at this price point is just a huge bargain.

cons:
- the accessory shoe is not a hot shoe; this means that while you can get a third party video light, the camcorder will have absolutely zero interaction with the light. contrast this with sony, which has some video lights that will even adjust light intensity automatically depending on inputs from the camcorder. with the gs70, this is not possible.
- very limited accessory list from panasonic.
- it would have been nice to get a bigger 3.5" LCD.
- no built in video light but you can get third party lights. oddly enough, when i emailed panasonic about an optional video light, they responded that they don't make video lights for this camcorder. very strange.
- you could do better on the still photo department. for example, sony's trv80, trv70, and panasonic's pv-dv953 have 2MP+ capability but those camcorders are bigger, heavier, and cost more.
- image stabilization is electronic. it would have been nice if an optical system was used.
- the included 16MB SD card is barely adequate. be prepared to shell out more money for more memory.

this would be my perfect camcorder if it had a 3.5" lcd and at least a 2 megapixel still capability. but that's the tradeoff if you want a miniDV camcorder at this price point while having 3CCDs as well as all the other features this camcorder has.

if you're looking for a camcorder first and not a camcorder/still camera combo (which i don't recommend anyway), the panasonic pv-gs70 should be on your short list. video quality is unmatched by any 1CCD camcorder and definitely not at this price point. enjoy!

Nice camera for all of the above stated reasons. One serious flaw for a highly portable camera, DURABILITY. This camera can not tolerate humid / moist environments. I was overseas and used the camera sporadically. Some of the environs were misty weather (NOT raining). Upon returning state-side, I discovered the camera was dead. Panasonic repair returned the camera as a total loss, stating that there was water damage to the mainboard, which was irreparable. A total loss, NOT COVERED by warranty on a camera that is otherwise in immaculate condition and 80 days old. A tech person at Panasonic confided that all that needs to occur is a drop of condensation to form on a ribbon cable. If it does, it will track down the ribbon cable to the board and kill it. They did offer to give me a new camera at a price that was more expensive than what I paid for it (at Beach Camera).

Other commentors have complained of problems after minor drops of the camera. For a highly portable camera, this really isn't acceptable.

This camcorder is perfect for busy professionals who need a quality compact digital camcorder that is unobtrusive and capable of capturing terrific video without the need for time-consuming adjustments to the camera settings. The camera is absolutely the smallest 3-CCD camcorder I have ever seen. It fits perfectly in my hand, so much so that it is almost a natural extension of my arm. Leaving the unit on automatic produces great videos, both indoors under common fluorescent lighting, and outdoors. The camera's still images are acceptable, but nothing more. As usual, if you want terrific still pictures get a dedicated digital still camera. Video is just great -- bright colors, sharp images and pretty darn good white balance on automatic. Of course, you can set just about everything manually if you like. There is even a manual focus ring. True, the image stabilization feature doesn't work well -- just get a tripod, one with a fluid head that's meant for smooth video panning and movement, not still work. I was considering a Canon GL2 until I found this Panasonic for less than half the price. The GL2 has larger CCDs and a faster lens that together will allow it to perform better in very low light situations; however, I found the PVGS70 to do just fine indoors for my purposes. I make training and instructional videos for microbiology and molecular pathology laboratory students and new employees and this unobtrusive camera allows me to "grab and shoot" great video segments without interferring with laboratory workflow. Macro video shots of specimens, lab reagents and equipment are beautiful. For the money, this is a dandy camera.

I would recommend this product over the pv-gs120 as they took this camera and stripped it down to be able to market it at the $700 price point, you will not lose anything by getting this camera. As for the image stabilization, the newer models are not any better. The trick is that most of the time it will not work unless the following circumstances are met, the camcorder must have a direct light source (indoor rarely works for me) and the unit must be able to focus on an object. When the light is present, it engages and does a good job; otherwise, the display will just blink at you. Most reviews say "use a tripod," yea right! I did not buy this to put on a tripod or it would be a larger unit. I found outdoor use to be great (manual white balance as much as possible or you may get a Tele-Tubby world effect.) Pictures are average at best, but I did not buy this for the pictures (the flash is awesome, however.)

I bought this for less than half MSRP because it was last years model.

There are a lot of features about this camera that I like (alluded to in other reviews), but the vivid colours due to 3ccd technology is not one of them. I did a side by side comparison with my buddy's 3 year old Canon single-ccd and guess what? When played back thru his tv, my tv, my video projector, etc. his looked better. First of all, the resolution of the image seemed much better, and the colours were more accurate than my PVGVS70. For instance, we both shot a yellow sign -- it came out orange with the Panasonic.
Mind you, it all looks good on its tiny lcd screen (providing you're looking at it absolutely directly head-on.)
Also, as mentioned in the other reviews, the image stablizer is next to useless. Try full optical zoom and see if you can hand hold it -- hah! Makes the tele-macro function a waste of time, unless you're on a tripod. And furthermore, I see no point in the digital zoom function on any camera, let alone the PVGVS70 digital zoom which goes up to a whopping 700 X!! Even on a tripod, you can't get a decent picture at full zoom. It's all video pixel mush. Completely, utterly useless.
I am so disappointed, as I was hoping to buy quality at $1000 (Can.), and the 3ccd held out a lot of promise. Also the good reviews I've read here and elsewhere... but I think the positive reviewers haven't done a true comparison. Believe me, it doesn't hold up and I intend to return my Panasonic today.

I'm new to the world of video but have a lot of experience putting complicated technology into people's hands. The GS70 is very nice to use out of the box. However, as you grow into it over time, it also has quite a bit of manual control for optimization. I agree in principle with most of the previous reviewers except that I havn't had any breakage or problems. This camcorder has great spectacular color. It may also have slightly lower resolution than some of the single chip Sony's I've compared it with. I prefer the overall quality of the Panasonic because of the beautiful color. It also held its own when I taped a stage performace at our church in low-light mode. If you read forums, you can do even better with manual settings. The GS70 also has both microphone and a headphone stereo jacks -- features absent from comparable Sonys (new 04 models) and very important to me since I use remote mics. Tape-Toploading is also very nice. I have uploaded the video and edited in Premier without difficulty. Sound is good to my ears. I think this is a great option for a hobbiest in the 500$ range. This camera is also small and light so you can take it with you anywhere. Batteries are small and last several hours. The manual is a bit on the arcane side until you catch on to Panasonic's format. The macro mode is very impressive. Bottom line -- Great color and useability with possibly slightly less detail in the images.

This is truly an exceptional camera. No further discussion needed. You will hear complaints about image stabilzation and how this camera has one that sucks. Pros use tripods...period!
Then you will read about low light situations. Pros light sets...and use good lights. That eliminates the two so called poor features of this camera. You will not find a better 3cc camera for the price. If fact, this honey will even challenge a few pro models. One silly feature is the built in flash. Panasonic should drop that. It isn't poor...it's just silly. Frontal flash lighting? The only thing you would use a flash like this for is a mug shot.

Great camera.

When you consider all the features of this really tiny camcorder that weighs just a little over a pound, there is no question that it is the best mini dv product out there. The picture clarity is just incredible. Sharp and colorful video in almost any situation.

I live near Washington DC and I go with the kids to the National Mall and to the Smithsonian every couple of months or so. The other day I finally bought this little camcorder and it gave me an excuse to take another sightseeing trip downtown DC (ok I really enjoy looking at what my tax money stands for...). Anyway, i basically used the camcorder all day long and it is the best quality video I have ever taken. I have bought an extra battery pack and I still had plenty of power left on the second battery at the end of the day. I also bought a 256 mb SD card for stills. I used the camcorder outside on Pennsylvania Avenue, the Capitol, and the Washington monument. Then inside the National Gallery of Art, the Air and Space and the National History. It is just fantastic. I think I am going to throw out all my old video tapes of the same stuff and start a new collection. I am thrilled.

If you are looking to get something really good get this one.

Merry Christmas.