Panasonic SVAV20 MPEG4 eWear Digital Camcorder/Still Camera (Silver)

by Panasonic

Product Details

Product Manual [4.02mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 2.9 x 2.4 x 1 inches ; 3.4 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00008OLBN
• Item model number: SVAV20
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,748 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: February 26, 2003

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The stylish Panasonic e-wear SVAV20 (Silver) combines a digital video recorder, digital still camera, digital audio player (with new SD-Jukebox software), and a digital voice recorder into one ultra-compact package. This palm-sized camcorder features a user-friendly interface and improved video resolution over its predecessor, the SVAV10.

The new user-friendly interface makes recording easy, without having to scroll through menus. The SVAV20 features enhanced picture quality with an MPEG4 frame rate (15 frames per second) for video and 640 x 480 resolution for JPEG still images. A swiveling 2-inch LCD screen and two record buttons allow you to shoot comfortably with the unit in either the horizontal or vertical position. A new 2x digital zoom helps bring subjects into closer view.

The SVAV20 includes a built-in flash for taking digital still pictures in low-light situations. A built-in USB interface makes it easy to transfer music from a PC to an SD Memory Card for playback, while the included SD Jukebox software provides a simple way to catalog and save numerous digital music files in a single database on a PC. The SVAV20 is compatible with the MP3 and AAC formats. A built-in speaker lets users listen to any recorded audio.

Other features include:

• 32 MB Secure Digital memory card
• Weighs just 3.25 ounces
• 2-inch LCD screen
• Software includes SD Jukebox 3.0 and SD MovieStage 2.0
• Compatibility with Windows 98SE, Me, 2000, and XP
• Packaged with AC adapter, USB cable, handstrap, earphones, and rechargeable battery

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Next time I'm getting a Sony, October 16, 2003

By 

D. Moawad "daliasf" (San Francisco, California United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Panasonic SVAV20 MPEG4 eWear Digital Camcorder/Still Camera (Silver) (Electronics)

I did a lot of research about this camera before buying it and now I can't help but wonder what people were thinking!! I agree it's a cute camera that is good for carrying around in your purse or in your pocket. But I think that if you have ever used ANY kind of camera before, there is no way you will accept the quality of pictures that this camera produces (even if it's just for email).

Pros:
1) Its really small and cute. It attracts a lot of attention.
2) It is easy to use.
3) Even the 32 MB card that comes with it takes a good amount of photos and mpegs.
4) The mpegs are pretty easy to transfer on email.

Cons:
1)All the photos are blurred if you are not at the EXACT distance you should be shooting from.
2)The camera is much better off without its zoom feature
3)You can absolutely forget about taking shots indoors or at night (or dusk, for that matter). Bright sunlight (but not direct sunlight) is the only way you can get visible images. The flash is not much of a help.

Conclusion: It takes really bad-quality images. Maybe if it cost 40-50 $, I might be a little bit more satisfied with it. But for anything above that, I would not recommend it to anyone.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars cute, August 25, 2003

By 

Barbara A. Beesinger (soulsbyville, ca USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Panasonic SVAV20 MPEG4 eWear Digital Camcorder/Still Camera (Silver) (Electronics)

This is a nice looking gadget. Very poor picture quality. Can not get the software to work for music recording. Having problems with the camera shutting down . Thought it was a defective battery so bought another and the same problem. Camera shuts down before i can even get to menue. All i can say is that is is cute. I bought another tiny camera for my purse that takes video and stills and that camera [didn't] cost [that much] and i get excellent 8 by 10 prints.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Painful to add/remove music, July 25, 2003

By 

Ranger "J" (Southern California, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Panasonic SVAV20 MPEG4 eWear Digital Camcorder/Still Camera (Silver) (Electronics)

Because Panasonic went waaaay overboard with copy protection, you must use only their software to hook up the unit to a Windows computer (If you have only a Mac, then this is NOT an MP3 player for you.)and download. You can NOT just copy songs onto the SD memory card. And you have to use the same computer every time so forget about one at home and one in the office. Compared to any other MP3 I've seen or used, this is a nightmare. Another problem? You MUST also have it plugged in to the battery charger or it won't connect. So you have to have two cables hooked up to add or delete a song. What a pain!
Also it doesn't display as much information as you'd like when playing the song. You also cannot control the playing of the song (pause, stop, etc.) unless you open the LCD and press the tiny buttons. Only volume is accessible when it's closed.
As for the other functions, the camera is of quite low quality, only useful for sending small web photos. The movie mode works okay, but no better than some pretty cheap digital cameras.
The only good feature is the nice pocketable size. But you have to keep track of all the cords, etc. to make it useful anyway.
I got this as a gift and was excited about it until I started to use it. I suspect I'll be "re-giving" this one.