Panasonic PV-GS31 MiniDV Camcorder w/26x Optical Zoom

Other products by Panasonic

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7 x 5 inches ; 8 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0007QN86U
• Item model number: PV-GS31
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,402 in Camera & Photo (See Bestsellers in Camera & Photo)

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  Camera & Photo > Camcorders > Digital MiniDV

• Date first available at Amazon.com: November 15, 2006

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

From the Manufacturer The new compact PV-GS19, PV-GS31, and PV-GS35 digital video camcorders are full-featured models that incorporate the most powerful optical zoom available, up to 30x on one model. These camcorders allow you to see up close no matter how far way you may be.

Panasonic's tiny PV-GS31 measures just 31/4 by 21/2 by 41/2 inches and weighs less than a pound.

Among the other innovative features included on these models is the easy to use one-touch navigation. A convenient thumb wheel lets the user quickly access major functions such as JPEG playback, memory-card recording, and tape recording, while a new joystick allows easy navigation of the controls using the thumb only.

The new camcorder models were developed to maximize the quality of the video recording by concentrating on those features that consumers will use most often. One such feature is the image-enhancing MagicPix, which creates rich videos under low-light conditions. An Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) system compensates for hand and camcorder jitter.

A digital still camera feature can be used to snap still images and save them to an SD Memory Card, and USB capability provides a convenient way to transfer digital video and still images to a PC for archiving, e-mailing, and more. The PV-GS35 also includes USB 2.0 high speed with Motion DV studio video-editing PC software for editing video footage.

The MagicPix feature enhances images shot in low-light conditions.

Features of the Panasonic PV-GS31:

• Compact design
• Still picture capability
• SD slot
• 26x optical zoom
• LED light
• Color viewfinder
• 800x digital zoom
• Electronic image stabilization
• USB 2.0 high speed

Product Description

The optical zoom feature acts like a telescope to produce close-up shots with extraordinary clarity so you won't miss a single detail. It also offers variable zoom speeds, so you can adjust your zoom speed from wide angle to full telephoto. In addition, the digital zoom ratio can be increased up to an extraordinary 1000x. Now that's close up!.Now you can snap off a still shot (VGA) while recording video without having to change recording modes. The video is recorded onto the Mini DV tape and the still image is recorded onto the SD Memory Card. This 2-in-1 capability means you can catch sudden photo opportunities without interrupting a great moving picture scene.Soft Skin Mode detects skin tones and softens the focus in that area of the picture. It helps make blemishes and lines appear less noticeable, while preserving resolution in areas of the picture outside the skin.The joystick makes the camera much easier to use, letting you control all basic operations with one hand. As you shoot, just watch the image in the monitor and follow the instruction guide. You can handle a number of operations quickly and easily, without even taking your eye off the subject.When illumination is insufficient, turn on the built-in LED video light to take crisp, colorful movies. The LED has low power consumption, long service life, and the safety of a low operating temperature. Color Night View gives you smoothly flowing pictures even in dark places, where it's normally difficult to capture good shots. And since the Super Image Stabilizer corrects for hand-shake, you get beautiful pictures with minimal afterimages.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

61 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Found What I Was Lookin' For, July 6, 2005

By	G. Meyer (Fort Lewis, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Panasonic PV-GS31 is an excellent camcorder to learn the basics and capture excellent digital video. It had exactly what I needed: a light for night shots, LED screen, and a great zoom feature for close-ups. It transfers well to the computer to upload the video I take on the MiniDV tapes. But make sure you purchase a firewire cable (4 pin to 4 pin) and have software like Intervideo DVD creator or Windows Movie Maker to take advantage of video editing. It's a good buy without the features you don't really need!

If you're looking to take good pictures, don't rely on the Panasonic camcorder. Instead, go buy a tiny digital camera with at least 5 megapixels. This camcorder can take pictures but they're less than 1 megapixel, which equals poor quality pix.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good value for the money, February 7, 2006

By	Suzz (Colorado, USA) - See all my reviews

I purchased this camcorder with a lot of hesitancy because of the reviews it received here on Amazon, but for the price I got it for, it was hard to refuse.

First, the camera is very lightweight and sturdy in construction. If handled delicately, I don't foresee any spontaneous operational issues appearing. If you drop it and kick it around, then sure, it's going to break and not function correctly.

I am very pleased with the quality of film that it has produced. I am an amateur photographer and videographer, and I have no complaints personally about this particular model. It functions well in all light, and I was especially impressed with how it did in low-light. I found that reading the manual thoroughly and understanding the cameras functions helped me immensely to avoid problems.

Overall, I am pleased with it and am glad that I chose it. I have full faith in this camera, and that is why it's going to be used on an Alaskan cruise, and to film my wedding this summer. It's a great camera for the price.

Now, I do have a couple of rants about it.
- When in a specialized mode while filming, the display is very slow. So I haven't been able to have "real time filming" and when I am shooting something, and I see it on-screen, it's already happened and something else is going on.
- The camera does not come with any extras, which meant that we had to run to the store to get the Mini DV tapes required to start using it immediately.
- The BIGGEST issue that actually caused me a lot of frustration and anger was that with this camera you CANNOT transfer your film to your computer through USB. With my other cameras, I have always been able to transfer all digital images (movies and stills) over USB. Not with this. You have to have a special cable (Firewire 4 pin to 4 pin) AND you have to have the port for it IN your computer. Most average computer users do not have this port (I have a new Dell Dimension) So, I have to go and buy the Firewire port ($14.99), open my computer case and physically install the hardware. The firewire cable itself is really inexpensive. For someone who doesn't know about computers and needs this port, it could honestly cost you quite a bit to have it installed for you. It turns into a lot of hassel, which isn't very appealing for todays technological consumer.

Overall, I rate it a good camera for the money, but I do not like the issue with the firewire cable.

27 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Yep--disappointing, October 13, 2005

By	tomjonesrocks (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

Read some positive things about this line that led me to believe that maybe our modest video needs could be served with a "budget" level video camera. I was wrong.

As others have mentioned, this camera is nearly useless indoors. All we wanted to do was shoot some video of our newborn baby. The problem is, newborns aren't in the mid-day sun, outdoors, much. Tried video during the day -- indoors -- very mediocre. In the evening, in a lit home, horrible. This camera is also very slow to focus when using in "auto" mode, and there's minimal steady-shot capabilities here too. So you get a shaky, pixellated, out of focus, dark video all the time.

I came to the conclusion anything I shot with this was going to turn out frustratingly poorly, except in absolutely optimum light conditions. Despite my limited use for the camera, it had to go back. Having no video camera it seems is less frustrating than having one you wish was better. I concluded I had no choice but to add more to my video camera budget and get something that might actually give me some useable video.