Buy Panasonic - NV-GS60 - Mini DV CamcorderPanasonic - NV-GS60 - Mini DV Camcorder Product Description:
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133 of 133 people found the following review helpful.
Panasonic NV-GS60EB Great budget camcorder
By David Hambrook
When buying this Camcorder I looked at the JVC GR-D728EK and the Sony DCR-HC27E.I discarded the JVC as it had very poor white balance, meaning the colures it produced were not faithful to the image being shot, the tape noise was picked up by the microphone in such a way that it was very distracting when watching the recorded video, and in-doors/low light the images lost their colure definition and became very grainy with the auto focus not working particularly effectively.When I handled the Sony and the Panasonic in store they both appeared NOT to suffer from the above foibles of the JVC. I purchased the Panasonic so I cannot comment further than on the Sony but can comment as follows on the Panasonic.The lens on the Panasonic is a 30 X Optical zoom (which is very good for camcorder standards) with an electronic image stabilising function which does contribute to reducing camera shake but will not, understandably, eradicate it. There is a however a fitting on the base of the camera to allow you to mount it on a tripod should you wish to.The main differentiator with the focal length on this camera in relation to the JVC & Sony above is that it has a very wide angle lens meaning that more will fit in to the shot, ideal for filming indoors where it may be hard to move far enough away from the subject matter to fit it all in or when filming scenery where you want to fit in a wider vista.In low light the images are still very good, the auto focus is still effective and the white balance is faithful. The camera comes equipped with a low light function (activated manually) to take filming down to 2 LUX (as much light generated by 2 candles at 1 meter) giving the ability to film in near darkness.Whilst there is a photo feature for taking stills, this simply records seven seconds of still footage on to the tape as opposed recording to a jpeg image on to a SD card, or such like, as would be done on a stills camera.The camera has a full auto setting and also manual over rides to cover focus, exposure compensation, and pre-programmed scene (sport, snow, beach, portrait etc), white balance, backlight compensation, plus others.I found the camera a little larger than the Sony & JVC (still very small), which for me made it more comfortable to handle, with not too many buttons and all in the right place. The Panasonic felt well made with a colour viewfinder (with dioptre) and a 2.5-inch LCD flip out screen (will swivel through 180 degrees for filming yourself etc) both are of perfectly good quality and deliver clear images.A sturdy/stubby joystick on the rear of the camera handles navigation for the menu & play functions. I actually found this very effective in use.You can out put the audiovisual signal by way of a DV Out (No In), Mini USB and composite jack plug (Video, Audio left & right) but there is no S-Video. There are also no DV or USB leads supplied with the camera only Jack Plug. There is also no editing software supplied for your PC.To see a thorough over view of the product you van down load the user manual from the Panasonic web site, www.panasonic.co.uk.I have thoroughly enjoyed using this camera. It has excellent image quality and low light handling for a budget camcorder. It starts up quickly and is simple to operate as well as reproducing images faithfully. For the money I would be happy to give this product 5 stars.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful.Great budget camcorder
By AJ Nicholls
Good points are excellent, vivid, accurate outdoor colours, effective image stabilisation and totally intuitive usage. The night vision facility is a poor gimmick, but who wants this anyway? No external microphone input, but again, you can live without that. Handling, build quality, weight and range of optical zoom are all great. Bought Amazon's cheapest firewire card and lead for my PC at less than a tenner, so downloading for editing is a doddle. Make sure you have a big hard drive for the video files.The guy who thought it worse than his mobile phone cannot be serious!
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful.Excellent value
By Mr. M. J. Gilligan
Just bought this from my local Sainsbury's who have these for £118 - just a little cheaper than Amazon at the moment 1/03/08.The value is excellent - understand this is not a top of the line High definition camcorder it is a basic easy to use, easy to carry piece of kit. Certainly very easy to get both this and a small digicam in the same easy to carry bag.The picture quality is more than acceptable - though noticeably poorer than the previous Panasonic camcorder I had but that cost a lot more than a £120!!. It is certainly better than indicated in a previous review claiming it is worse than a mobile phone - I'm afraid that is very wide of the mark.Works a treat with the video capture function included in Windows Vista though for some reason I get an irritating sound 'click' right at the end of the capture. It only happens there not on any stops or pauses in the video - it is not on the tape itself so I am working on the basis this is a PC/Vista issue and nothing at all to do with the camera. It is easy to edit out using Windows movie maker so its no big deal.Note as in common with many other camcorders you do not get a Fire-wire cable included - they don't cost the earth, even when buying a good quality one so I don't really count this as an issue. I had one anyway so not a problem for me.The controls are a breeze, particularly the thumb operated joystick from which you control all the main functions.The only neg I can find is the start up time when in recording mode - it does seem to take longer than my previous Panasonic model which served me well for nearly ten years.I am amazed at how small camcorders have become - even DV ones like this - my previous one was significantly bulkier than this dinky little thing. Any smaller and I would think it would be quite difficult to handle - the size is perfect for my largish hands.You also get a number of pre-set scene options which is handy or you can just point and shoot.All in all I am very happy so far - it is early days but I remain a big fan of Panasonic products which I general find to be durable and reliable - I'm hoping for the same with this.
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