I’m not a pro either and I love Panasonic camcorders (that’s all I’ve owned for the past 15 years) I was just looking at the GS120 at CompUSA the other day and I was very impressed. I think I’m going to buy the GS200 because it has a manual focus ring. I didn’t think I’d see a difference with 3CCD but it was quite astounding. I looked through the viewfinder of all the Panasonic camcorders they had there doing side-by-side comparisons and the colors were just more vivid and crisp in GS120. Go take a look for yourself.

I read reviews about the Electronic Image Stabilization not being good and I’m thinking to myself, “Is the EIS worse than other cameras or are these reviewers comparing it to Optical Image Stabilization which is far superior?” I answered my question when I saw it for myself. There is nothing wrong with the EIS. It’s just as good as on my Panasonic PV-DV601 that I have now. The reviews were comparing it to OIS.

Now these are not going to compare to a $2000 Cannon GL2 but hey, the GS120 is only $600! If you compare them to all the $600 1 CCD camcorders, I think you’ll conclude that it’s the best quality for the money. I’ve been posting around about them and I’ve gotten a few private emails from pros who own them and tell me that while its not as good as their pro cameras, it’s the best consumer camera they’ve ever owned. Like I said, go see them for yourself.

Panasonic is the only camcorder manufacturer that remembers that the reason we buy camcorders is for VIDEO and who cares about still image quality. While all the others are trying to turn their camcorders into still cameras, Panasonic is the only one who is actually trying to improve the VIDEO quality buy bringing 3CCD camcorders down to a price that consumers can afford. I applaud them for that and I’m planning to buy one.

~jr

I found the GS120 at digitalliquidators.com for $525.00, which was a big reason I was thinking about getting one. I'm going to go check one out at a local store before buying.

Check out the dvinfo.net forums. They have a section devoted to Panasonic and those guys tend to try out whatever's new.

More power to Panny, they sure set the world alight with the DVX 100, Sony are still smarting from that and still don't have anything that comes close at that price point.

>>...the colors were just more vivid and crisp in GS120...

How about the low light performance?

That's a huge thing I look for, but it's hard to test in the store.

I read the specs and it has a system to record in color in "no light" situations. That's one of my biggies also because I mostly film live bands and often times in the small clubs the lighting is terrible. I'm going to difinately give them serious consideration.

I tried to test this but CompUSA is one bright store and the anti-theft cable on the camera left you no place to go. It was just too bright to tell. I’m thinking of visiting a Ritz Camera store because at least you get to walk around with the camera and shoot in dark corners to test it out instead of having them tethered on a string.

I can tell you that the Night View is totally worthless! It slows the shutter speed and the picture is unwatchable. My Panasonic PV-DV601 has IR night vision and it even allows you to select black & white, green, or blue. I leave it on the white setting and get very respectable back & white pictures in total darkness. This is the one thing I’ll miss having.

The only way to fix the problem is to replace the 1/6” CCD’s with 1/3” ones and a bigger lens to match.

Hey SONY. If you want to kick Panasonic’s but, why don’t you come out with a consumer 3 CCD camcorder that has 1/3” CCD and an appropriately large lens to give it good low light capability. Then throw in black & white IR night vision in there and a manual focus ring. Forget about still image quality, forget about sepia mode, or PIP, or digital zooms, or whatever other gimmicks you use to lure consumers. Drop all that stuff from the price and just make a $600 DV camcorder that shoots good VIDEO. Is that too much to ask for?

I really hate that I pay for a hundred features I don’t need and can’t get the features I want. Right now, the Panasonic GS200 comes the closest for me.

~jr

Amen to that one JohnnyRoy.

I've never understood why the consumer camcorders keep putting those crapy still camera features on there. I mean if they were high rez then maybe it would be usefull. But who wants a 1.2 MP image?

And all of those mirror, mosaic, strobe, effects???? Do people actually use that stuff after the first day?

Of course all that built in still camera R&D should make it easier to build a HD camera with one or three CCD's. Of course they're not going to price things accordingly. They're going to do like they did with Hi8 and keep the price of HD cameras high for 10 years unless something comes along that's better. Then the price will drop to the floor.

In case no one noticed, that bugs me that 8mm camcorders were in the $500 price range while the Hi8 camcorders were in the $1,000 and up price range for nearly 10-15 years. Then when MiniDV came out the price of the Hi8 dropped down to a low of $300 in only two years. Tell me that manufacturing didn't suddenly improve that much to cut the cost.

JBJones

If you don't mind tying up your money for a while, Circuit City has a decent 14 day return policy. An example: A friend of mine bought the new Sony digital SLR camera (8 mp, I don't remember the model number). I told her about some fo the color problems people were having and how I like my new Canon Digital EOS Rebel. I saw her the other day and she had a new Canon Digital EOS Rebel. She said that CC took back the Sony with no questions asked. She said the prints from the Sony were not very good.

And I agree with not having all of the fancy features. But before I got V4, I used most of the digital effects on my Sony Hi8 while transferring from camera to VHS. It was very clumsy, but it was all I had at the time. I used the TRAIL mode for some interesting intros to horse shows. And my daughter loved to cycle through all of the modes...especially WIDE and NARROW. ;-|)

I can't remenber right now but doesn't the PV-653 from Panisonic have a larger lens for it's 1/6 CCD's I have seen it as low as $850.

I just worry how much of the 3 CCD thing with CCDs that small is just a marketing ploy. I'd like to see how it stacks up against a single CCD of larger size. Having 3 CCDs does mean a prism etc so if it's not done right it may not all be good news.
And the size of those cameras and the endless menus that seem designed to confuse. Friend of mine didn't realise she'd been shooting for ages in LP and I've yet to work out how to turn the headphone volume UP.

Just my .02

I have the Pana 951 3-CCD and a Pana 910 single chip (that was my first DV cam and cost as much as the 951 did!!).

The 951 has significantly better color, easily set manual controls and a great lens. The auto-focus on both my cameras has been pretty much flawless (except for the obvious stuff like shooting through glass). I can live without the still camera performance, mpeg-4 to SD card and voice recorder stuff.

If you make the effort to snag a manual white balance, this camera produces really really good images, particularly outdoors. The low light performance is definitely it's downfall though. Mine doesn't have the "MagicPix" thing and the results are noisy. Turning up the gain results in more noise. I can shoot under most indoor lighting conditions and get an ok result, I guess it all depends on how low you consider low light. Candlelight is definitely out!!

If you need the color fidelity, are concerned with price and can provide sufficient light, the pana's are hard to beat.

I'm happy with the 951, but I'm expecting to change camera's sometime in the next couple of years. I'm tempted with the DVX-100A which doesn't claim all the silly features and has 1/3" sensors. I'm very much on the fence with HDV, it looks like Pana may have a better route to go for high-def IMO.