Panasonic PV-DV100

For the average consumer who just wants to take home movies, this camera was a steal. I've even used it on commercial shoots with no complaints! I produced my first wedding DVD with it in April 2003.

Easy to use. Great sound quality (with external microphone like Audio-Technica ATR25). Remote control capability. High-speed shutter, manual focus. Multi-speed zoom has a nice, big lever that's easier to control than on competitively priced Canon ZR40. Stereo microphone and headphone jacks allow use in professional applications.

Auto-focus is loud; the built-in microphone picks up a low, grinding sound which is a little distracting during quiet scenes. Low-light performance is poor, but no worse than any other DV cameras at this price point. Auto white balance is worthless; set it manually, or your colors will be a little off.

Canon ZR40.

Never needed it.

Bought this camera for home use and had nothing but problems. Make sure you check out the Panasonic warranty before you buy and be aware that if you do send anything in they only warranty their repair for 30 days! Be Warned! This camera as mentioned in previous reviews suffers from poor image quality too.

This is the cheapest minidv camcorder you can find anywhere. The quality is only a little better than 8mm and in low light I acutally think it is worse. The autofocus is really bad and constantly sharpens and blurs the picture when you have a lot of motion. I wouldn't recommend it.

Cheap

Quality sucks

It's a good product for the price.
At low light there's video noise.
Otherwise quality is excelent.
I like the size of the item I feel safe with it.
Connection with a computer is easy and fast.
Would recommend to everyone.

Quality of the vudeo, size, reliability.

Video noise at low light.

The Bottom Line If you get a good deal - get it and save the extra money to buying something else. The picture quality equals that of more expensive ones. Recommended: Yes I got a deal on mine and only paid 720cdn (tax in) or about 460 US (includes taxes! or $400 before taxes). It's so cheap as they are clearing the old model for the newer DV101. Definitely not worth paying the extra for the DV101. It has a few more useless features eg. PIP,and a slightly better viewfinder. (not for $350 more) I also paid another $20 cdn (12US)for a remote so the buttons won't get worn out on the unit plus for convience. There are lots of features on this model but it lack others that other companies have. 1. no UBS link (so basically you can't download movie to your computer unless you invest another $150 for the cable software & the firewire card. 2. no analog in 3. no titles to add to your movies. I was looking at the Digital 8 and really liked the new TRV330 but that would have set me back another $500 Cdn if i went for that. It had everything and good quality video in lo lighting which Panasonic lacks (actually sucks). I really debated over the Mini DV vs Digital 8. I know i should have gone digital 8 as I can no longer view my old 8mm tapes now. But at a $500 diff, maybe i'll pick up an old 8mm camcorder for $50-$100 to play them. Besides it seems like Mini DV is the way to go with all mfgers leaning to it. The tapes are not that badly prices. I managed to pick up Mini DV tapes - Sony 60 min for only $10 Cdn (6.50 Us) tax in!! That's not bad. The Panasonic will do everything I want but just doesn't have that extra. But get real, people never use 70% of the features on a digital camcorder. You may play around with it at first but will never do it again. Most people don't have time to edit videos either. Nor do most people have the hard disk space nor the IEE 1344 slot on their computer to edit. I think this digital thing is a bit of a hype too. Can you really watch at 500 resol. Usually not. Unless you have state of the art TV or have a SVHS jack (which only gives 400 lines). If you use RCA plugs like most of us, resolutions goes down to 300 or so. So who cares about this 500 RESOL HYPE. Besides, some people may even dubb to VHS so you're back to 240 resolution. Will you ever see the 500 lines. Not really. But I guess everybody want the best even though they may not be able to maximize on the benefits. Back to the camera. Still shot are not too clear but that's with all Still photos on camcorder. Nothing beats a real digital camera. To download the pictures to your PC is a bit of a pain. You have to do one at a time and then press Transfer then Save As.... Quite tedious. But i don't plan on using it that much otherwise a memory stick is much faster. The videos are good with lots of lighting but suffers from color saturation and graininess when light is dimmer. This is my main complaint of the camera. There is no manual zoom so the battery get eaten up by any adjustment. The battery lasts about 1 hrs - which is ok The functions are easy to use and understand but a bit too cumbersome to use as you have to use this tiny menu and Jog button constantly. Even to do simple task. I wish the shutter speed or exposure functions where directly on the camera for easy access. I guess I haven't said too many good things. But it's a good little camera for everyday shot and videos and will be sufficient for normal use. I'm sure it's 20x better than my old 8mm!!! Besides with the $500 I saved on getting the old model and not going Sony, I bought myself a new DVD player (excellent Panasonic RV31K - plays MP3s & CDRs). Besides i figure in 5years times, it'll be time to upgrade and I would have definitely gotten my money's worth out of this little camcorder. So, dispite all these minor glitches, I still recommend this unit only if you don't need all the gadgets and you get it at a good deal. You can't go wrong for a mini dv with great resolution for $399!!!! If you have any questions, please contact me at namabeer@hotmail.com or namabeer@colosseum.com I have great travelogue of the world if you care to see some picutures i took with my digial camera. The address is http://members.fortunecity.com/namabeer/index.html Amount Paid (US$): 399 OF USE: 4.0 DURABILITY: 4.0 BATTERY LIFE: 3.0 MOVIE QUALITY: 4.0

Price, Price Price. Good clarity in bright light. Compactness. Easy to use.

poor in lo light - stills & camcorder. Only 7 LUX. Jog button is overused

8mm camcorder