Digital Trends

Panasonic PV-GS300

January 3rd, 2007 | by David Elrich

Features and Design

The Panasonic PV-GS300 is a rather compact camcorder, even with blank cassette recording media. It fits nicely in your hand and has a primarily silver body made mostly of metal with exception to the plastic door covering the tape mechanism. The camcorder weighs 18.4 ounces with tape, battery and SD memory card in place. A very easily adjusted Velcro wrist strap places your hand in good position to reach the main controls such as the wide/tele zoom switch. I prefer horizontal configuration camcorders like the PV-GS300 compared to the upright shape of models like the Canon HV10 but that’s my taste—you should definitely do a hands-on of this camcorder or any other you’re considering.

The front is dominated by a 10x Leica Dicomar zoom lens with a built-in lens cover. The ring surrounding the lens can be removed to add accessory lenses. You’ll also find a flash, stereo mic and a sensor for white balance and the supplied remote. The top features a cold accessory shoe for optional mics, a tape eject button, the wide/tele zoom toggle, a dedicated button for taking 3-megapixel stills (2048 x 1512 pixels) and the main on/off power switch.

On the left side is the swing-out 2.7-inch LCD monitor with a widescreen aspect ratio. Although rated 123K pixels, it’s decent with a nice range of adjustments for contrast and brightness. Unfortunately you have to access it through a convoluted menu system; more on this in a bit. When you open the screen, there are just two buttons on the camcorder body: one to change between full auto and manual settings as well as one to boost the LCD brightness one level. There are also USB and DV outputs. The right side has a small speaker and a compartment hiding the A/V out and mic in jacks. Panasonic is one of the few companies that offer mic jacks for folks who want to use an optional improved microphone. It’s a nice feature but it’s the rare person who actually uses it.

The rear is not nearly as clean looking as the rest of the camcorder. It’s dominated by the rechargeable lithium ion battery (rated 125 minutes in typical continuous use), the viewfinder and main controls. Although the battery is clunky, it does provide plenty of power since not too many people keep recording an event for two straight hours without hitting the stop button. Panasonic, like every other company, will gladly sell you optional spares, but hold off until you use it in the real world.

The viewfinder is a straight pull-out type with diopter control; it too has a widescreen aspect ratio albeit a tiny one to use when the LCD gets wiped out. The main mode dial gives access to all the key functions including video, camera, video and still playback as well as PC for downloads. There’s a four-way jog dial to move through the menu options and a cool turquoise light illuminates when you use it. Next to the mode dial is the record key. All are conveniently positioned for one-hand operation. The bottom of the camcorder has a tripod mount and a slot for optional SD cards used to store stills.

The Panasonic PV-GS300 comes with almost everything you need to get started other than one big omission—a blank tape. I know companies are looking to make a buck, but why not include a blank tape--especially for a $500-plus model? And of course no DV (FireWire) cable is included but few camcorder makers include one. That said, you’ll find the camcorder, rechargeable battery/charger, remote, stereo A/V and USB cables, 88-page Owner’s Manual and software CD ROM. The disc has MotionDV Studio 5.6LE for DV and Quick Movie Magic V1.0E, basic programs to edit your footage.

After prepping the camcorder, it was time to take some Mini DV videos and photographs.

Image Courtesy of Panasonic