Quick Review Camcorders : Panasonic PV-GS12

The adjustable black and white viewfinder cannot display the onscreen menu, making menu changes and manual control adjustments accessible only through the LCD screen. The easiest control to engage on the entire camera is the switch between the Automatic and Manual settings, which is simple. Manual controls are handled through the four-way controller, which grows tedious with long use.

With the CCD as small as it is, the color charts were unsatisfying in their results, with colors both uneven in the saturation patterns, and compromised throughout the charts -- most noticeably, the yellow and blue at 3000 lux, a light level considered high. The crispness of the image, and the transitions within the gray scale, are accurate and clean, although the jump between the lightest two bars is larger than the rest of the scale. The color charts at 60 and 15 lux are overly grayed, with dull tonal quality and a darkening of the image. The evenness of the color chart, however, is relatively improved, since the entire chart is darkened. Call that a partial victory for this camera. The overall crispness of the image is lowered, an expected side effect of diminished image quality. There are LED lights built into the front of the camera body, allowing the user of the Panasonic PV-GS12 the option of extra light, although the picture quality will likely become washed out.

The Panasonic PV-GS12 has a 20x optical zoom and a pointless 800x digital zoom, excessive to an extent I can’t even fathom. When digital zoom is engaged, the user of the Panasonic PV-GS12 will notice a drastic reduction in the image quality. The Manual control switch located on the left side of the camera body allows the user to engage the following manual features: zoom, focus, white balance, audio quality, shutter speed, and gain control. The control buttons located on the left side of the camera force the user into the laborious process of manual control where, even though the camera has many manual control options more expensive models lack, the only thing easily engaged is the LCD screen.

The following ports are available to the user of the Panasonic PV-GS12: A/V Out (doubles as an external mic port), USB, FireWire, SD Memory Card, Mini DV Tape. The port on the right side of the camera body, placed underneath the hand strap, is nearly impossible to use without first completely removing the strap from the camera body prior to use. Also, the lack of an analog input prevents analog-to-digital passthrough.

Panasonic PV-GS12 Compared to the...