Quick Review Camcorders: Panasonic PV-GS180

The Panasonic PV-GS180 has big shoes to fill replacing last year’s praised PV-GS150. But the company’s strategy has changed since then, choosing to strip features away in the interest of lowering prices. The result is a great camcorder in its own right, but a dubious value if you can track down last year’s model.

The PV-GS180 is the manufacturer’s cheapest 3-CCD camcorder. Each chip measures 1/6” and produces 800K gross pixels (440K effective). A 3-chip configuration tends to produce better color than a single chip, and the PV-GS180 definitely shows the benefits. The color balance was excellent without appearing oversaturated, and the image had a sharpness that appeared equal to camcorders costing much more.

 Low light performance was only average. While 3 chips are great for color performance in adequate light, it’s the size of the chip that factors more in low light. Fortunately, noise did not factor too heavily into the picture, something that was definitely an issue with lower-end Panasonics this year.

Most users would be able to pick up the PV-GS180 and be shooting within a couple of minutes. While it’s not quite as intuitive as a Sony, the camcorder does sport a clearly marked Auto/Manual switch. In Auto mode, it’s a fairly simple point-and-shoot process. The auto controls are as responsive as most consumer camcorders – that is to say, quite good. Transitions in exposure and focus were nice and gradual (rather than jarring), with white balance adjustments coming just a little too gradual at times. An electronic image stabilization helps smooth out shakes.

The manual control set is the number one reason you might consider a Panasonic over any other manufacturer. Fully independent aperture and shutter, focus, exposure, and gain are all available, along with the usual host of auto exposure modes and digital effects. Adjustments are made using our favorite type of control – a well-placed joystick. Positioned for one-handed operation, this is a handling dream. Beginners will likely have a learning curve to contend with due to Panasonic’s over-reliance on icons instead of text in their menus. The icons can de difficult to discern without the aid of the manual, but over time, they can become second nature. Finally, a mic jack and headphone jack (doubling as the  AV-out) is added, giving you a simple yet powerful option to improve sound quality.

The PV-GS180 is positioned a bit strangely in the MiniDV line-up from Panasonic this year. The next model down, the PV-GS59, actually has more extras – a 2.7” widescreen LCD, 30x zoom, and a remote control (versus a 2.5” LCD, 10x zoom, and no remote control). But the PV-GS180 has much better video performance due to the three CCDs. The next model up, the PV-GS300, comes with the upgrades of optical image stabilization, a Leica lens, a widescreen LCD, a flash, a remote, and higher still resolution. But it loses the PV-GS180’s headphone jack – a feature that many shooters demand. It’s a constant series of trade-offs to get what you want.

Overall, we think this is a great camcorder, but the optical image stabilization on the next model up, the PV-GS300 is tough to pass up. Even better is last year’s PV-GS150, which had all the features a shooter could want in a modest price grade. Sure, Panasonic just wanted to make their products more accessible, but oh, how we pine for yesteryear!

Panasonic PV-GS180 - THE BOTTOM LINE Rating: 224.16

Likes

- A strong performer in its price range with 3 CCDs - Panasonic's excellent suite of manual controls allow great control over image quality - In many respects the PV-GS300's equal - and likely a better value - Mic and headphone jacks

Dislikes

- Lacks optical image stabilization and widescreen LCD - Flash and remote only on the PV-GS300 - Modest still resolution.

Panasonic PV-GS300 Rating: 231.29	Canon Optura 50 Rating: 221.65	Panasonic PV-GS59 Rating: 208.33	JVC GR-D395 Rating: 193.13	Sony DCR-HC46 Rating: 183.67
Better	Better	Better	Better	Better
-Still Features -Still Resolution -LCD / Viewfinder -Battery -Value	-Zoom -Focus -Exposure -White Balance -Other Manual Control -Ease Of Use -Still Resolution -VCR Mode -Wide Angle -LCD / Viewfinder -Audio -Portability -Battery -Jacks / Ports / Plugs	-Exposure -Ease Of Use -Zoom Ratio -Wide Angle -LCD / Viewfinder -Portability -Battery -Value	-Automatic Control -Zoom Ratio -Wide Angle -LCD / Viewfinder -Portability -Battery	-Automatic Control -Zoom -White Balance -Ease Of Use -Zoom Ratio -LCD / Viewfinder -Portability -Battery
Equal	Equal	Equal	Equal	Equal
-Video Performance -Automatic Control -Overall Manual Control -Zoom -Focus -Exposure -Shutter Speed -White Balance -Gain -Other Manual Control -Ease Of Use -Still Perfomance -VCR Mode -Low Light Performance -Zoom Ratio -Handling -Portability -Compression -Media -Editing -Widescreen -24P/Scan Rates -Jacks / Ports / Plugs -Other Features	-Automatic Control -Still Perfomance -Zoom Ratio -Compression -Media -Editing -Widescreen -24P/Scan Rates -Other Features	-Zoom -Focus -Shutter Speed -White Balance -Gain -Other Manual Control -VCR Mode -Handling -Compression -Media -Editing -Widescreen -24P/Scan Rates -Other Features	-White Balance -Other Manual Control -VCR Mode -Compression -Media -Editing -24P/Scan Rates -Other Features	-Other Manual Control -Compression -Media -Editing -24P/Scan Rates
Worse	Worse	Worse	Worse	Worse
-Video Performance -Wide Angle -Audio	-Video Performance -Video Resolution -Overall Manual Control -Shutter Speed -Gain -Still Features -Low Light Performance -Handling -Value	-Video Performance -Video Resolution -Automatic Control -Overall Manual Control -Still Features -Still Resolution -Still Perfomance -Low Light Performance -Audio -Jacks / Ports / Plugs	-Video Performance -Video Resolution -Overall Manual Control -Zoom -Focus -Exposure -Shutter Speed -Gain -Ease Of Use -Still Features -Still Resolution -Still Perfomance -Low Light Performance -Audio -Handling -Widescreen -Jacks / Ports / Plugs -Value	-Video Performance -Video Resolution -Overall Manual Control -Focus -Exposure -Shutter Speed -Gain -Still Features -Still Resolution -Still Perfomance -VCR Mode -Low Light Performance -Wide Angle -Audio -Handling -Widescreen -Jacks / Ports / Plugs -Other Features -Value