Product Description

The PV-GS65, with its 3CCD Camera System, reproduces color in great fidelity by using a separate CCD for reds, greens and blues. It's the same 3CCD technology used in Panasonic professional broadcast equipment, resulting in 540 lines of breathtaking resolution. You can count on Panasonic 3CCD Digital Camcorders to give you colors that are as rich and vibrant as your life.The PV-GS65 captures still images with incredible detail at up to 1.2 Megapixels. The Quad-Density Pixel Distribution Technology, a technology used in Panasonic professional broadcast equipment, makes it possible to capture still pictures with amazing quality.Digital EIS compensates for unintentional hand and camcorder movement to help stabilize your recordings - even while you're recording as a passenger from a moving vehicle. With Digital EIS, you won't have to worry about shaky soccer games or family outings.An optical zoom this powerful works like a telescope to produce close-up shots with extraordinary clarity. And with the different zoom speeds, you can control how quick you go from a wide angle to telephoto zoom. Through the use of digital technology, the zoom ratio on the can be increased digitally, producing an incredibly close shot. You won't miss a single detail!The joystick makes the camera much easier to use, letting you control all basic operations with one hand. As you shoot, just watch the image in the monitor and follow the instruction guide. You can handle a number of operations quickly and easily, without even taking your eye off the subject.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #53071 in Camera & Photo
• Brand: Panasonic
• Model: PV-GS65
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 3.00" h x 3.00" w x 5.00" l, .93 pounds
• Display size: 2.5

Features

• 3CCD sensor dedicates one chip to red, green, and blue for true-to-life color rendering
• MiniDV recording format offers up to 500 lines of horizontal resolution
• 10x optical zoom with digital image stabilization
• 2.5-inch diagonal LCD
• Navigational joystick system offers one-handed operating ability

From the Manufacturer
Capture Still Pictures With Outstanding Quality
The PV-GS65 captures still images with incredible detail at up to 1.2 megapixels. The Quad-Density Pixel Distribution Technology, used in Panasonic professional broadcast equipment, makes it possible to capture still pictures with amazing quality.

Three CCDs dedicated to the red, green, and blue colors of the spectrum (right) produce more vibrant images than do traditional one-CCD systems.

Get True, Crisp Color Images with our 3CCD Mini-DV Camcorders
The PV-GS65, with its 3CCD Camera System, reproduces color in great fidelity by using a separate CCD for reds, greens, and blues. It's the same 3CCD technology used in Panasonic professional broadcast equipment, resulting in 540 lines of breathtaking resolution. You can count on Panasonic 3CCD Digital Camcorders to give you colors that are as rich and vibrant as your life.

Panasonic's Digital Electronics Image Stabilizer (D-EIS) and 10x zoom deliver sharp photos from far away.

Digital Electronics Image Stabilizer (D-EIS) Helps Eliminate Blurred Images
Digital EIS compensates for unintentional hand and camcorder movement to help stabilize your recordings--even while you're recording as a passenger from a moving vehicle. With Digital EIS, you won't have to worry about shaky soccer games or family outings.

Get Up Close with 10x Optical Zoom and 700x Digital Zoom
An optical zoom this powerful works like a telescope to produce close-up shots with extraordinary clarity. And with the different zoom speeds, you can control how quickly you go from a wide angle to telephoto zoom. The zoom ratio can be increased digitally, producing an incredibly close shot. You won't miss a single detail.

One-Touch Navigation and Joystick Control
The joystick makes the camera much easier to use, letting you control all basic operations with one hand. As you shoot, just watch the image in the monitor and follow the instruction guide. You can handle a number of operations quickly and easily, without even taking your eye off the subject.

Customer Reviews

Excellent entry level
Because this is my first camcorder, I researched and compared cameras online for weeks before I made up my mind. A great place to get info is camcorderinfo (I can't write the full address because amazon blocks it out! you figure what's missing.) I picked this particular panasonic because it seemed the best balance of features and price. For a beginner like me with no previous experience, this camcorder is excellent. These are the features that I really liked:

1. The quality of the video is supposed to be very good due to its 3ccd's. At this price level, panasonic is the only one. After all, video is really what it's all about. Everything else is icing on the cake.
2. It has a mic jack. again, at this price, no other one.
3. Remote control

After a few weeks of using it, I like all the controls. Reviewers complain about the zoom being on the middle finger and at first it's a little awkward. Yes, it should have been on the index, but you only need 15 minutes to become an expert and then you don't think about it anymore.

Also, after reading the manual in 10 minutes, one can become an expert in the joystick control. I also have a Nikon coolpix digital camera, and it has a very similar mode knob, which made it easier for me to learn.

With so many nice features at this price, I was concerned that it was too good to be true, so i got extended warranty on it, and it made me feel a lot better. The 90day warranty is no too reassuring.

Some accesories are almost necessary, besides the extended warranty:

1. 4hr battery. The 1hr battery it comes with may last only 30min. or less depending on how much zoom you use, if you view the LCD, and if you play and fast forward or rewind
2. Case. I got a Lowepro Rezo 110 aw. I like compact, and this one is very small and could fit all the cables and everything in it.

Because now i am getting to like this video stuff, i also got:

3. Tripod (Opteka 60", $20, a super deal!) so i don't always have to be behind the camera. Also, even though this camera has "image stabilization", it can only do so much, and there is a BIG difference with video taken with a tripod. It looks really professional. Most people's video moves and shakes so much that you can't even watch it for 10 minutes
4. DVD-R drive with nero software to make videos
5. firewire card to import video to my pc.

This last point is the reason I gave it 4 stars. In doing my research I missed a fine point about video transfer. This camera has a USB port but it's only for the still pictres, not for video. According to the manufacturer's description, the next model up, the gs150, can transfer video through its USB port, thus it could have saved me from buying a firewire card. Therefore, I figured the net savings of going with the gs65 is only about $70. Had I known this I would have gone with the gs150, considering all I have spent in video accessories anyway.

Last, I took some still pictures and they were pretty bad compared to my Nikon coolpix. Maybe I should try again, but everywhere I read says camcorders are just not to be used for taking stills. This particular camcorder does not even have a flash. If you want a camcorder that takes nice stills, you'd have to spend thousands, thus, it's not worth it because you can spend just a few hundred for a decent digital camera. I knew this ahead of time, so this really did not affect my rating.

Overall I am very happy I went with this one because it's a great starting point for under $500. I still think this is a better choince than Cannon or Sony at this price.

UPDATE FEB 2006:
I am happier with this camcorder than when I originally wrote my review in August 2005. It turns out that most video editing software today only works with firewire, not with USB2, although this may change in the future. Thus I don't mind having gotten the fw card after all. I am sure the GS150 is a better product, but everytime I have taken video it has given me great results: sunlight, indoors, and night (with light). This camera will surely carry me through the next few years, and if I decide I need a better one, I will probably go with something better than the 150. If you can afford the price, this is excellent an entry level.

As a result, I am getting more serious about video and have looked for more accessories. I am suprised to find out that consumer camcorder technology has not fully come of age yet like digital cameras, so it's not very clear what are the best accessories. These are a few more I bought:

1. Rode Videomic: super enhances sound and picks up conversations very clearly!
2. Bescor KLK-65XT, VS 65 Video Light: great power light that works both on AC and battery (kind of bulky, but still portable)
3. Cool-lux Light & Sound Bracket, Camcorder Dual Mount Bracket for Video Lights & Microphones: This lets me use both mic and light.

My in-laws have not met our baby, and thanks to all this technology they have seen him grow. I am very happy I made this investment.

A superb camcorder under $500
I did a LOT of comparing before I bought this camcorder. The "lack of zoom" wasn't that big of a deal to me compared to the other features. My hands are too shaky for zooming in much beyond 10x anyway. I did use a little bit of the digital zoom (to 12x) and my video (although shaky) seemed to still be exceptional.

The low light recording on this camera is tremendous for it's price range. I also like the S-video output, which for some reason seems to be the first thing to go when camcorder companies ditch options to drive down the price. Mic input is also a nice feature usually lacking on a camcorder in this price range.

I haven't taken any stills yet, but samples I've seen on the web show that it does a pretty adequate job and unlike some other camcorders, you can take stills to the SD card while shooting video.

The lack of software might be a concern to some, but chances are if you bought a video capture card or a "Firewire" card for your PC, you have some acceptable editing software anyway.

The following minor cons aren't really enough to detract from the overall value of this camera:
1. I don't like is that you have to flip out the LCD panel to turn on manual focus. Some of the more advanced filming options are only available in manual mode.
2. The thumb "joystick" and it's associated icons isn't the most intuitive or easy thing to use, although I do think it's better than a bunch of buttons all over the place.

Basically, if you'd like to make some high quality home video and are looking for an affordable camcorder, then this is the one for you...

Zoom sacrificed for great color
I just compared the GS65 and GS35 at my local electronics store. To my surprise, they were already in stock and on sale! The GS65 has significantly better color than the GS35 due to its 3CCD style. However, is the better color worth the sacrifice in the zoom range? That's a question you'll have to ask yourself. Not only do you loose some optical zoom in the telephoto range, the GS65 starts at a higher zoom than the GS35. Therefore, it also looses out in the wideangle range. By comparison, the lens on the GS65 is 2.45-24.5mm (35mm equivalent of 44.7-447mm) whereas the GS35 is 1.9-57.0mm (35mm equivalent of 35-1040mm). The extra optical tele and wider base focal length may just be enough for some users to outweight the color difference. Except for a headphone out and the features mentioned above, the two models are nearly identical. I was happily surprised at the ease of use and accuracy on the joystick thumb control. Although, the menu button was just out of reach for my thumb.