Comments about Panasonic Panasonic PVGS500 3CCD Mini DV Camcorder:

I purchased the PV-GS500 to replace my old Panasonic miniDV camcorder that gave out on me after about 5 or 6 years (tape mechanism stopped functioning properly). So far, this looks to be a great camcorder. Most user reviews I've read are positive, and most professional reviews give this camcorder a pretty good rating, especially compared to others in its price range. From what I've seen so far, controls are easy to use and well-located, it is a feature rich camera for its price, it's easy to handle (not as heavy as some reviews I've read seem to indicate), even pretty good looking. With more use, I expect this will be leaps and bounds beyond my previous Panasonic camcorder. I'm really looking forward to shooting some video in 16:9 and to trying out the 24p and Cinema modes.

Comments about Panasonic Panasonic PVGS500 3CCD Mini DV Camcorder:

I use the product for special events in the family, the picture quality is good! but it does not have a flash light, so taking video during evening is not possible,

Comments about Panasonic Panasonic PVGS500 3CCD Mini DV Camcorder:

I use this camera for just about everything now. In the past, I have made short videos for the web as well as a few documentaries for school. The camera that I used to have was a VHS-C camcorder with very few features, so I figured it was time to upgrade. This is a very solid camcorder. It is easy to use for a point-and-shooter, but it also comes with the features and manual controls a semi-professional, and sometimes professional shooter needs. For example, this is one of the few camcorders these days that has a microphone jack. You can plug an external microphone in to get better audio. The 3 ccd's also give it great color reproduction. This camcorder does not have every manual feature, but it does have the necesities. You can change the shutter speed from 1/60 second to 1/8000 second (you can not go any slower). It also has manual white balance with some good presets like indoor and outdoor, as well as iris (gain). Another good thing is that it has a manual focus ring, so you don't have to bother going into the pesky menus to get the shot in focus.

The only problem that I know about this camcorder is that is does not have a headphone jack, so in order to monitor audio you have to buy adaptors and monitor it through the A/V out. I know a lot of people complain about the manual controls being in the menus, but when you are only setting them once when shooting a scene, it is really no trouble.