Panasonic PV-GS85 MiniDV Camcorder with 32x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
by Panasonic
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Digital product summary information
Manufacturer: PanasonicModel: GS85
Color: SILVER
Product features:
- Features 32x optical zoom
- Pure Color Engine
- Large 2.7-inch widescreen LCD
- One-Touch Navigation for easy, intuitive setting and shooting
- Use an SD/SDHC Memory Card to transfer image easily
- Adobe Premiere Elements 8
- Nero 9
- Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 9
- Sony Vegas Movie Studio 9 Platinum Pro Pack
- Pinnacle Studio Ultimate Collection V14
Digital camera reviews of Panasonic PV-GS85 MiniDV Camcorder with 32x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
Digital camera Review: Very Good Camcorder - Recommended
Summary: 4 Stars
The "Panasonic GS85" is a great camcorder for most general uses. We had a need for a second video camera on a shoot of an instructional video for our small business and ended up borrowing a friend's GS85 for a few weeks of heavy taping.
Overall, the camera performed very well and exceeded most of my expectations for ease of use and quality, with the following observations:
Pros -
Good image quality *
Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) works very well
Accurate auto White Balancing
Conveniently placed controls
Great battery life
Cons -
"Cold" Accessory Shoe
No built in light
* While the image quality was very good, it did not match the quality of our high-end primary camera (Canon GL2). We ended up buying Panasonic PV-GS320 3.1MP 3CCD MiniDV Camcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom, which is in the same family as the GS85 but has 3CCDs and has a vastly superior image.
Highly recommended for home users! I also recommend the Digital Concepts Battery for Panasonic CGA-DU21 / Hitachi DZBP-14WS, it is a great long life battery.
Summary of Panasonic PV-GS85 MiniDV Camcorder with 32x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
Panasonic PV-GS85 is a powerful 32x optical zoom camcorder with O.I.S.Panasonic's O.I.S. minimizes the handshake that can be such a problem with handheld shots. Because Panasonic's system is optical, there is no image quality degradation. When you're shooting a still picture, the MEGA O.I.S. system automatically activates, doubling the corrective power. With O.I.S. and MEGA O.I.S., the camcorder is equipped for clear, beautiful shooting of both motion and still pictures.This 32x zoom can fill the screen with even a distant subject. Not only is this lens the powerful zoom offered in a home-use digital camcorder, but it also features low distortion. And because it's optical, there is no quality loss - you get the images in all their natural beauty.The Pure Color Engine converts the CCD output signal from a complementary color signal into an RGB signal at an early stage and extracts the low-frequency luminance component from the RGB signal. This innovative engine also achieves truly superb color reproduction for high-zoomed pictures.This model offers the High-Picture-Quality Wide Mode, which produces images that make for beautiful, dramatic viewing on a wide-screen TV. The image is processed on 16:9 area of the CCD. Because the image decoded has the same proportions as your wide-screen TV, there is virtually no picture quality degradation. You get beautiful images and all the excitement and dynamism on either a wide 16:9 screen TV or a conventional 4:3 TV. This model also features a wide 2.7-inch LCD, making it easier to frame shots when you're shooting in 16:9 mode. You can enjoy shooting wide, and viewing wide.You can snap off a still picture (VGA) while continuing to record motion pictures. You don't even have to change recording modes. The motion pictures are recorded onto tape, the still is recorded onto the SD Memory Card.Camcorders
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