Panasonic PV-GS9 MiniDV Camcorder w/20x Optical Zoom

I've been looking for a camcorder for several months, and have been comparing prices and features both on the web and in the stores. Based on my needs I was looking for the biggest bang for my buck. I saw this Panasonic PV-GS9 Palmcorder for $349 that included an extra free, longer life battery. I couldn't go wrong.

My needs were simple. I wanted something palm-size, and this fits the bill. It doesn't take still digital photos, but I already have 2 digital cameras. It will, however, allow you to snap single photos on the tape, which you can transfer to PC, as opposed to a Secure Digital card that the more expensive models have. It has a USB connection, a firewire connection, and an analog audio/video connection. The cable is provided for the latter, but not the first two. You can use the USB connection to allow the camcorder to be used as a web cam, but you will need software for that. I hooked up the analog connection to a USB Pinnacle Studio USB box I have, and it worked great. My Pinnacle Studio v.8 transferred the clips on the tape. You can save to CD or to your PC. I then tried a firewire cable connected to my laptop. Instantly, Windows Movie Maker opened up and automatically rewound the tape, then it transferred the movie, and allowed me to edit it, and save it as a WMV file. I use WinXP, which requires nothing else to work. You will need to download some drivers if you have Windows 98.

I have not tried the connection to the TV yet, but will soon. It works great in low light situations. It has a stereo zoom microphone. I could not hear any motor noise in my playback on the PC. Sound was crisp and clear, and the full screen video was crystal clear and very sharp. Depending on how hard you touch the zoom button, you can make the picture zoom in as slow or as fast as you want.

It comes with no editing software or cables, except for the AV cable. But then I didn't need anything extra, as I already had all the hardware and software I needed. It does not come with any digital tapes, so you will have to buy those. It comes with a Li-Ion battery and charger, and a cable to allow you to use the camcorder while plugged into the charger. In fact it is suggested you do that while hooked up to the PC to prevent battery drainage. Battery charging is very quick. The manual has 82 pages, is for this model and three other models, and is packed with information; and for my age, I need reading glasses to see all the small print and illustrations. It has Image Stabilization, but no remote control. The 2.5 inch digital viewfinder is very clear and easy to see, even with these "aged" eyes. The camcorder has an easy to use menu button, which is accessible when the digital viewfinder is opened.

For my needs, it is perfect. I love it, am very happy with it, and expect to get a lot of use out of it. Even with the tiny print in the manual, I still give it all 5's.

Hi! Just wanted to let others know out there that after reading the reviews left on Amazon I was a bit leary about getting the accesories for this camcorder given to me as a gift. However, I called the phone number in the manual and immediately had the cable and software shipped to me. I had no problems getting through on the phone or recieving the accesories. Just an F.Y.I. for others who might read the previous reviews regarding accesories and make their decision from them, they weren't that expensive (under $20 for both) and worth it if you are trying to get good use out of a nice camcorder for a minimal price.

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I was looking for a simple, low cost digital camcorder. This fits the bill. There are a bunch of interesting effects built in, none of which I'll ever use because I plan to edit video in iMovie on my Macintosh and output to DVD using iDVD. For $350, it did the job straight out of the box.

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I have just finished recording my first videotape with the Panasonic PV-GS9 and would like to make the following comments.

First, the camcorder is easy to use and is a basically a point and shoot camcorder.

For the more discriminating users I would like to point out some of the shortcomings of the camera.

1) I have found that the automatic focus is quite slow sometimes and sometimes would not work at all. I was photographing some hummingbirds up close and the camera would not focus on the feeder maybe because the color was white.

2) Dark subjects came out overexposed rather than rendering the intense colors one would like to have gotten.

3) Panasonic does not provide the software or cable to download to one's computer and it has been a real bitch trying to get the folks to respond to e-mail. I currently have three e-mails out to the service folks trying to find out how I might get the software. I received an answer to one e-mail directing me to a site where I could download the software but when I got there the link was a dead link. I have written three times about this and no one has answered my e-mails. Additionally, the e-mail with the dead link stated that the cable for downloading the movies to the computer "...is currently on back order with the factory for 4-6 weeks."

I cannot imagine what one might do if something goes wrong with the camcorder.

Despite the negatives I love the fact that I can get close up shots of birds from a safe distance without disturbing the birds and the camera will focus almost right at the edge of the lens. One could do close ups of ants if he wanted to. One really needs a tripod for the extended zooming range. You cannot hold this camera still at the 50X digital zoom.

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I bought this camera, hooked up the firewire and loaded movies into MovieMaker on WindowsXP a couple of times. Then, I tried to use it and it did nothing. I tried other cables, other firewire devices, and determined the problem was in the camera, so I returned it. Amazon was great about the return and sent me a new one and the same thing happened. The firewire worked a few times and then did nothing. I even tried it hooked up to another computer this time with no results.

I found a piece of paper tucked in the instructions saying that you must turn off your PC and camera, connect in a certain order and then turn them on or else the camera may be damaged. Are they serious? They expect me to shut down my PC and restart everytime I want to load video from this camera? I sure wouldn't recommend this camera.