Panasonic PV-GS85 MiniDV Camcorder with 32x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

The "Panasonic GS85" is a great camcorder 4 most general uses. We had a need 4 a second video camera on a shoot of an instructional video 4 our small business & ended up borrowing a friend's GS85 4 a few weeks of heavy taping.

Overall, the camera performed very well & exceeded most of my expectations 4 ease of use & 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 & has a vastly superior image.

Highly recommended 4 home users! I also recommend the Digital Concepts Battery 4 Panasonic CGA-DU21 / Hitachi DZBP-14WS, it is a great long life battery.

as mine. but mine possibly seemed 2 have poor (defective?) cmos sensor. As a result. autofocus was extremely slow & also resolution dropped too low even in the shade, not mentioning real low light. Overall picture quality in SP was worse than with my old Panasonic with same 680kpix sensor in LP. Maybe just my bad luck...
Great features are: fantastic OIS; VERY comfortable finger controls; webcam capability.

This camcorder is great 4 the normal person. It was not made 4 the sim-pro or pro vedio maker. This is a very good camcorder 4 the price. It is easy 2 work, has great Zoom & the OIS is great. I have used this camcorder every where. Please stay away from the PV-GS80, 4 a few dollars more you can get the PV-GS85 that does a lot more & I had the 80 & had problems with it the 85 is so much better.

The PV-GS85 is one of many Digital camcorders I've tried in the last two years, & so far the one that has come closest 2 filling my need 4 a versatile consumer grade camcorder 2 replace my old Analog VHS PV-43 which broke after 13 years & 40+ hours of flawless service. Without going into boring detail, the PV-GS85 offers comprehensive manual controls accessible ( with some dexterity ) using one hand, & can even record stills 2 the SD card "while" shooting video. Low light performance comes close 2 matching my PV-43 something that was the norm on old Analog camcorders, but very rare on the new Digital models. It also uses MiniDV which uses a tape like the old Analog camcorders which 2 some may seem a disadvantage, however it provides the least compression artifacts in a lossless form that you can archive & label with a pen just like the old Analog tapes unlike DVDs where the ink migrates into the media. It also has Optical image stabilization, a very large field of view, a battery which will last as long a tape, as well as an external battery charger which is included. All in all a nice well executed camcorder. Panasonic even offers an optional 10 watt video light ( at extra cost ) that mounts on the cameras cold shoe.
This cameras not perfect, it doesn't have a microphone jack or manual focus ring like my old PV-43, nor are the stills of great quality ( only one of the camcorders I tested took decent, not great stills & had a flash - it's best 2 stick with a dedicated camera 4 stills )but it does provide possibly the best compromise available today. As always, do some research an try out different camcorders & have a clear idea of your expectations before deciding 2 buy & you'll be happier.

After searching 4 a while 4 a ~300 dollars mini-dv camera, i decided 4 this one & i dont regret it.

Has a very good video quality & a steady shot 4 photos, took pictures from moving cars or on the move & the optical stabilizers are quite good.
On top of that has a 32x optical zoom 2 match, those two allows you 2 take great pictures or film from very far.
Has decent low light capabilities.
That turn on/off function when closing the LCD is quite good.

Cons:
The light is not very useful.
Comes with a 45~60 minutes battery, larger ones makes imposible 2 use the viewfinder.
You have 2 remove the battery 2 access AC power, USB & firewire.
Cannot charge the battery while you have the camera connected 2 AC

Resuming, is a very good camera in the fundamentals & im happy with it.

When you carry the tiny Panasonic PV-GS80 Palmcorder Camcorder with you, you'll capture every unique moment on film. This amazingly small & sharp digital camcorder gives you clear, sharp, stable photos & video. The optical image stabilizer & 32x optical zoom ensure you always get the best shot. Record 2 your MiniDV tape or store images 2 an SD Card with the built-in slot. Professional tools like a noise reducing microphone, low-light shooting (with MagicPix) & white balancing make this little camcorder competitive with bigger models. When you see how compact it is, you'll wonder why you bought anything else. It's the Palmcorder that does it all. 16 - 9 Wide Mode recording Digital Zoom - 32x - 1,000x Records 2 MiniDV tape or SD Card Stereo Zoom Mic with wind noise reduction Backlight compensation Functions as a webcam White Balance - Auto/Indoor/Outdoor/Manual Minimum Illumination - 2 Lux (with MagicPix) Manual Focus Ring Soft-Skin Mode Date Recording Recording Modes - SP/LP Still Picture Size - 640 x 480 (4 - 3), 640 x 360 (16 - 9) DPOF - Max. 999 stills USB 2.0 connection Languages - English / French / Spanish Mini DV in/out Accessory Shoe - Cold Dimensions(HxWxD) - 3.09 x 2.86 x 5.36 Weight - 1 lb.