Panasonic PV-GS31 MiniDV Camcorder w/26x Optical Zoom

The Panasonic PV-GS31 is an excellent camcorder to learn the basics and capture excellent digital video. It had exactly what I needed: a light for night shots, LED screen, and a great zoom feature for close-ups. It transfers well to the computer to upload the video I take on the MiniDV tapes. But make sure you purchase a firewire cable (4 pin to 4 pin) and have software like Intervideo DVD creator or Windows Movie Maker to take advantage of video editing. It's a good buy without the features you don't really need!

If you're looking to take good pictures, don't rely on the Panasonic camcorder. Instead, go buy a tiny digital camera with at least 5 megapixels. This camcorder can take pictures but they're less than 1 megapixel, which equals poor quality pix.

I purchased this camcorder with a lot of hesitancy because of the reviews it received here on Amazon, but for the price I got it for, it was hard to refuse.

First, the camera is very lightweight and sturdy in construction. If handled delicately, I don't foresee any spontaneous operational issues appearing. If you drop it and kick it around, then sure, it's going to break and not function correctly.

I am very pleased with the quality of film that it has produced. I am an amateur photographer and videographer, and I have no complaints personally about this particular model. It functions well in all light, and I was especially impressed with how it did in low-light. I found that reading the manual thoroughly and understanding the cameras functions helped me immensely to avoid problems.

Overall, I am pleased with it and am glad that I chose it. I have full faith in this camera, and that is why it's going to be used on an Alaskan cruise, and to film my wedding this summer. It's a great camera for the price.

Now, I do have a couple of rants about it.

When in a specialized mode while filming, the display is very slow. So I haven't been able to have "real time filming" and when I am shooting something, and I see it on-screen, it's already happened and something else is going on.

The camera does not come with any extras, which meant that we had to run to the store to get the Mini DV tapes required to start using it immediately.

The BIGGEST issue that actually caused me a lot of frustration and anger was that with this camera you CANNOT transfer your film to your computer through USB. With my other cameras, I have always been able to transfer all digital images (movies and stills) over USB. Not with this. You have to have a special cable (Firewire 4 pin to 4 pin) AND you have to have the port for it IN your computer. Most average computer users do not have this port (I have a new Dell Dimension) So, I have to go and buy the Firewire port ($14.99), open my computer case and physically install the hardware. The firewire cable itself is really inexpensive. For someone who doesn't know about computers and needs this port, it could honestly cost you quite a bit to have it installed for you. It turns into a lot of hassel, which isn't very appealing for todays technological consumer.

Overall, I rate it a good camera for the money, but I do not like the issue with the firewire cable.

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Read some positive things about this line that led me to believe that maybe our modest video needs could be served with a "budget" level video camera. I was wrong.

As others have mentioned, this camera is nearly useless indoors. All we wanted to do was shoot some video of our newborn baby. The problem is, newborns aren't in the mid-day sun, outdoors, much. Tried video during the day -indoors -very mediocre. In the evening, in a lit home, horrible. This camera is also very slow to focus when using in "auto" mode, and there's minimal steady-shot capabilities here too. So you get a shaky, pixellated, out of focus, dark video all the time.

I came to the conclusion anything I shot with this was going to turn out frustratingly poorly, except in absolutely optimum light conditions. Despite my limited use for the camera, it had to go back. Having no video camera it seems is less frustrating than having one you wish was better. I concluded I had no choice but to add more to my video camera budget and get something that might actually give me some useable video.

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It is a very good budget buy for family movies. Sharp picture, no motor noise. Nize zoom (and mic zoom too!). Fit well in the hand. Few complicated functions, you may need the manual in the begining if you want use them. You can record more than 60 minutes with the standart battery. It would be nice if they had usb and firewire cables in the package, but you can find them really cheap on the net. The battery indicator may be improved. Overall, for 300 usd after the rebate it is a very good buy. Better night shots comparing to Sony, no motor noise comparing to JVC and lighter than Canon.

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I bought this camera as a replacement to a Samsung SCD535, which I used for about two days before I realized that I just couldn't stand it. The Panasonic PV-GS31 is like a dream.

If you want professional, TV-show quality pictures all the time, get a $1000 camera. If you want a camera that works well both indoors and out, is easy to use, and affordable, this is a good candidate. Someone seriously into video would be disappointed, but for the casual hobbyist, this is quite a nice beast.

I have had few problems taking pictures indoors, even in rooms with one fluorescent bulb and darkened windows. You just need to fiddle with the settings a little... Night mode is your friend in some cases. Even without nightmode on, there is very little in the way of noise.

The image stabilizer can be a little unsteady zoomed in really close, but it doesn't seem like this is a terribly unusual problem in any camera.

The camera is lighter than the SCD535 I had previously, and feels good/fits in my hand.

I chose it over the JVC GR-D270US because it is supposed to be slightly better in low light. I chose it over the Canon ZR200 because I heard Canons frequently had motor noise. And the Samsung was just awful.

The controls aren't terribly intuitive, but they're not bad to learn and are accessed similarly to each other, so it's not like it's a horrible task to remember how to do things.

You do need a firewire port, and cord to upload video to your computer. The camera has a four pin port. USB in this model is only for uploading stills. I haven't tried the still photo mode yet, but honestly, I love my still digital Kodak camera, so I probably will just use that when I need a good quality photo.

All in all, pleased with the camera. It's a good idea to get a replacement battery, such as the ER-C535, or CGA-DU14 as Panasonic puts a cheap battery with a short life on the default model.