Review on 📹 Panasonic PVDV202 MiniDV Multicam Digital Camcorder with 2.5-inch LCD, IR Remote, and 8MB SD Memory Card – Discontinued by Manufacturer (SEO Enhanced) by Andy Hearshman

I bought this camcorder about 2 months ago. Decided to share my experience with everyone. Overall I am satisfied with this purchase. 680k pixel CCD camcorders in this price range (the top brands at least) usually have a resolution of 390k or 460k pixels. With a MiniDV camcorder, the number of pixels on each CCD has a significant impact on video quality. With a resolution of 680,000 pixels, this should therefore offer a significantly better video quality than the other2. IMAGE STABILIZATION AND PICTURE EFFECTS It's amazing how much the video shakes, even with what I consider to be a steady hand at 10x zoom. Image stabilization can make this shot stand out. The nice thing is that you can apply stabilization both during recording and during playback. Another effect I often use is the fade effect to separate different video sequences3. SOUND EFFECTS AND ZOOM MIC I like being able to block out background noise caused by howling wind. Also, in relatively quiet environments, the zoom mic can filter out ambient noise and try to make the audio (from the area you're zooming in on) more audible. Nice! 4. POWERFUL LIGHT I found this very useful. Digital photography products don't typically work well in low light, so this feature was a must for me. And while that would certainly require more battery power, my batteries didn't seem to be draining very quickly either. WEBCAM MODE You can also use this as a webcam. I've never used this mode, but I assume it works the same as any dedicated webcam on the market6. GOOD LCD While the LCD isn't great in bright conditions, it's about the same as or better than other camcorders on the market7. REMOTE CONTROL - SIMPLE OPERATION; and RELIABILITY I found this camcorder easy to use. The remote control helps to play/control remotely. The camcorder has good build quality and gives me a warm, fuzzy feel. OPTICAL ZOOM - 10x I think optical zoom is a feature you can never get enough of! 10x is decent and useful, but to be honest there are many models that offer 20x+. The larger the zoom, the shakier the video and the worse the image quality (because less light hits the lens). I never use digital zoom so optical zoom is all I have2. USB CONNECTIVITY AND PHOTO MODE PHOTO This has its caveats. Yes, you can transfer video over a USB 1 connection, but that's just not practical. One second video download to your computer in 40 seconds (because USB 1 is only 12 megabits per second). Also, you can only upload 1 minute of video at a time (which takes 40 minutes anyway). Simply impractical! I wonder if Panasonic will soon upgrade these models with USB 2 support - it will be good - it's 40x faster! As for the photo mode, I was disappointed. I thought 1.3 megapixels (albeit with interpolation) would give me decent shots, but that's not the case. Take the advice of others and plan to use a [good] camera for photos, they will leave you dead. And don't let the memory card feature fool you - it's not very useful to have low-quality pictures on the card.3. FIREWIRE TRANSMISSION LIMITATION To be honest I don't know how many people will use this feature to store/process their digital recordings. If you're like me and intend to do this once DVD burners become cheaper (allowing you to burn around 1 hour of video to 1 DVD after making the necessary changes), there is a caveat. In FireWire transmission mode, only 3 minutes of video is transmitted at a time. I don't know about other digital camcorders, but this sounds like a trivial annoyance. '' one. MORE BATTERY The battery that comes with the camera allows about 40 minutes of video recording with the LCD monitor and zoom. I learned this the hard way - the very next day I bought this camcorder, I took a cruise on San Francisco Bay to see the 4th of July celebrations. I've captured the details of Alcatraz; and after 3 hours of waiting in the cold, the fireworks finally started. And as Murphy would have warned, the battery died instantly! :'( You have been warned. There is a decent Panasonic battery which I bought for [a moderate amount] - gives me about 2 more hours. Must buy! You will need it until you start recording your videos on Burn DVD3 FIREWIRE CARD and DVD WRITER For burning video to DVD I'll probably wait until DVD technology stabilizes and prices fall - maybe in a year or two before I buy them I plan on getting a telephoto lens with 2x zoom and a wide-angle lens, this camcorder has a 10x zoom