Screwed Company: Chapter 2 Good Product (Part 1). Review on Panasonic NV GS 57

The Occasion

Camcorders usually are an omen of something big. In my case it was a 3.5 Kg, too-big-to-come-through-birth-canal-so-need-Cesarean nephew.

Options

I had been looking around for Camcorders for more than a month and as is usual started off with the Net. Camcorderinfo.com (CCI) is the site I frequented the most. The thorough review available there offers all the information needed to make an informed purchase. Unfortunately, none of the Panasonic and Canon models available for sale here were on the site. The one model that excited my interest was the Canon Elura 100. But an email to Canon revealed that that model was not on offer in India.

The choice boiled down to the Panasonic GS27, GS57 and GS180, the Sony HC46, HC96 and Canon MV 920, MV880.

I was keen to get a DV cam since the greater resolutions would be needed as DVD Writers and Players are becoming cheaper. Older models like Sony's TRV series used Hi8 format offered significantly lower resolution and clarity, but were cheaper than the DV cams.

As a ardent photographer who has been using an SLR for close to 15 years, the need to be able to manually control the different aspects of the film was crucial for me. Sony is all about user friendliness and offers its cams for those users who would rather just switch on the cam and let it do all the work. In that context, the Sony was already pushed down my list. The review at CCI also stated that the image quality of the Sony is not too good.

The Canon cameras are shrouded in mystery. You can find a lot of product specs, but there is not a single user review available. Emails to Canon asking them to offer a connection between the Elura and the MV series or any link that offers a user review of the cam was not replied. Probably the models have been released recently and may eventually find their way into CCI.

Compared to the mysterious nature of the Canon models, the Panasonic models are a bit less secretive, in that their cousins are mentioned on the CCI site. The GS 39 has been reviewed at CCI and the specs sheet almost matches with the GS 57. Besides that, only the Panasonic offered a jaw dropping 30X optical zoom. The GS 180 offered three image sensors that could have significantly increased the colour reproduction of the movie, but it was a bit too expensive and only had a 10X zoom.

The major factors which influenced my purchase of the Panasonic were : 1. the 30 X optical zoom, 2. The Photo taking (albeit 0.3 MP) capability which used SD memory since I already had a Kodak which used the same type of memory. 3. The LED light 4. The Firewire port which allowed editing the movie on the tape.

You would like to read about initial apprehensions I had about Panasonic, and which I aired here : https://mouthshut.com/review/Panasonic_PV-GS36-107983-1.html.

Considering the initial problems I had about Panasonic, the product had to be significantly better than the others on offer for me to accept it. Well, it is. But that was not the last time Panasonic left a bad taste in my mouth. There was another occasion when I had placed my order and the distributor called back late in the evening to say that he had erroneously underquoted the price! And the local representative of the company is an ignorant person who is unable to offer relevant information.

My only hope is that the cam doesn't develop any problems for three years so that I don't have to deal with the nitwits to get the cam repaired under warranty.

The Cam

GS 57 over the others

This model offers the most manual control options, you can control the aperture, the shutter speed, the white balance besides the focus. All this translated to greater artistic liberty and more time to fool around. If all the terms are arcane to you then you can also set the cam to auto mode and need worry only about getting the object in the frame.

The GS 57 offers some additional features over the GS 27 and costs about 20% more. The 57 has these while the 27 doesn't : 1. Colour Electronic View finder 2. The LED light 3. Editing on the Tape 4. The Image taking capability 5. Bundled software 6. A Remote Control.

Reasons to stick to the 27 are 1. the LCD screen is in colour and that would be the preferred way to shoot unless you want an aching eye through peeking into the viewfinder 2. LED will be required only if you are shooting in total darkness, since it is not quite powerful 3. most editing will be done on the PC before transferring to a disk, so editing on tape is useful only if you intend to use the cam as the playback device also. 4. For the price difference you can get a digital camera offering better resolution. 5 Bundled software capabilities are similar to or worse than the many editing applications FREELY available. 6. Remote will be useful only if you intend to playback the tape in the cam.

But I chose the 57 mainly because 1. I already had a digital cam, 2. battery gets drained faster when using the LCD screen, I intend to use a tripod to capture long sessions in which case using an LCD is not needed, 3. editing on tape and zero light photography are interesting projects for hobbyists like me.

A spec sheet for the 57 is available here : https://jjmehta.com/products/panasonicgs57.html, the GS 27 is here :https://jjmehta.com/products/panasonicgs27.html.

Usage

Handling

The 57 is light and easy to use. Once you have slid your hand into the side strap you are all set. All required controls are within easy reach of the fingers and thumb. The thumb has access to the record, control and light button while the index finger can control the zoom level and the photo button. The Menu button needs to be pressed using the other hand since the thumb cannot reach it. But you will rarely be using the menu in the midst of a shoot. A joystick controls most of the menu functions of the cam. This is a 5 directional joystick having a downward movement besides the four horizontal ones. Pushing the stick down opens the in record menu and navigating can be done by moving it in any of the horizontal directions. Navigation is really easy.

Grouches

The side strap can sometimes post an obstruction to the cassette bay since the cassette is ejected horizontally. Though some strips to enhance the grip are present on the cassette cover, it should not be used heavily since it could cause the cover hinges to malfunction. You can let your fingers rest on the cover, but holding it firmly may not be a wise idea. The strap shall remain the sole support for the cam.

(Review Continues in Part II at gs57review.awardspace.com, word limit of MS is to blame. )