The best in its price range. Review on Panasonic PV-GS35

Panasonic PV GS 35 is competing with Sony’s DCR HC-32 in terms of price range. When it comes to picture quality/ zoom/ and manual control, there isn’t any comparison; Panasonic beats Sony in every compartment. Sony does offer touch screen control on the LED display itself and 3D animated menu but it forgets the fact that a camcorder is to shoot pictures and not being a Gizmo!

When you shoot the same scene using both these camcorders, the results are strikingly noticeable. Sony lacks contrast and the pictures tend to have a white haze on to it. Also, Sony has just 20X optical zoom while Panasonic GS 35 comes with 30. Panasonic GS 35 uses electronic stabilization technique which is not as good as the optical one used by Sony.

An external microphone jack is only available in Panasonic (at this price range). Audio can be recorded in either 12 bit or 16 bit format which means that you can give a voice over later on. The viewfinder in Panasonic GS 35 is color while its Black and white for Sony HC 32.

The Sony MiniDV handycam’s are much sleeker than Panasonic. The buttons on Panasonic need getting used to. The USB/Firewire sockets are very hard to access because they are just beneath the wrist strap. The socket has a plastic cover which looks delicate and may break. The length of the shoulder strap is too short. But all these points are superficial. The picture quality and other important features is what really matters.

Battery life of Panasonic shipped with the camcorder is sufficient enough to record the entire 60 minute cassette. The same cannot be said for many of its competitors. The battery stops charging when you use the DC jack which is annoying.

The inbuilt white LED is not powerful enough and has a range of only 1.5 meters. When it comes to low light areas, the images are grainy. A green noise is visible if you shoot indoors, under fluorescent tube light. But a single CCD camcorder cannot offer any better. For its price range, look no further; the Panasonic GS 35 is worth every dime.