Pan GS300 and Sony HC-96 -- First impressions from a newbie


Things to know -

I’m a newbie
I have yet to fully read the manuals
Both cams were set on their default auto settings with the backlight setting turned on
Used a Sony MiniDv tape for both cams


How I tested both –

Took one in each hand and walked around the house for about an hour getting different shots in different environments with different lighting situations.


My first impressions –

1. The 300 seemed to have less noise, sharper results, and an overall better image.

2. The 300 was noticeably darker in indoor light. Shadows were much more noticeable and distracting. This is probably the primary downside to the 300 for my situation.

3. The 96 was noticeably brighter, however the whites were way over blown and hard to look at. I’m sure there’s a way to adjust this blown out issue, I just have yet to find it.

4. The 96 did not snap into focus very well. There was an obvious lag when moving the camera from one backdrop to another. The 300 always seemed to be in focus no matter your movements. It often took more then 2 seconds for the 96 to snap back and would lightly pan in and out of focus while moving the camera between subjects in the same scene. This was not a huge issue for me, but it Really bothered my wife (most likely the deal breaker for us).

5. The night shot on the 96 was very nice to play around with… However the counter part on the 300 is completely useless.

6. The strap for the 96 was way more comfortable then the 300. I had a hard time getting use to holding the 300, but had no problem whatsoever holding the 96.

7. the touch screen and menu system on the 96 was a bit weird at first. But within 15 minutes I was use to it to the point I was trying to touch the screen on the 300 whenever I wanted to make a change. I can understand why some don’t like it; however I could very easily become an advocate for the touch screen system.

8. The ability to fade on the 96 is per shooting instance and fader settings do not save. This really pissed me off since I was quite happy with the black fading in and out on the 300.

9. The Sony was quite a bit noisier then the 300. You could easily hear the motor running on the 96, while almost impossible on the 300.


So to sum up for us…


Sony HC-96 Pro –
very nice in low light / indoor light
feels nice in the hand
touch screen is nice
night shot is fun
old movie setting is fun

Sony HC-96 Con –
Focusing problems are noticeable and a bit annoying for some
Whites were way overblown and hard to look at
Fading in and out is not a savable setting



Pan GS300 Pro –
Overall better image
Seems to be sharper and the colors more correct
Less overall noise
Seems to always be in focus

Pan GS300 Con –
Obviously darker in low light / indoor light
Shadows are defiantly more prominent
Joystick menu in REC mode sucks big time
Magic night setting is a total joke



So for us it looks like the GS300 will be the one we keep (wife hates the focus issue on the 96)… However I am not happy at all with it’s inside light capabilities… It’s really the only thing lacking…. I would like to know if there are any good light attachments you could recommend to attach to the 300’s cold shoe. Hopefully that could resolve part of the issue, but I’m a little unsure which one to get…

Also, I would like to post some comparison videos for you to take a look at, however I don’t know what settings and size would be best for online viewing… what is your recommendations?

Despite your claims of being a newbie, I think your comparisons are very useful and astute.

I recommend reading the review of the GS300 here at camcorderinfo.com. You might have already read it, but it talks about how to lighten up the image when it's too dark in low light. I think you'll find that doing that will make the GS300 suit your needs even better.

You should not be filming with the backlight setting on unless you really are shooting a scene that is backlight, such as a shot of a room that has a window in it during the day. In most cases, it is best to just avoid shooting backlit scenes. This is probably why the whites were blown out on the HC96, BTW.

It's nice to hear that the GS300 has a less noisier image. Its predecessor had more noise in low light and it is why so many folks picked the HC90 over it. The GS250 was also sharper than the HC90 and it seems like the trend continues. Part of the reason for this is because the GS250/GS300 have a higher measured resolution in their video over the HC90/96.

It's not so nice to hear that the HC96 continues in the footsteps of the HC90 in having a slower autofocus. Folks were hoping this was corrected, but frankly I'm not surprised that the issue is still there.

If you need any help hosting images or videos, I'll be happy to do that for you.

Last night I created a simultaneous 5 minute video on each camcorder… They’re a bit boring in that all I’m doing is walking around our house talking to myself… ha…

I used moviemaker so my file creation options were somewhat limited. I outputted them to WMV format – 320x240 at 448kbps which comes out to about 20MB for each file.

I also outputted them to 720x480 at 2079kbps… which comes out to about 80MB for each file.

To access the videos, please send me a private message on this board and I will give you the URL… I hate to do it this way, but I don’t want to go over my allotted data transfer limit set by my host provider.

And just let me know if any of you out there don’t have a cap and would like to mirror these files…



Thanks,
Bryan

I attempted to post the larger video to ourmedia.org… it appears to work and so here are the links… the files should be around 80MB each…

http://www.archive.org/download/the...mv_0/test96.wmv

http://www.archive.org/download/the...v_0/test300.wmv

Thanks for the videos. Im downloading them right now and im sure lots of folks will find them very useful.

Great review! Where are the other newbies????

So yesterday I went around the house again when it was light out and took some more video… I just finished watching both on two dell systems with 19in LCDs pushed together with a video on each screen… Sorry for the jerky/shaky video… I got a little sea sick watching them side by side… ha!

Anyways, it seems the 96 does a very good job and now I’m somewhat leaning towards it now… I don’t know… the Sony’s colors seem to pop a bit more even with the increase in light… So now I’m wondering about which one to choose again…

Here are the URLs to the new videos… each are about 90MB...


http://www.archive.org/download/the...nwmv/300sun.wmv

http://www.archive.org/download/the...unwmv/96sun.wmv

You wrote that the Panasonic has a sharper picture. I have the HC90. With the standard setting it is pretty unsharp. But if I set the sharpness in the menu one position higher it looks much better - not the highest position. Did you try this?

Have you tried rendering your 4 files to MPEG2 and authoring a DVD for playback on your TV? This might help you make a decision.

For what it's worth, I have done side by side comparisons between my gs75 (well it's true it should be a tiny bit better under low light than the gs300) and my brother's hc90: we both liked the Panasonic's video better. But he's quite happy with his Sony.

After all, you are the only one to have both cams in your hands. I doubt anyone here might help you more than you can help yourself. The choice is subjective anyway. You compare the advantages and disadvantages of each, the features they have to offer and 'feel' what you like best.

I am doing that right now...

Hi. after reading this, my head is starting to spin again. i almost got the HC96(over the DCR-SR100, FINALLY MADE UP MY MIND! LOL) but now i'm thinking that the GS300 is better!Overall, what is a better deal and a better camcorder, video and all and why? also, if i get the GS300, should i consider the GS500 or does the GS500 have less features than the GS300? Hope i'm not confusing anyone,lol! as many of you have maybe heard, i had my 13th birthday in Feb. and for my b-day, my dad would buy my ANY camcorder i want! YUP, ANY, no matter the price! so in one of your's opinion, what should i get?(i make my own cool special effect movies, have my own little video buisness, film family and friends events and more, so what is you opinion?)

i'd LOVE to hear anyone's opinion or suggestion! have a good day and god bless to you all!

That is strange to hear that the HC96 is louder than the GS300. There was a video review of the GS300 over at the pana3ccd forum and it mentioned that the GS300 was pretty loud especially when you would turn it on.

That was the shutter opening and closing… not the continuous motor running during your shooting…

Two different noises…

I’ve pretty much made up my mind… and with some hesitation I’m going with the 300… I really wanted to go with the 96, but there are a few things I just couldn’t deal with…

One of them has to do with the focus issues… Now I can deal with the Sony coming in and out of focus when transitioning to a different scene or light source, but it seemed to me that even in single shots the 96 kept trying to focus in and out on different subjects in the scene… Now mind you this could be all in my head, but the fact it was in my head (true or not) worried me… For example, I put a bunch of stuffed animals on the couch and was shooting them with both cameras… on the 96 it seemed to want to focus in and out just slightly when moving down the line of toys… this bothered me.

Another issue was the noise of the motor… The 96 was notionally louder and on one of my dvds I could hear the faint sound of the motor wining in the background… I really didn’t like this and knew I would focus in on that sound whenever I watched future dvds…

As far as the menus go, I understand why people hate the layout of the 96’s touch menu… but then again, the stupid joystick on the 300 wasn’t that much better… You can forget it if you accidentally or forgetfully move your thumb up while shooting and hit the magicpix option… BOOM, you’re totally blown out… Also, where I had to move my thumb to use the joystick was a bit annoying… I had to take my mind off the shot and think about where it is, and then place my thumb on it… it seems it isn’t placed very well for my hand…

Handel/strap - The handle/strap on the 96 is Heavenly compared to the 300. In my book this is the 300’s worst feature… It’s not only that the strap sucks, once you get your hand in the strap, it’s hard to grip the 300… I was holding the cam with the tips of my fingers rather then on the 96 where the fingers slip nicely over the preformed grip… Once again the 300’s strap SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS!

Advanced options – yes… the 300 blows the 96 out of the water when it comes to advanced options… and in some respects I like having the ability to use the advanced options… however, I found myself liking the point and shoot factor of the 96… I didn’t have to worry about changing the iris settings or the shutter speed during the shots… I would just pick it up and go…

Ports – while this isn’t a huge issue, more then once I had to stop what I was doing and find the Sony’s stupid little docking station… While it’s nice to have it, I don’t see why they could have kept the firewire port on the cam along with the docking station ports… have the best of both worlds…

Build – the 300 is built better, but so what… I did not find the plastic 96 to be awful or displeasing… I would not make my decision based on this…

Size issue – Yes, the 300 is a bit smaller then the 96… but reading a few of the posts, I get the feeling some are trying to equate the 96 to a HUGE vhs camcorder… While the smaller size on the 300 is nice, in no way is it a deal breaker for me…

Low light – yes… the 96 is way better in low light… and yes, you can put the 300 in manual mode and make sure the db on the iris is set to 18, which will make it a bit better… but over all the 96 has much better lowlight capabilities…

Other stuff – The night shot on the 96 is fun… along with the old movie mode…


So I guess the issues for me on the 96 were the motor wining and the small focusing problems (which I thought I saw)… If I had never seen the focus issues or heard the motor on the dvd, I would have easily picked the 96 for it’s low light capabilities, the handle/strap/grip, and the point and shoot advantages… But then I thought to myself all the problems on the 300 I can change or get use to, while the problems on the 96 I cannot change and most likely would not get use to… For example, I can make sure all the lights are on when shooting indoors, or even attach a small light to the 300 (more on this in another thread), or possibly modify the handle/strap to fit better… So while I really wanted the 96, I just can’t get over a few of its problems…

The focusing issue that you are describing is present on the HC90 as well. One of the board members had reported that it was fixed or better on the 96, but from what you are describing, it doesn't sound like it. I own the hc90 and there is a delay between scene changes. When it focuses in and out and you're not moving the camera, it is time to use the spot focus. If your tape is rolling of course there will be some delay, but it is better than having the problem continue while it tries to focus.

Tape/motor noise was a slight issue on the HC90 as well, but it really wasn't noticeable unless you were in a quiet room with no other noise but the camera. Even then, I would say it was acceptable. Perhaps your HC96 is defective? You might wanna try the display model in the store by dropping a mindv tape in and see.

It's funny because the way you describe the strap of the gs300 is how i feel about the hc90.