Panasonic Announces Three Budget Camcorders, Hits 30x Optical Zoom

by Nathaniel Hansen
Published on Jan 5, 2005 12:00 PM



Panasonic revealed today their new line up of budget level consumer Mini DV camcorders offered under US$500. On the list for this year are the Panasonic PV-GS19, PV-GS31, and PV-GS35. The theme will all manufacturers this CES has been bigger zooms, and Panaosnic. For example, the PV-GS35 has an optical zoom of 30x, a first for 1CCD consumer camcorders. Fans of the low end Panasonic camcorders can now get even closer to that desired subject.

Ruddi Vitti, national marketing manager for the Panasonic Optical Group, commenting on the new optical zoom increase, noted that "It's a combination of things from the lens groupings to the aspherical lens technology that Panasonic's actually very reputable and has a leadership role in. We have a factory in Osaka that actually produces a large amount of aspherical lenses that's the main technology behind the 30x optical zoom lens." Vitti also mentioned Panasonic’s desire to maintain their competitive edge.

For many months last year, Panasonic captured the number two manufacturer spot from Canon. Vitti attributed the success of their line to the large optical zooms, and quality of their camcorders: "The one thing we did last year throughout the line not only in our entry level DV pieces but in 3 CCD, we learned that we had to do something the best. Last year we had the highest optical zoom with 24x and we were rewarded by the consumer for that. So this year we want to maintain that leadership in optical zoom capability and also in 3 CCD as well." Time will tell if Panasonic will maintain that edge, and if other manufacturers will follow suit.

Across the line, Panasonic’s entry level camcorders, including the 3CCD Panasonic camcorders have undergone a size reduction and have adopted a slightly rounder design. The difference is much less apparent in the PV-GS19, PV-GS31, or the PV-GS35, but a reduction is noticeable under closer examination.

Panasonic is making an interesting move by putting an SD card on all three camcorders, including their entry $349 model. By comparison, Canon's $349 ZR100 (Review, Specs, $219.95) does not have and SD card. All three camcorders can save digital stills to the SD cards at 640 x 480 pixel resolution.

Panasonic has changed the navigational functions on the new one-chip Mini DV camcorders. The cluster of buttons hidden beneath the LCD screen of last year’s one-chip camcorders has been removed completely. The space beneath the LCD screen is free of buttons, aside from the SD card slot release level and the SD card slot itself. All of the removed buttons, included all playback buttons, and buttons for menu access, and many other features such as Mulit P-in-P, have been moved into the LCD’s menu system. These buttons appear as icons on the LCD screen and can be navigated with Panasonic’s new navigational thumb-wheel and joystick. The thumb-wheel encircles the joy-stick to the upper right of the LCD screen.

The PV-GS19 feautres a 24x optical zoom, a black and white viewfinder and electronic image stabilization. The PV-GS31 upgrades the zoom to a 26x optical and upgrades the viewfinder to a color one. The PV-GS35 jumps the zoom up to a 30x and adds a higher capacity battery and video software included in the box.

These Panasonic entry-level camcorders are expected to be made available some time in March. The PV-GS19 will be available for $349, the PV-GS31 for $399 and the PV-GS35 for $499.