Panasonic PV-GS19 Camcorder Review

Still Features(6.0)
Stills on the PV-GS19 can be captured to the MiniDV tape, but for simplicity and convenience, users should opt for the dedicated SD card port. Stills can be recorded to the card even when you are in video mode, a useful feature if you don’t want to stop the video recording. Simply hold down the Photo Shot button behind the zoom and your stills will snap away. A feature we would like to see more often from other manufacturers is the Lock Setting, which protects photos against accidental erasure. The PV-GS19 also features a Burst Mode, recording up to 10 stills in approximately 0.5 second intervals. Two qualities are available: Normal and High. At a resolution of 640 x 480, with no options for larger sizes, and no flash, this is a rather disappointing still feature set.

It still ranks fairly well against the competition. Entry-level camcorders like the Sony DCR-HC21 are usually capable of capturing stills only to tape, while the Canon ZR100 doesn’t even provide still options. The older and more expensive siblings of the Panasonic PV-GS19, the PV-GS31 (Specs, $299) and PV-GS35, do not offer higher still resolution. The PV-GS35 does offer an extra low shutter step of 1/30 in card mode, which is beneficial to any user looking for tighter control of the image quality.

Still Resolution (0.9)
The Panasonic PV-GS19 captures stills on an SD card at the standard resolution of 640 x 480 in 4:3 mode. Stills were taken of a standard resolution chart and exported to Imatest Imaging Software. At its best the camcorder generated a still resolution of 92453.4075 (0.09 MP).

Still Performance(4.0)
The PV-GS19 produced respectable still performance results. The camcorder produced a fairly bright image with good color representation, but the overall image was a bit fuzzy. The PV-GS35, which shares the same imager and the limitation of only being able to capture stills at 640 x 480, had comparable results.

The PV-GS19 had mixed results against the competition in this category. The JVC GR-D270 (Review, Specs, $379.99) was far noisier. The Sony DCR-HC21, which records stills only to MiniDV tape, and the Canon ZR200 were both brighter, but at the cost of additional noise.