Panasonic PV-GS300 First Impressions Camcorder Review

by Guy Bruner

Published on Jan 16, 2006 12:00 PM
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Compression
The PV-GS300 (Review, Specs, $469.99) is a MiniDV cam, so it records video using the DV codec. Digital Video is compressed in a 5:1 ratio (or about 500 percent) and provides a 25 Mbps interleaved audio and video stream. Both SP and LP modes are offered. Stills are captured as JPEGs and saved to an SD card.

Media
A MiniDV cam, by definition, uses MiniDV tapes. The GS300 can also record stills to an SD (Secure Digital) card, which currently range is capacity from 32MB to 2GB.

Editing
For editing, Panasonic supplies two different applications. MotionDV Studio 5.6LE permits capture and editing of DV. MotionDV studio can capture video over DV (FireWire/i.Link) or USB 2.0 high speed and edit it in either normal or widescreen aspect ratios. A new application for beginners called Quick Movie Magic (Sweet Movie Life outside North America) makes it easy to edit using onscreen guidance. The software is compatible with Windows XP SP2.





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