Panasonic PV-GS300 First Impressions Camcorder Review by Guy Bruner Published on Jan 16, 2006 12:00 PM

The Front
Looming large on the face of this compact camcorder is its 10x Leica Dicomar lens with 37mm filter threads. Like last year's GS150 (Specs, $449.95), the lens has an integrated lens cap. The lens has a focal length of 3.0 to 30mm which gives a 35mm equivalent of 45.6 to 456mm in normal video, 46.7 to 467mm in widescreen, 43.4 to 434mm in 4:3 stills, and 47 to 470mm in 16:9 stills. Iris can be adjusted from f/1.8 to f/16. There is a standard Panasonic zoom microphone below the lens. To the left of the lens is the photoflash which has been molded into the curving lines of the camcorder body.

The Right Side
At the front of the right side, under a rubber cover, is the A/V multi-jack and the wired remote/microphone jack. The A/V multi-jack uses a special connector to combine the left and right audio, composite video, and S-Video inputs and outputs. Sadly, the GS300 does not support A/V-in for recording onto tape (analog-to-digital conversion), nor will it pass analog video through the DV output to allow you to convert your analog video sources to digital (analog-to-digital pass through). Last year's GS250 (Review, Specs, $1299.99) has both features.

Like all the Panasonic 3 CCD camcorders, the microphone jack will accept a low impedance, unbalanced microphone and provides plug-in power for electret (condenser) elements. There is no headphones jack. This will prove to be a difficult problem in using external microphones because their output level is too high and needs to be adjusted downward to avoid distortion. However, with no audio level adjustments like the GS500 (Review, Specs, $1040) and no headphones jack like the GS180 (Review, Specs, $448.25) (Review, Specs, ), there is no way to monitor the effects of external level controls on the volume of recorded audio. Users will just have to use trial and error to find a compatible setting. Not cool, Panasonic.

The Back
The upper left of the back is home to the GS300’s electronic viewfinder (EVF), situated below the accessory shoe. It does not tilt like the eyepiece on the GS500, though it does pull out about 1 1/2 inches. To the right of the EVF eyepiece is the on-off slider which combines with a menu selection to offer a mode where the camcorder starts up in 1.7 seconds. The menu button is below this. Menus are viewable on both the EVF and LCD.

The mode dial is below and to the right of the menu button. In its center is a joystick control; this is used for menu navigation and selection. The surrounding mode dial itself lets users access the following modes: record (video), record (stills), playback (video), playback (stills), and PC, which permits stills to be transferred from the SD card to a computer over USB. Below the mode dial is the record/pause button for recording video. The back of the GS300 is also home to a speaker, so users may listen to the playback of captured audio.

The battery is to the left of the video recording button and below the eyepiece, which is a traditional and logical spot for it. We could not test batteries at CES. We do know that the GS300 is compatible with the CGA-DU series of batteries from 2005, so it should be relatively easy for users to locate a backup battery.

The Left Side
Panasonic has provided the GS300 and the GS500 with new 2.7-inch, widescreen LCDs. The LCD takes up most of the left side of this compact camcorder. When opened, it can be rotated fully along its horizontal axis, which allows subjects to watch themselves on the LCD screen as they are being taped. The LCD can also be put in the traditional position, flipped out 90 degrees. In the LCD cavity you’ll find the auto / manual focus switch, the reset button, the power LCD button, and ports for USB 2.0 high speed and DV (FireWire, i.Link, or IEEE1394, by other names). Otherwise, the left side is unmarred by buttons or connectors. Underneath the LCD recess is the SD card slot used for capturing still pictures. The GS300 can take SD cards as large as 2GB.

The Top
The top of the GS300 is much like the top of the GS180. Then again, these cams are extremely similar. On the right front of the GS300 is the cassette mechanism release lever; push it forward to unlatch and open the clamshell, and the MiniDV loading dock rises and opens. Moving back, users will find an accessory shoe that is cold, just like the shoe on the GS180. Further back than this is the electronic viewfinder (EVF) eyepiece. The eyepiece can be pulled out to keep the user from resting his or her cheekbone on the battery. The eyepiece does not tilt upwards like the one on the GS500.  To the right of the accessory shoe is the zoom slider / volume control.  In back of the zoom slider is the photoshot pushbutton.