Home > Consumer Camcorders > Camcorder Reviews > Panasonic Camcorders > Panasonic MiniDV Camcorders >
Panasonic PV-GS320 Camcorder Reviewby David KenderPublished on Jul 9, 2007 10:00 AM
|
Advertisement
|
||||||||||||
Picture & Manual Control
Automatic Control (6.5)
The Panasonic PV-GS320 (Specs, $0) can be placed in auto mode via a small switch on the right side of the body. When in auto mode, the camcorder takes care of all exposure and white balance. The manual control joystick menu (the small, circular menu accessed by pushing in on the joystick) is truncated, missing options that you’d find if the camcorder was in manual mode.
The auto controls are very good, just the same performance that we saw last year with the PV-GS300 (Review, Specs, $469.99). Proper exposure was always found within a few seconds. Once again, the auto white balance adjustments are very, very good, making a more gradual transition than exposure, but hitting the perfect temperature most of the time. The auto focus control also works well, which is fortunate, given the poor manual focus controls.
Panasonic does offer a number of Scene modes (often called “Program AE”), though they cannot be accessed in auto mode. This seems an odd choice, as Scene modes can and should be used by rookie shooters as a smart shortcut. Located in the admin menu (the full menu accessed by hitting the Menu button), Scene modes include Sports, Portrait, Low Light, Spotlight, and Surf & Snow.
 |
 |
|
The Auto/Manual/Focus switch located on the |
The mode dial switches between video and still recording and playback modes. |
Some of the manual controls that you do have access to in auto mode are located in the manual control menu. They include Backlight Compensation, Soft Skin mode, MagicPix low light mode, and Telemacro.
Overall Manual Control (6.75)
The PV-GS320, like all Panasonics, exceeds in manual controls, a fact not lost on Panasonic loyalists. Unlike any other consumer camcorder manufacturer, Panasonic includes independent aperture and shutter speed, along with gain, white balance, focus, and several one-touch controls mentioned in the section above. The independent shutter and aperture are key for getting difficult shots, and really set Panasonic apart. However, the camcorder feels like it could have benefited from an exposure compensation control. As it stands, the beginning user will have a hard time figuring out a simple way to make the make the image brighter or darker.
Handling has long been a strength in Panasonic MiniDV camcorders. The well-placed joystick is the perfect way to maneuver through the controls. While we like the number of controls, some of them could have been executed better. The manual focus control, which was publicized by Panasonic to offer a manual focus ring, does not. Rather, we have to settle with a rather weak system of joystick guesswork.
Zoom (5.0)
The PV-GS320 offers a 10x optical zoom, operated by a flat, plastic slider control. It’s not the raised toggle switch we like to see, but it works. Depending on the steadiness of your finger, you can get about 2-3 speeds, though the crawl is not as slow as it could be. Smartly displayed, the LCD provides both a progress bar to show where in the zoom range you are, but also a numerical indicator (2x… 3x… etc).
The digital zoom extends to 25x or 700x, set in the manual control menu. When activated, a portion of the zoom progress bar becomes blue.
Zoom Power Ratio (10.0)
The PV-GS320 has a 10x optical zoom and a digital zoom of 700x that can also be capped at a more conservative 25x.
Focus (4.0)
The focus control is one of the most disappointing aspects of the Panasonic PV-GS320, partially because the control does not function well, but aided by the fact the product page on Panasonic’s site indicates that the PV-GS320 has a manual focus ring. This is, sadly, not the case. We have alerted them to the error, and have seen no change yet.
Manual focus is activated by pushing the auto/manual/focus switch to the right. An “MF” appears on the screen (which ironically, was precisely what I was thinking myself when I saw the control). You then toggle the joystick left and right until the image appears to be in focus. The problem with this system is that you’re left to rely on a small, low-resolution LCD monitor to determine what’s in focus. For shots with any fine detail, this will prove to be impossible. Fortunately, the auto focus appeared to work well, because you don’t want to have to use this control unless it’s absolutely critical.
Exposure & Aperture (5.69)
The Panasonic PV-GS320 does not have exposure compensation control, but it does offer direct control of the aperture independent from the shutter speed. To access it, the camcorder must be in manual mode. Aperture (or “iris”) control is located in the fourth page of the manual control joystick menu. Settings include Open (f/1.8), f/2.0, f/2.4, f/ f/2.8, f/3.4, f/4.0, f/4.8, f/5.6, f/6.8, and f/8.0. Each increment has a unlabelled half-step in between which has a noticeable effect on exposure. Once the aperture is opened up all the way, the gain can be adjusted for further brightness.
Shutter Speed (8.1)
The shutter speed on the PV-GS320 operates very much like the aperture control. Locate on page 4 of the manual control joystick menu, the shutter speed is independent of aperture. Settings include 1/60, 1/100, 1/120, 1/180, 1/250, 1/350, 1/500, 1/750, 1/1000, 1/1500, 1/1/2000, 1/3000, 1/4000, and 1/8000.
White Balance (5.5)
The white balance controls are also located on page 4 of the manual control joystick menu. There are only four settings: automatic, manual, indoor, and outdoor. The indoor and outdoor settings rarely seemed to match the sort of indoor and outdoor shooting that we tried. Fortunately, the auto white balance is very good. A full manual setting is, of course, going to give you the most accuracy. We found the manual settings to be easy to access and accurate, but almost unnecessary in most lighting.
Gain (6.0)
Panasonic is the only consumer camcorder manufacturer to offer manual control over gain, though some of our readers have astutely pointed out that the control is not entirely independent. Gain can only be accessed once the analog option (opening the aperture) has been exhausted. Once the aperture reads Open (f/1.8), the gain settings appear. It comes in increments of 3, from +3dB to +18dB. In between each step is another, unnamed half-increment which clearly makes the image brighter. Why Panasonic doesn’t give this a visual indication as to the setting is beyond us.
Other Manual Controls (1.0)
Guidelines - In the admin menu, the Guidelines settings can be activated, which creates three horizontal lines across the screen, helping you achieve that “rule of thirds” look.
|
Advertisement
|