Panasonic PV-GS39 Camcorder Review by James Murray Published on Jan 27, 2006 3:00 PM

The new Panasonic PV-GS39 (MSRP $349), which was unveiled at CES less than a month ago, aims to uphold the high standards that Panasonic set forth in their 2005 PV-GS series. As a 1 chip camcorder standing smack in the middle between the new GS19 (Review, Specs, $244.74) and GS59 (Review, Specs, $297), the PV-GS39 looks to replace and improve upon the last year’s PV-GS31 (Specs, $299), starting with a smaller, redesigned body, true 16:9 capture, a 2.7” widescreen LCD, and a small 26x to 30x zoom increase.

These improvements, however, might be overshadowed by those features that remain stagnant. The imager is still a 1/6” CCD, and the marginal still features (640 x 480 only) have been perpetuated. The PV-GS59 (Review, Specs, $297), available at only $30 more, will provide users with software for editing media, audio dubbing, Variable Speed Search during playback, and Hi-Speed USB 2.0. Given these facts, is the GS39 a worthwhile option?