Panasonic PV-GS59 Camcorder Review

Compression (8.0)
The Panasonic PV-GS59 (Review, Specs, $297) utilizes standard MiniDV video compression, a mature format that is superior to the MPEG-2 compression of most currently available DVD camcorders. MiniDV compresses video at a rate of 25 Mbps whereas MPEG-2 has a lower data rate of around 8.5 Mbps. Until DVD camcorder compression improves, MiniDV will be the superior format in terms of video quality. They are also an excellent value, and cost significantly less than DVD camcorders that offer similar feature sets. Stills from the GS59 are saved in the JPEG format.

Media (8.0)
The Panasonic PV-GS59 records video onto standard 6.35mm MiniDV tapes, and captures 640 x 480 stills to SD memory card. The camcorder does not ship with either MiniDV tape stock or an SD memory card, but these are very common media types that are available everywhere from pharmacies and supermarkets to electronics superstores.

Editing (8.0)
This camcorder does not ship with Panasonic’s proprietary editing software, but a wide range of non-linear editors are available, and all of them interface easily with MiniDV format camcorders. Avid FreeDV is a freeware version of Avid’s excellent video editing program and is available for both Windows and Mac-based systems, and new Macs ship with Apple’s iMovie. Both of these programs are powerful editing tools that offer all the functionality a beginning videographer needs, from transitions and fades to soundtrack layering. At the professional level, Avid, Adobe, and Apple all offer excellent non-linear editors.