Panasonic PV-GS65 Camcorder Review

by Matt Culler
Published on Feb 8, 2005 11:00 AM

Intro Intro
Performance Format
Tour
Auto / Manual Controls
Still Features Handling and Use
Audio / Playback / Connectivity Other Features
Comparisons / Conclusion  


Automatic & Manual Control
Automatic Control (5.0) Automatic control over exposure, gain, focus, and white balance are all available on the PV-GS65 (Review, Specs, $899). There is no easy mode which reverts all controls to their automatic defaults, though there is an automatic mode, accessible using the switch underneath the LCD screen. Auto mode can be selected underneath the LCD screen. Auto exposure presets are available in order to set particular windows of performance on exposure. They include Sports, Portrait, Low light, Spotlight, and Surf & Snow modes, and are accessed within the menu system. Automatic adjustments to exposure were smooth, yet not the swiftest in the world, and though the camcorder had the normal trouble with maintaining good focus on objects at full optical zoom or objects very close to the camcorder, focal adjustments were generally pretty good in automatic mode.

Overall Manual Control (7.0)
Manual control on this Panasonic is about as good as you’re going to get on a MiniDV camcorder for under a grand. Though there are no manual audio level controls, the PV-GS65 offers manual control over iris, shutter, and gain–-something Sony camcorders don’t do--as well as white balance and focus.

One major improvement from last year’s Panasonic 3 CCD camcorders, as well as nearly all of their MiniDV camcorders, is the redesigned menu system and navigational joystick on the PV-GS65. The new menu system is navigated entirely with a convenient joystick located where the user’s thumb naturally falls. This is great and makes the already easily navigable menu system a breeze to operate. One small complaint is that the button to access the camcorder’s menu system is a bit hard to press with the hand that is holding the camcorder. One of the biggest strengths with these new Panasonics is their ability to be easily handled with one hand; this menu button placement puts a damper on this ability.

Additionally, a distinction should be made between the camcorder’s menu system, the menu accessed by pressing the menu button on the back of the camcorder, and the manual control menu system accessible by pressing down on the camcorder’s joystick. This latter system is extremely easy to navigate, aside from a couple of hard to decipher icons, and basically operates by replacing the compass control found underneath the LCD screen on last year’s models with a digital simulacrum appearing on the LCD monitor itself. Again, this function makes the PV-GS65 extremely easy to operate with one hand.

The only problem with the manual control here is that it can be kind of cumbersome to adjust. While the new joystick control makes these adjustments more convenient and (literally) at-your-fingertips than last year’s models, the user must scroll through all the manual controls to access each one. All in all, there are some good manual controls here. I would have liked to see some slower shutter speed options for video though.

Zoom Control (7.0)
The zoom toggle on the PV-GS65 is the same as the zoom toggles on all the lower-end MiniDV Panasonic camcorders of this year. It is unfortunately placed beneath the user’s middle finger. I would have liked to see it placed under the index finger, so as to offer more control. An optical zoom of 10x is available, and variable speed zooms are definitely possible. I could achieve about three zoom speeds easily, one very fast, one very slow, and one in the middle. While more than three speeds is possible, the zoom toggle on the PV-GS65 is slightly harder to control than the other zoom toggles on the market.

Zoom Power/Ratio (10.0)
The Panasonic PV-GS65 has a 10x optical zoom with capabilities of 25x and 700x for digital zoom. Considering Panasonic’s 30x optical zoom camcorder for $100 less and their other camcorders with over 20x optical zoom, the 10x optical zoom on the PV-GS65 is a big disappointment.

Focus (5.0)
The switch to control between auto and manual focus on the PV-GS65 is accessed through a slider underneath the LCD screen. Focus can instantly be manually operated by sliding the slider down and releasing. This action also puts the camcorder in manual focus mode. When in this mode, the joystick can be used to move through the focal spectrum. An “MF” icon appears on the upper right hand of the LCD display, and manual focus can be toggled within the same menu page as exposure, shutter speed, gain, and white balance. Generally, manual focus on this year’s Panasonic MiniDV camcorders is much easier than last year’s camcorders. Instead of using awkward volume buttons to adjust and move through the focal range, the user uses the conveniently located and operated joystick. Unfortunately, the user must open the LCD to flip a switch in order to access it. On top of that, there are no numerical values to guide the user through the focal range.

Exposure (Aperture) (6.0)
Manual exposure is available within the manual control menu. Using the joystick to scroll through the manual controls within this menu, the user can toggle through the exposure adjustments which include: Open f/2.0, f/2.4, f/2.8, f/3.4, f/4.0, f/4.8, f/5.6, f/6.8, f/8.0, f/9.6, f/11, f/14, and f/16. There are smaller increments in between each F-stop that lack numerical delineation. The case is similar with gain control. Identical options are available in still camera mode. These options are easy enough to adjust with Panasonic’s new joystick control, but it can be a bit tedious to have to use the joystick over and over again. A dial of some sort would be easier, maybe something similar to that found on the ol’ PV-DV105. All in all though, I like the exposure offerings on the PV-GS65; it’s not every day that a camcorder under six hundred bones includes manual exposure options such as these.

Shutter Speed (7.0)
Shutter speed adjustments are available within the same manual control system as exposure and focus. Using the joystick control, the user can toggle between options of 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. In still camera mode, options from 1/30, 1/60, 1/100, 1/120, 1/180, 1/250, 1/350, and 1/500 exist. As with exposure, adjustments are easy but would be easier with a dial. It is always nice to have manual control options like these, but I would have preferred some slower shutter values for video to be available.

White Balance (7.0)
Standard white balance options exist within the same manual control menu in which exposure, focus, shutter speed, and gain are adjusted. Options include indoor (light bulb icon), outdoor (sun icon), Auto (AWB icon), and Manual (weird-looking square with two triangles icon). Automatic white balance cannot recognize true white in all environments, and therefore manual white balance is necessary for special indoor environments or outdoor events (like a sunset). Such is also the case with the preset automatic functions (indoor and outdoor), which basically set a more specific window of performance on the automatic white balance function.

Gain (7.0)
Manual gain options become available when the user uses the joystick in the camcorder’s manual control menu. Manual gain options are only available once the aperture is set to Open. Once the aperture is Open, manual gain options include: 0dB, 3dB, 6dB, 9dB, 12dB, 15dB, and 18dB with smaller increments between each setting, which all lack numerical delineation. It is pretty rare for a consumer camcorder to have manual gain control, and luckily Panasonic has continued its tradition of offering these options on all of its MiniDV line camcorders.

Other Manual Control (0.0)
While the PV-GS65 offers a host of manual control features, it does not offer any extra manual control features beyond what we’ve listed above.



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