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  


Video Performance (7.5)
Video performance on the PV-GS65 (Review, Specs, $899) is very much in line with last year’s 3 CCD Panasonic camcorders. Indeed, the PV-GS65 offers the same three 1/6 inch CCD imagers with 290K effective pixels for video and 280K effective for stills each, as found on last year’s PV-GS120 (Review, Specs, $479). Each CCD has 460K gross pixels.

For the most part, the PV-GS65’s image at 3000 lux is very similar to the PV-GS120’s of last year. There are subtle differences, however, and these differences are accentuated in low light level testing. For example, while the PV-GS120 and the PV-GS65 both show brilliant gray scale tones and very crisp, vibrant colors across the spectrum, the PV-GS65 shows some washing between yellows and oranges and between violets and blues. With the PV-GS120, transitions between these colors are much more defined, crisp, and distinct. Both camcorders show horrendous washing between the greens and the teals of the spectrum. Also, saturated colors appear a tad more vibrant with the PV-GS120, especially in the reds and pinks. All in all though, both camcorders perform well, which is to be expected from 3 CCD models. What may decide the popularity of the PV-GS65 in the future is how it stacks up against the other, more expensive 3 CCD Panasonics of this year: the PV-GS150 (Specs, $449.95) and the PV-GS250 (Review, Specs, $1299.99). We’ll see; stay tuned.

Video Resolution (8.1)
Some camcorder features don't effect video performance, such as features that aid the user’s adjustment of the video to particular environments (i.e. manual control, audio options, etc.) and cosmetic elements of the camcorder (i.e. color, button placement, etc.). Apart from cosmetics, each of these factors can be judged fairly objectively, while factors which govern video performance (i.e. CCD size, pixel count, automatic gain functions) are a bit harder to assess so concretely. The specs are clear, but their relationship to performance isn't always so.

While it is often assumed, by manufacturers as well as consumers, that bigger CCDs, bigger pixels counts, and more effective pixels mean better video, in reality this doesn't always follow. For this reason, we’ve started to run stills for video capture through Imatest Imaging Software in order to provide as much evidence as possible for an objective analysis.

From video captured in both 4:3 and 16:9 formats on the PV-GS65, we exported stills and ran them through Imatest Imaging Software. In 4:3 mode, the PV-GS65 gave us approximately 336.6 lines of horizontal resolution at its best, with 242.8 vertical lines, giving a real resolution score of 81,726.48. We divide that number by 10,000 to get the resolution score.

Now some of you might scream bloody murder at the idea that a MiniDV camcorder is shooting at less than the 500-some lines of resolution which manufacturers report. We want to stress that this is perceived resolution, and it should be compared to other resolution tests we run. 330 is actually a decent score.

Low Light Performance (5.5)
In low light levels, the PV-GS65 performed well for its price, and certainly put all three of its CCDs to use, working hard to eliminate noise and retain color information. Fortunately, any 3 CCD camcorder is going to have more color information than a 1 chip camcorder. Compared to last year’s PV-GS120 which features the same imager as the PV-GS65, the PV-GS65 shows similar results at 60 lux, a light level slightly below average indoor lighting levels, though with a marked increase of noise. Not only does the noise increase in the PV-GS65’s 60 lux image, but color washing trends continue from 3000 lux, though only slightly. The PV-GS65 still maintains lots of color information and the crispness between colors is still present, but the noise increase does muddle the results a bit.

At 15 lux, noise again increased, making color crispness now difficult to discern. Color information tends to slip, revealing some muddy areas in the lighter colors, such as greens, yellows, and teals. Overall, the PV-GS65’s image at 15 lux is very similar to the PV-GS120’s image at the same light level. The PV-GS65 mostly distinguishes itself from last year’s model in its navigational system and improved handling abilities. As to be expected, the PV-GS65 produces immensely better low light images, with minimal noise and maximum color information, than many similarly priced 1 chip MiniDV camcorders, such as Canon’s ZR series of last year.


Wide Angle (8.8)
Using our new wide angle test we zoom the camcorder out to its widest setting. If it includes a wide angle adaptor, we put the wide angle adaptor on the camcorder. We then use a laser level to measure the angular distance of the camcorder’s widest angle. Using this method we found that the PV-GS65 had a widest zoom angular measure of 44.0 degrees. We then multiply this number by 0.2 to get the wide angle score of 8.8.



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