The Panasonic PV-GS180 is an unassuming, compact digital camcorder. The Spartan design, though, belies the impressive technology and features inside the camera. Beginners can simply turn on the camera and begin recording in auto mode, while more advanced videographers will have fun with the manual controls. No matter how you use the camera, you’ll be impressed with the excellent image quality that comes from the Leica lens and 3-chip recording.
The body
The exterior of the PV-GS180 is sparse, but looking closely you find attachments and accessories unavailable on many consumer camcorders. Underneath the camera is a spot to attach a tripod mount for steady shooting. And on the top is a shoe mount, for attaching on-camera lights or external microphones. With a camera this small, it can be awkward to shoot with a large light or mic on top, but it’s nice to have the option.
The GS180 has a built-in mic on the front of the camera. Like built-in mics on most consumer camcorders, this one is adequate but not ideal. Fortunately, though, there is a port at the back of the camera to attach an external mic, and another for connecting headphones. These features are rare on many consumer camcorders, but are essential for monitoring and recording high-quality sound.
The GS180 also has USB and FireWire output ports so it’s easy to connect to any computer.
The controls
Along with auto mode, the GS180 offers semi or full manual control. The semi-manual mode allows user to choose from scene settings, adjusting the camcorder for close-ups, portraits, landscapes or night shots. The full manual mode lets users to control white balance, F-stop, gain, shutter speed and focus.
All of the manual modes are operated through the joystick at the back of the camera. This makes it nearly impossible to adjust your manual settings mid-shot without jostling the camera. Instead, you need to set everything before pressing record, and hope that the lighting and focus don’t change. Or, leave the camera on a tripod if you expect to be adjusting the manual settings while shooting.
The picture
Three CCDs are rarely seen in consumer camcorders, and the color difference is immediately obvious. Outdoors and in bright light, the GS150 records with a sharpness and clarity unmatched by other camcorders in its price range. However, the lens on this camera is still quite small, and the image degrades in lower light situations. In most indoor situations the camera will need to add some gain to get a properly exposed image. As a result, indoor footage is generally grainy and not nearly as impressive as video taken outdoors.
One big advantage on this camcorder is the threading around the lens, making it easy to add filters, wide angle or telephoto lenses.
Other features
The GS180 does more than just shoot video. There is a slot for a memory card, so you can shoot digital photos. The camera also comes with software that allows you to use it as a web cam.
These are nice bonus features, but not reasons to buy the camera. If you're interested in photos, you'll get better quality from a digital camera; if you're interested in web cams, you can buy something for much less money.
But if you're interested in shooting high-quality digital video, the GS180 is an excellent camcorder to buy. More experienced users will enjoy the control they can exercise over the audio and video recording. And less experience users will enjoy shooting beautiful footage without ever having to leave auto mode.
