- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 22 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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8 out of 8 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Practically broadcast video quality"
Pros: Price, image quality, great manual controls
Cons: Lacks a $2 headphone jack, harder to grip.
Summary: If it weren't for it's model number being a step up from the GS400, maybe it would stand out as one of the best, if not THE best of it's price range. However, it is constantly being compared to the GS400, which was around $700 MORE people! Maybe if Panasonic kept the 400 around, and added the 500 to the product line as a budget model, the GS500 would receive reviews that really focus on its place and purpose amongst their line of camcorders. Perhaps it was wrongly named. Perhaps the name GS350 would have rendered reviews that compared it to the GS250 or GS300, in which case it would have received raves.
I put this wrongly named camcorder in a class as a very enhanced and improved GS250, especially in the area of image quality. I owned a 250 and it was a dynamite little camera, unless you were indoors. The 500 gives clear, sharp video right down to one 60W bulb in a room (maybe with the shade off, let's be fair). Below that light level, it still produces a sharp image and good color. There will be some noise at these levels, but nothing abnormal, and less than those single chip Sony cameras that are known for their great low light performance. The color and detail in normal and outdoor lighting are stunning. Yes, the auto iris and white balance response is a little slow, but I think that is to give a smoother transition. Not a big deal. Although the external control that the GS400 offered for iris, shutter, white bal. etc. was very pro-like and accessible, the manual controls on the 500 are not that hard to reach. I don't know what the Cnet reviewer was talking about when he said that these controls are four levels deep in the menu. None of the menus on the camera even go four levels deep. To access the iris you just switch to manual, and press the joystick to the left and you're there! If you're already in manual mode, just press the joystick in, and to the left. It takes one second. Or, for quicker access, press the joystick before you start recording and you just have to press left for iris, up for white bal, and right for shutter. It?s really very top level and it's not even in the menus. On the GS400 you had to press a button before you could adjust anything with the focus ring anyway.
Why, for the love of Pete, they got rid of the headphone jack and still kept the manual audio level controls, I'll never know. That's like adjusting the iris with no viewfinder. How do I know if the battery on my external mic goes dead, or if I have my finger over the built in mic by accident? (easy to do, by the way)
Now, for the stills. They are actually the best I've seen on a camcorder. For everyday shots of family, kids, etc. the quality of the stills is very good. Just don't crop and enlarge the pictures too much or you'll see some poor compression artifacts. The camera seems to lack a third quality level that would bring the stills up to par with any 4 mega pixel still camera indeed. Still, I take stills with it all the time and just by flipping through my photos on the computer, I can't tell which ones were taken with my video camera unless I zoom way in. When ever I take my camcorder with me, I leave my still camera at home and suffer none. Sure beats those horrible camera phone pics everyone loves to take with no complaints.
That all said, this camera is for people like me who couldn't afford $1999 Cdn for a GS400 but still want the pro quality video that it produced. At the end of the day, all ******** aside, you'll get excellent videos without the extra features of the GS400. A note to Panasonic? If you change the model number to GS350, you'll score WAY higher in these reviews because I think the complaining IS really all about the model number.
- 2 replies to this review
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Nice too see someone telling the positives as it is, very well written with a great real world review.
Uncle D The Canadian Assman -
I've been reading camcorder reviews for weeks, and I can rattle off specs in my sleep. CFarraway's review is by far the most intelligent review I've read to date.
