Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

tavilach · Jul 19, 2004, 11:40 PM

So, I want to buy a camcorder for around $300...but I want it to be worth $300...

At Best Buy, I was looking at the Panasonic PV-GS120 (the 3 CCD's), and it felt great. The Panasonic PV-GS14 was right next to it, and looked almost exactly the same. Now that I look at the specifications, it is almost exactly the same as the PV-GS120, minus the 3 CCD's. The PV-GS15 is exactly the same as the PV-GS14, except it has remote-control zoom playback, 24x optical zoom (the PV-GS14 has 22x), and better (PC-based) software...for about $50 more.

Is a remote actually useful? If I choose the PV-GS14/15, which should I go with?

Furthermore, on Froogle, I found the PV-GS14 for about $335 (MSRP $449), and the PV-GS15 for about $380 (MSRP $499). I'm looking at the $300 price range, and $380 is very close to $400, while $335 is very close to $300...but there's only a $50 price difference. Still, my mom (who would pay for this) isn't going to appreciate jumping to a $400 camera...would it be worth it to beg and plead...

Also, I haven't done much research. Are there other quality camcorders at this price range? I know that these are ranked #14 and #15, respectively, on CamcorderInfo.com, which is promising. I've heard good things about the Canon ZR80, but it seems to be of lower quality, in a different league.

Tips would be helpful! I'm not sure about anything...

MaxPower2k3 · Jul 20, 2004, 12:11 AM

www.dvspot.com has great info

tavilach · Jul 20, 2004, 12:25 AM

Originally posted by MaxPower2k3:
www.dvspot.com has great info

tavilach · Jul 21, 2004, 12:08 AM

More advice would be greatly appreciated!

MaxPower2k3 · Jul 21, 2004, 10:56 AM

I have a Canon Optura 10 that I got just about a year ago. It's great, has good image quality and a nice selection of features, and was relatively inexpensive. I'm not sure what they offer now, since i haven't been keeping up with the latest recently, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy another Canon (unless they've really gone down in quality over the past year, but I don't think so)

Sorry, I don't really have more advice than that. Hopefully other people who've been shopping around more recently can offer their knowledge, too.

boardsurfer · Jul 21, 2004, 12:41 PM

I recently took a tape out of my Sony and put it in my friends (new) Canon ZR series to record a party. When we watched it the difference in low light performance was quite jarring. The (very old) Sony completely outperformed the Canon. I was kind of surprised. I know you are considering the Panasonic...

/.02

tavilach · Jul 21, 2004, 06:51 PM

Originally posted by MaxPower2k3:
I have a Canon Optura 10 that I got just about a year ago. It's great, has good image quality and a nice selection of features, and was relatively inexpensive. I'm not sure what they offer now, since i haven't been keeping up with the latest recently, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy another Canon (unless they've really gone down in quality over the past year, but I don't think so)

Sorry, I don't really have more advice than that. Hopefully other people who've been shopping around more recently can offer their knowledge, too.

The Canon Optura 10 is still being manufactured...but it seems so old...