Panasonic NV GS1B

...lay a beautiful machine, the panasonic NV-GS1B. As you may have guessed this camcorder is tiny, it fits into the palm of the hand. After owning a camera which you had to rest on your shoulder because it was so large, it made a wonderful change. To film you only need one hand, the buttons are so cleverly set out. Your thumb records, your index finger zooms. No problems there.

Panasonic made this product not only sellable, but also usable. ...
...theory this is true, but panasonic do not supply even a usb lead with the camera, let alone software. It really would not have been difficult for them to add this to the package, and i think this is one of the least impressive aspects of the NV-GS1B. Maybe one day i will buy the right accessories, and use it to its full potential!

Having mentioned accessories, i should follow up a bit about them. Well, they are expensive! I lost the ... more

I feel honoured to be the first person to review this wonderful little machine.

I bought this camcorder for £385.00 from www.askdirect.co.uk (which is a brilliant company). The box arrived, and i was bitterly disappointed. It was a tiny box, by no means capable of fitting a camcorder in. They had sent me the wrong thing. Or had they? To my amazement after opening the package there lay a beautiful machine, the panasonic NV-GS1B. As you may have guessed this camcorder is tiny, it fits into the palm of the hand. After owning a camera which you had to rest on your shoulder because it was so large, it made a wonderful change. To film you only need one hand, the buttons are so cleverly set out. Your thumb records, your index finger zooms. No problems there.

Panasonic made this product not only sellable, but also usable. The designing of it is impeccible.
The first thing i really looked at is the LCD screen, which flips out and shows you what you are recording. This is great, you can change the angle of it so you have always got a good view, whatever you are filming. You can even flip it all the way round, so it is pointing in the same direction as the lens. This is great if you are vain (like me) and want to film yourself, you can get the smile just right! Also you can watch back what you have just filmed (with sound playback too). This is also a brilliant feature of the camcorder.

The camera has a button on the top for a zoom function, just slide it one way to zoom in, and the other way to zoom out. The zoom is truly incredible. If you are on one side of a room, you can look at the ink which wrote a letter in a word on a piece of paper on the other side of the room (still with me?) This, i am told is because of a powerful 500X digital zoom, not at all bad. The only problem with this is that when you do zoom in really close, the picture starts to shake madly, and it is difficult to focus on it properly. Still, its a good little feature to show off to your mates!

If you want a camcorder packed with gadgets, which you probably do, then buy the NV-GS1B. To open the tape you slide forwards a button, then a load of cogs work together and the compartment springs open! To record of the little DV tape onto VHS, you run the film through the television, and simply record as if it were a chanel. All of the wires etc for this come supplied, and it caused no problem for me. With the camcorder you have got little extras like night view (which is really just a gimmick, as it doesn't work very well!). It also has a variety of different settings, "like glare" for skiing. Everyone loves little features to fiddle with on electrical problems, and this camera should satisfy your fiddling desires!

As you may have seen if you have read my other reviews, i went skiing recently to Val Thorens. I took this little beauty with me. It is not very good at filming people skiing down a slope. It is incredibly easy to loose them, as the camera is so light. In the end we had to use it only when we were all still, e.g eating up the mountain looking over the snow capped peaks. But the quality of these when played back through the television was perfect, sound or picture, one couldn't ask for more.

Now, this is a DIGITAL camera, so that means you can connect it up to a computer. In theory this is true, but panasonic do not supply even a usb lead with the camera, let alone software. It really would not have been difficult for them to add this to the package, and i think this is one of the least impressive aspects of the NV-GS1B. Maybe one day i will buy the right accessories, and use it to its full potential!

Having mentioned accessories, i should follow up a bit about them. Well, they are expensive! I lost the charger for the battery (which lasts about 1h10mins when recording with the LCD screen out) on the plane on the way to France. To replace this Panasonic charge an almighty £124!! How ridiculous, about a third of the overall price.

This camera really is a gem... outstanding value for money, and a real performer. So if you are going to buy a camcorder i can't recommend the NV-GS1B strongly enough.

Thankyou for taking the time to read this review. 

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