The PV-GS300 is Panasonic’s penultimate MiniDV camcorder for this year, just under the PV-GS500. Replacing the GS250, it continues a fine tradition of solid video performance, three 1/6” CCDs, superior manual controls, and great handling. The focus ring, headphone jack, and analog-to-digital pass-through are gone from this camcorder, but a $699 MSRP--$300 less than the GS250--makes the GS300 an excellent value.

We loved the video performance in bright light. The GS300 was very sharp, the colors bold but not too saturated. Noise seems to have increased on all Panasonics this year, however, and the GS300 is no exception. All camcorders have some kind of noise, though, and the black fine grain flecks of the GS300 look better than most.

In low light, the PV-GS300 performed slightly above average. While the picture lost a good deal of brightness, it remained very sharp, with no focusing problems. At very low light, the picture remained in focus, but most of the color was gone. The GS300 had less noise than most other camcorders in its class, a definite point in its favor.

The GS300 is an easy camcorder for the inexperienced user to handle. A manual/automatic switch inside the LCD cavity allows the user to relegate exposure and focus control to the camcorder. While these auto controls are not quite as good as those on a Sony, they are more than adequate.

Of course, it would be a shame to own a camcorder and not take advantage of the great manual control set. All Panasonics have a full range of shutter speed, aperture (in f-stops), and gain (in dB levels), giving you all the control you’ll need to shoot a great picture. The manual control menu can be a little confusing in the beginning, but Panasonic has included a small but useful feature that explains the function of each icon on the menu.

Navigating through the manual controls and the menus is done via a joystick control, the best of all control devices in the consumer camcorder world. Thankfully, Panasonic also makes the best of the joysticks; it’s large enough to get a grip on it and moves smoothly. The rear placement also makes one-handed operation possible, so you can adjust the exposure and hold onto your drink.

The GS300 also captures stills to an SD card at resolutions up to 2048 x 1512 (3 MP). All the same manual controls are here, as well as features like burst mode, flash, and red-eye reduction. While 3MP is a decent (barely) showing, and the still performance is relatively satisfactory, a camcorder is no substitute for a dedicated still camera. (Just something we like to mention from time to time.)

The loss of the focus ring, the headphone jack, and most of all, the analog-to-digital pass through – all found in the predecessor – are hard to bear. While we should all appreciate video performance and manual control on a $699 camcorder, the GS300 has abandoned most of the GS250's professional (or at least prosumer) aspirations. If you can suspend comparisons to its better-equipped ancestor, however, the GS300 is an excellent camcorder for its class.


Likes
-Lower price than predecessor
-Better video performance
-Widescreen LCD
-Smaller camcorder body than last year
Dislikes
-Loss of Headphone Jack
-No analog-to-digital pass-through
-Loss of Focal Ring