Panasonic PV-DV900 Digital Camcorder

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Manufacturer: Panasonic
Price at amazon.com: List price $1,199.99



Product Features:

• 18x optical zoom, 300x digital zoom
• 2.5-inch color LCD viewfinder
• Electronic image stabilization
• 5-mode programmed autoexposure
• PCM stereo sound in record and playback modes

Product Description:

The Panasonic PV-DV900 Digital Camcorder offers advanced digital features at an affordable price. This camcorder features PCM stereo sound, 18x optical zoom, 300x digital zoom, 400-line resolution, and a 2.5-inch color LCD display. The PV-DV900's wide range of shutter speeds and five exposure presets allow you to film in a variety of lighting situations. Electronic stabilization keeps your picture steady and smooth.The PV-DV900 is long on creative extras. Still camera capabilities, seven fade... read more


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Description from Manufacturer:The Panasonic PV-DV900 offers a great range of features and high-quality digital video at one of the best prices we've seen. This camcorder includes advanced options such as a swivel LCD screen, image stabilization, and digital effects at a price you might pay for a lesser-quality Hi8 camcorder.

The Panasonic PV-DV900's construction is ultracompact, allowing it to fit easily in one hand. While its 2.5-inch LCD screen is about average in size, we found it to be more than adequate for viewing our scenes. The eyepiece viewfinder is helpful in bright sunlight situations, but because it displays in black-and-white and doesn't swing up for viewing, we mostly used the LCD screen during our testing.

The Panasonic PV-DV900 uses a jog wheel for menu selection, which is easy to use once you get the hang of it. The menu is comprehensive but does require some time with the manual to figure out. The camcorder control layout is intuitive, with the menu, zoom, and record buttons all easily accessible with the hand that holds the camcorder.

The digital image stabilization works well, especially on high zoom modes. The swivel LCD screen is great for taking video above your head or for including yourself in the picture. The eyepiece viewfinder automatically comes on if you swivel the LCD screen to the front, so both the camcorder operator and the subject can see the video.

The Panasonic PV-DV900 uses MiniDV digital tapes, which fit high-quality video into a tiny format. For the scenes we recorded onto the MiniDV tapes, the color was bright and the picture was very sharp. One of the Panasonic PV-DV900's best features is its ability to dub audio onto a prerecorded tape. In addition to being able to replace the original soundtrack with new audio, you can also layer a new soundtrack on top of the old one--a great feature for adding background music or commentary to your movies.

Overall, the Panasonic PV-DV900 is a great bargain--it offers advanced features and quality that you'd normally find in a more expensive camcorder. --Holly Blumenthal

Pros:

• High-quality digital video and audio
• High-powered optical and digital zooms
• 2-track audio dubbing
• Swivel LCD screen

Cons:

• Eyepiece viewfinder is black-and-white and stationary

Average Customer Rating:

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Comment: Great camcorder. Discontinued Rating:
I bought this camcorder in 2000. The price was great at $500. It was a sale to get rid of the 900s before the newer series came out. The camera is basic. The eyepiece doesn't swivel. Which doesn't matter. I usually use the lcd, which drains the battery faster. The screen is 2.5" small but in color. All in all it is a good camcorder. Like the other reviewer, be careful. This camcorder is discontinued so the price has been jacked up.

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Comment: This product is disappeared from the market, be careful Rating:
Good cheap cam with nice features...

Has firewire IEEE1934 interface to interact with the PC. Still shot capability holds up to 700 mid-quality images.

The problem is that the product is not even listed in the Panasonics site oficially, it's been missing between DV800 and DV950 models ( and 910 misses too ). But actually the info exists in the site when you edit the http address and replace the "950" with the "900". I couldn't confirm any problem with the 900 und 910 series but some dealers stopped to sells these models too.

So, go for the 950 which is lot more expensive but a real professional model or stick with the 800 one...

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Comment: Great Camera Rating:
There are many different dv camcorders out there for all kinds of budgets. My budget was no too large for my dv purchase, so I shopped around and found the panasonic. I had read both positive and some luke warm reviews of the pv-dv900, but decided to go for it. I am so glad that i did.

I am not a videophile, but the picture and sound i get out of this camera are amazing. It is still better than my old vhs-c camcorder after I dub onto VHS. It is awesome. Haven't installed my IEEE 1394 card yet, so I am not sure about vid capture.

The other reviewer is right about the few differences between the 900 and the 910. The 900 doe not come with the $40 light or the $30 remote control nor does it come with a blank video tape (that seemed kinda cheap to me). The 910 has a color viewfinder and a 3" LCD versus the 900's b/w viewfinder and 2.5" LCD.

I reccomend this camera very highly.

Posted at November 11, 2003 07:58 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)