Panasonic SVAV100 D-Snap MPEG4 Digital Video Recorder

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Manufacturer: Panasonic
Price at amazon.com: $797.94
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New from $739.99

List price $999.99



Product Features:

• Pocket-sized MPEG-2/MPEG-4 SD video camera and 2-megapixel still camera--weighs just .34 pounds
• 10:1 optical zoom lens with 25x digital zoom and super image stabilizer
• 2.5-inch LCD rotates a full, 270 degrees
• Includes 512MB SD memory card and remote control
• Rechargable battery provides up to an hour of video recording time

Product Description:

10X optical zoom lens * records DVD-quality MPEG2 full-motion video * records digital photos as JPEGs and movie clips as MPEG4 files * 2-1/2" LCD viewscreen * included 512MB Secure Digital card (holds 10 minutes of Fine quality MPEG2 video; 20 minutes of Normal quality MPEG2 video; between 1 and 10 hours of MPEG-4 video; between 3520 and 7040 JPEG photos) * MPEG2 resolution options: 704 x 480, 352 x 480 * MPEG4 resolution options: 320 x 240; 176 x 144 * MPEG4 frame rate: 15 frames per second with Superfine mode; 12 frames per second with Fine and Normal; 6 frames per second with Economy * JPEG resolution: 640 x 480 * Electronic Image Stabilizer * 5 auto exposure settings * USB 1.1 interface (cable included) * SD card slot for use with Secure Digital memory cards * built-in flash * includes MediaStage and DirectX 8.1 software (for managing photo and video content, and editing motion video) * 1-5/16"W x 3-5/8"H x 2-5/8"D * weight: 6.7 oz. with battery and memory card * warranty: * player: 1 year parts, 90 days labor * CMOS camera assembly: 6 months parts, 90 days labor * rechargeable battery, SD card, AC adapter: 90 days parts

Average Customer Rating:

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Comment: Thumbs Up for the SV-AV100 Rating:
i shoot quite a bit of video, and i really like not having to use tape... you can get a cheap hard drive-based digital wallet with an sd slot to copy the av100 sd card contents into while you are shooting with a second sd card... no need to ever have more than two sd cards, and you can shoot all day without having to unload the digital wallet.

do not use the software that came with the av100, instead, at the end of the shoot, just plug the digital wallet into your pc via the usb cable, where it appears as just another hard drive... copy the .mod files onto your local hard drive, and rename them as .mpg's... there is nothing to convert, and you can burn the .mpg's directly to dvd.

the av100 is a bit difficult to handle because of the small size, and no tripod mount hole, but surprisingly, it has options for manual controls, and it even has digital image stabilization... along with the mpeg2 recording, you can't get all those features in any other camera on the market today.

improvements i'd like to see would include a bigger ccd pickup, this isn't a camera you get for shooting stills or for shooting video in low light... it's built to serve as a video camera, get a cheap digital still camera if still shots is what you want... the current crop of these types of cameras proves that trying to combine both video and still functions into one camera will result in too many compromises of either one or both functions.

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Comment: I wish I hadn't bought it... Rating:
The camera works as advertised, but I couldn't find any software that could convert the .mod files to something useful. Even the software that comes with it fails to convert the files to a standard format. I have a new XP Pro desktop, and Windows Media Player, Roxio Video Wave Movie Creator, and Windows Movie Maker do not play the files, convert the files or burn the files. Neither does the software that comes with it. I contacted Panasonic, and they said, "We appreciate your frustration. However, Panasonic does not offer software that will allow you to convert the mod.
files. At this time we will relieve ourselves from any further e-mail correspondence regarding this matter." The software that comes with the Product is advertised to convert the files and it does have Panasonic's name on it. That aside, I did find Ulead VideoStudio 7, which can burn the files to DVD. The quality isn't horrible. It will only burn the highest quality video which looks 'ok' on my tv. This means that I can only get 10 minutes of video per 512 MB SD Card. The fact that the SD Cards used by the camera are not standard should be emphasized. You cannot just use any SD Card. Please, do yourself a favor and keep looking for a better choice. This camera is definitely not ready for market.

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Comment: AV-100 is AWSOME Rating:
I just bought this camera. Let me tell you that it is better than I was expecting. The picture qualaty of the mpeg2 fine video setting is noticably better than my sony Hi-8 camcorder, although it is not as good as most mini dv camcorders. It's got tons of features. The audio is also great. I thought it wouldn't be, scince the mic is on the backside of the camera, but it turns out it picks up evrything just fine. (In the first day i shot some great vids of my dog). There are a few problems, but they are not too serious. One of coarse, is the SD card capacity. Now for me, this is not that big of a deal because I bought this camera so i could have it everywhere and get short videos. Another problem is the battery life. It lasts about 40 minutes(I am going to buy an extra to have with me at all times). Also, a problem is that it doesn't have a flash, although that is also not a big deal because if you want a high quality picture, get a DIGITAL CAMERA, not an mpeg2 video recorder. Even without the flash though, the pictures are not bad. Finally, it's the darn .mod files and the software. The software that pannasonic provides does absolutly nothing. The .mod files are very annoying because you have to rename them to .jpeg, which can cause some problems (in the quality). Overall, this camera is SPECTACULAR for what it is supposed to do. I love it. Also, i got it for 675.
Now i'm just waiting for the 5 gig sd card to come out. Thats 100 min of superfine vid!

Posted at November 11, 2003 07:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)