Camcorder Comparison: Panasonic PV-GS400 vs. Sony DCR-HC1000 Mini DV Camcorders

Joe McCleskey
February 2005

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For seven or eight years now, consumer-grade 3-chip DV camcorders have come in 2 basic styles: the full-featured prosumer model, with enough bells and whistles to keep even picky broadcast videographers happy; and the high-performance consumer model, which aims more at the quality-conscious hobbyist who wants a smaller size and easier operation as well as manual controls and top-notch picture quality.

This month, we take a head-to-head look at two 3-chip DV camcorders that fall into the latter category: the Panasonic PV-GS400, and the Sony DCR-HC1000.

Panasonic has been putting a lot of energy into its line of consumer 3-CCD DV camcorders in the past year or two. The PV-GS400, upgrade to the popular and successful PV-DV953, is no exception, offering a full suite of manual controls, a high-quality LCD monitor, an excellent Leica Dicomar lens and an impressive 4 megapixel still-image capability in a sleek, rugged package.

When you take the PV-GS400 out of the box and hold it in your hand for the first time, you'll notice right away that it has a solid, almost heavy feel to it, which aids in holding the camera steady while shooting handheld shots. You also may notice that it has a soft, rubberized cover with textured finger indentations on the right-hand side, which adds to its overall comfortable, ergonomic feel. All of the camera's right-hand controls, including the Record button, On/Off switch and Zoom/Volume toggle, have good tactile response and the overall feel of quality.

The left-hand controls, located under the 3.5-inch LCD monitor, leave a little bit more to be desired. A series of plastic membrane-type buttons operate a seemingly random set of controls: on-screen Menu, Multi P-in-P, Advanced MagicPix low-light shooting, Soft Skin (more on this below) and Telemacro; in the center of these sits a circular controller for tape transport and menu navigation. All of these controls sit atop a small hinged panel, which flips outward to allow access to the camera's SD card reader, the place where high-quality still images are stored. Unlike the right-hand controls, it isn't hard to imagine these plastic membranes wearing out in a couple of years. Also located under the LCD monitor are a few more rugged button controls for built-in flash, Widescreen mode, backlight compensation and record review.

In nearly all aspects of its operation, the PV-GS400 is a joy to work with. The LCD monitor is bright, sharp and easy to see in daylight; most impressive, though, is the knurled Focus/Exposure ring, which successfully mimics the operations of a mechanical-style SLR lens, though in fact it's operated electronically. By pressing the buttons on the side of the lens assembly, you can switch the operation of this ring between Focus, Iris, Zoom, and Shutter Speed control. At the brightest end of the Iris control, it even serves as a Gain Up control, displaying the amount of gain up in decibels (dB) on the LCD monitor.

Two innovative features of the PV-GS400 include Advanced Magic Pix low-lux shooting and the Soft Skin function. Advanced Magic Pix makes use of the LCD monitor, in reversed position, as a light to shoot in zero-lux conditions. This light, combined with the slow-shutter feature that accompanies it, allows the PV-GS400 to shoot high-quality, full-color images in total darkness, so long as the subject is less than 3 feet from the lens. The Soft Skin function, when activated, adds a small amount of digital blur to skin tones as a flattering effect. Also included are a titler, zebra stripe function, a few basic special effects, a microphone zoom effect that turns the on-camera microphone into a small shotgun microphone, and a multi-picture in picture effect that's capable of producing some impressive special-effects shots.

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