Low End Camcorder - Sony or Panasonic?

[aphex]

Fiancee wants a cheap camcorder and we have a 12% off BB coupon....

Gonna hold off on getting anything nice until the HD cams come down in price, and decent 3CCD Pannys start at $500.

The two im looking at are;

Panasonic PV-GS80 -$259

Sony DCR-HC38 - $290

The Panasonic has Optical IS and a widescreen LCD, while the Sony has Nightshot, a slightly longer zoom, and a built in lens cover.

Not a huge fan of the touchscreen LCD on the Sony though, the Panny is just easier one hand operation.

 

[amdhunter]

Originally posted by: aphex
Fiancee wants a cheap camcorder and we have a 12% off BB coupon....

Gonna hold off on getting anything nice until the HD cams come down in price, and decent 3CCD Pannys start at $500.

The two im looking at are;

Panasonic PV-GS80 -$259

Sony DCR-HC38 - $290

The Panasonic has Optical IS and a widescreen LCD, while the Sony has Nightshot, a slightly longer zoom, and a built in lens cover.

Not a huge fan of the touchscreen LCD on the Sony though, the Panny is just easier one hand operation.

You look like you answered your own question.

 

[cheesygoldfish]

i say panasonic

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: amdhunter

Originally posted by: aphex
Fiancee wants a cheap camcorder and we have a 12% off BB coupon....

Gonna hold off on getting anything nice until the HD cams come down in price, and decent 3CCD Pannys start at $500.

The two im looking at are;

Panasonic PV-GS80 -$259

Sony DCR-HC38 - $290

The Panasonic has Optical IS and a widescreen LCD, while the Sony has Nightshot, a slightly longer zoom, and a built in lens cover.

Not a huge fan of the touchscreen LCD on the Sony though, the Panny is just easier one hand operation.

You look like you answered your own question.

lol, yea i think i did... Also, looks like bestbuy is a bit slow to the punch as they only have the panny in stock at the moment, the Sony is listed as a pre-order, even though its in stock at CC.

 

[RossMAN]

Panasonic or Canon

Canon + Dell discounts + rebates FTW

 

[aphex]

Well we had the chance to try them both out in store, turns out BB just got a shipment in of the Sony's about two hours before we arrived...

Popped a tape into each of them and tested it out, then plugged the cams into an LCD tv sitting nearby and viewed the results. While the OIS on the Panny was noticeably better at keeping a steady image, the Sony was noticeably sharper with better contrast and color definition. Seeing the two side by side like that, we went Sony....

Thanks for all the input!

 

[Gibson486]

I have tried the sony one....i did not like it all. the picture was grainy as hell. I tried the Panasonic GS39 (which I think came before the GS80) also, and while the teh picture was till grainy, it was not as bad as the Sony.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: RossMAN
Panasonic or Canon

Canon + Dell discounts + rebates FTW

Sorry Rossman....but Canon camcroders have the worst motor noise out of any camcorder I have tried. Yes, you can buy a microphone to fix the problem, but most of their affordable camcorders (under $500) do not have a shoe for it.

 

[slackerinabox]

Panasonic, but spend a little more if you can and get a low-end pana with 3 CCDs.

One thing about panasonic - the low light recording tends to be crappy. Canons, at the low end, are mediocre - ditto with JVC.

Sony, i like, but they tend to cost more than they're worth while the Panasonics tend to be bargains.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: freedomsbeat212
Panasonic, but spend a little more if you can and get a low-end pana with 3 CCDs.

One thing about panasonic - the low light recording tends to be crappy. Canons, at the low end, are mediocre - ditto with JVC.

Sony, i like, but they tend to cost more than they're worth while the Panasonics tend to be bargains.

JVC used to be really good bargain wise. I remember they had a camcorder last year that has analog to digital pass through for under $400. To be bad they got rid of that.

 

[slackerinabox]

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: freedomsbeat212
Panasonic, but spend a little more if you can and get a low-end pana with 3 CCDs.

One thing about panasonic - the low light recording tends to be crappy. Canons, at the low end, are mediocre - ditto with JVC.

Sony, i like, but they tend to cost more than they're worth while the Panasonics tend to be bargains.

JVC used to be really good bargain wise. I remember they had a camcorder last year that has analog to digital pass through for under $400. To be bad they got rid of that.

what was even better was when JVCs made decent low end cameras and also sourced cameras for RCA. YOu could get amazing deals back then since RCAs always seemed to be on closeout/sale.

Another brand to look out for (and by out, I mean AWAY) are samsungs. Samsung's getting better but, right now, they're digital imaging products just suck - I bought a samsung miniDV camera just to use as a deck and it sucked even for that limited purpose, finally dying 3 months after I bought it.

I stand by my recommendation. Canon's are ok at the $700 range. A $1,200 canon is coming out that has 24p and HD video - seems like a bargain.

Sony is what I always recommend to people who can afford it - they're probably the best mix of performace and ease of use, but your money definately goes further with panasonic.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: freedomsbeat212

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: freedomsbeat212
Panasonic, but spend a little more if you can and get a low-end pana with 3 CCDs.

One thing about panasonic - the low light recording tends to be crappy. Canons, at the low end, are mediocre - ditto with JVC.

Sony, i like, but they tend to cost more than they're worth while the Panasonics tend to be bargains.

JVC used to be really good bargain wise. I remember they had a camcorder last year that has analog to digital pass through for under $400. To be bad they got rid of that.

what was even better was when JVCs made decent low end cameras and also sourced cameras for RCA. YOu could get amazing deals back then since RCAs always seemed to be on closeout/sale.

Another brand to look out for (and by out, I mean AWAY) are samsungs. Samsung's getting better but, right now, they're digital imaging products just suck - I bought a samsung miniDV camera just to use as a deck and it sucked even for that limited purpose, finally dying 3 months after I bought it.

I stand by my recommendation. Canon's are ok at the $700 range. A $1,200 canon is coming out that has 24p and HD video - seems like a bargain.

Sony is what I always recommend to people who can afford it - they're probably the best mix of performace and ease of use, but your money definately goes further with panasonic.

I bought a Panasonic GS39 on black Friday. I sold it b/c everytime I turned on the light on the camcorder, the video would get all jerky. I look back now and I wish that kept it