Mini DV Panasonic PV-DV400 Camcorder for $439

[karbon4]

Using pricegrabber i found a link to a dealer that sells this camcorder for $539 Camera Sound. Panasonic has a rebate for $100 Panasonic. Now, if you try to call Camera Sound they will give you the run around if you don't buy it with accessories. The beauty lies in that thanks to Sears B&M E-commerce price mathching you can go to any store and pick up the camcorder today without the haggling. I just got one and have been doing research on these camcorder's for a while. It's rock solid and for the price, you can't beat it.

Any Opinions?...

Thanks to the peeps @ Anandtech for clueing me in to the Sears price matching.

/k`4/

 

[sygyzy]

Can you tell me about your full detailed experience pricematching with Sears B&M? I want to get a Sony camcorder and everyone says Sears pricematches no problem but I get alot of problems living in the area I am in right now.

 

[karbon4]

Well, it was a little annoying b/c you have to go during the weekday so they can call some # to verify the costs. You must have a printout of the web page that indicates the cost. I just called up b4hand and asked them what they needed and went in from there. It wasn't too horrible. I guess it depends on which sales person you are talking to. Some can be easy going and others think they own the dang place. What problems are you having and where are you from?


/k`4/

 

[Insomniac]

I could never get my Sears to price match any e-tailers. Is there a policy now? If so please tell us!

 

[Azinicus]

I've been looking for a good DV Camera. This one looks like a pretty good deal. Why do we have to pricematch sears? Can't we pricematch BB or some other pricematchable store? Also, what is the video pixel count on this camera - hopefully it's over 680,000 - 800,000 would be hot for this deal.

 

[karbon4]

Can you pricematch @ BB? I never knew that you could (this is also online e-tailer price matching..does that make a diff?).. As far as Sears price matching.. this was all new to me too, so I don't have much detail on policy.

The camera is a 570K pixel CCD. The Sony Digi8's are only 470K and the norm for mini DV is 680K as far as I know. The next cheapest thing with similar bells and whistles is the JVC 505u and that doesn't have the infra-red which was impt to me. I know it's not the best, but considering the cost and the high shutter speed 10K, it was exactly what i needed. The serial connector for the digital stills was a big plus too. ...and for $439? Great price if that's big concern for you.

/k`4/

 

[sygyzy]

I am trying to decide between this and the Sony TRV530.

Sony | Panasonic
3.5LCD 3.0LCD
Digital 8 MiniDV
Heavier Lighter/Smaller
PM~650 PM~$440
26x optical 18x optical
300x digital 700x digital
Nightshot! ????

I certainly prefer the Sony name brand more as well. What do you guys think? Are Panasonics even known for their cameras?

Edit: Does this have nightshot?

 

[vladgur]

Hey guys.
Goodguys B&M is having 1/2 sale until march 13 I believe. I got Panasonic PVDV800 camcorder for $749 before $100 rebate. It sells for 1199 at frys. Note: the stock is limited to on hand at the store...

 

[sygyzy]

Are you sure they are having a 1/2 off sale? That kind of sounds hard to believe any store would offer 1/2 off.

 

[karbon4]

<<Goodguys B&amp;M is having 1/2 sale until march 13 I believe>>
I just called GG and all they have on sale is the PV-DV800 which you can get online for about the same price. It isn't 1/2 off. All they had that was 1/2 off was the PV-DV200 which is a good buy if you don't need the nightshot.

<<dcr-trv530>>

I dunno. I love Sony too, but it's a Dig 8 which is lower res for the CCD and for the digital stills. It's $200 more too. That would be a tough one. If I had the extra $200 I would shop around for a better miniDV than the pan 400. But that's just me.

/k`4/

 

[Fermilevel]

I bought one of these cameras last May for $800 (retailed then for $1000). This is a great camera without problems. It uses standard DV tapes (higher quality than 8mm tapes) and the DV format video (720x480) but takes still shots at a lower 640x480 resolution. The night vision is infra-red so you lose color during night shots. The 18x optical zoom is good and there is a image stabilization feature to avoid shakey video. Digital zoom is bogus on any camera since it's equivalent to zooming in on a picture on the internet--that is, things get blurry and pixeled.

I've printed the photos on photo-paper and it would be hard to guess that it was from a digital camera. The 8Mb media card holds about 100 still-shots which can be taken from a point-and-shoot mode or as captured images from the video tape. I've also done video editing using the firewire port without any problems. For the price mentioned, I don't see how a person could go wrong. It comes with a 30 minute battery so you will want a 2 hour battery also.

 

[Pliablemoose]

I just pricematched a Sony DCR-TRV330 from Buydig.com @ Sears.com, they added shipping &amp; state sales tax. Next time I'll just order from buydig (or the e-tailer) to avoid the sales tax...

 

[sygyzy]

Let's get this thread moving. Pliablemoose how do you like your camera? Why did you get the 330 instead of a higher end model? Karbon4 - What would you recommend me getting for 450-650?

Are you guys positive this particular model has a better resolution than the Sony Digital8 TRV530? I would think so since it's MiniDV but I was checking numbers and it seems the TRV530 has a higher resolution.

 

[aic]

Dig it, this camera ranked in the top 3 per Consumer Reports.

I got one.

Only gripe is you have to have lots of light for a decent indoor shot.

Dig it.

 

[valkyrie]

Also consider getting the DV600, it has the accessory light that isn't included on the 1,2, and 400 models, plus the analog in which lets you plug analog sources into the camcorder and digitize them to DV tape!

Also, if anyone wants a great source for batteries for these suckers, let me know, I just picked up my parents a 4 hour 20 minute extra battery for this camera for $75 shipped.

 

[RossMAN]

It's amazing how some people won't take the time or effort to SEARCH for some reviews

All I did was
1) Go to Google.com
2) Search for PV-DV400 review
3) Reap the rewards

 

[Wooster]

I have no problem price watch with Sears last time. I brought a Sony TRV730 and end up saw something much cheaper online with JC Penny. I went back and want to return it. The sales person price match right in the spot. He also help me sign the Sears card and end up with 10% off for that price. Cool!!

 

[RossMAN]

He also help me sign the Sears card and end up with 10% off for that price.

This is an awesome deal, get Sears to price match against competitor, then get a $100 rebate on the Panasonic PV-DV400 and top it off with 10% off for signing up for a Sears credit card (you have to be approved, obviously).

Unfortunately I already have a Sears card but usually if you close your account for 90 days or more you are considered a &quot;new customer&quot; or maybe it's 180 days?

10% OFF sure is nice though.

 

[vladgur]

I bought PV-DV800 yesterday in San Francisco Bay Area. I went to Serramonte Center Goodguys in Colma,CA and saw a newspaper ad for 1/2 off for certain items including panasonic PV-DV800 camcorder for $749-$100 rebate and Energy Take 5 Home stereo speakers(set of 5) for $249. Unfortunately Serramonte did not have PV-DV800 in stock, so I went to Stonestown Galleria Goodguys in san francisco,ca and got both the camcorder and the speaker set(using their 12 month no payment no interest promo on their credit cards). If you so desire I can scan and post the receipt when I get home tonight. In any case, try to locate couple of good guys stores in the bay area and call them to find out the stock and prices and then pricematch if so desire.....Best buy has 110% guarantee I believe.

 

[vladgur]

Oh yeah, the camera has the light accessory as well as analog in. I dont know how it differs from DV-600 except that I got it(DV-800) cheaper then goodguys was selling DV-600.
By the way, good guys is not selling Panasonic camcorders online anymore, so I guess they were clearing them out. That is not to say that stores dont have them still.
Also if you need a firewire card to go with your miniDV/Digital8 camcorder, dont hesitate to pick up Swann firewire card from Frys for $29.99. Swann is little known in the us, because its an australian company, but the card received excellent reviews from PC world australia. At $29.99 its nearly 3 times cheaper then its &quot;well-known&quot; competitors like Pinnacle systems Studio DV and ADS Pyro. It comes with win 98/ME/2000 support and ulead studio 4.01(upgradeable to the latest 5.0 for $49.95) if you dont have something like Adobe Premiere or Sonic Foundry Vegas Video.....

BTW, does any1 know where I can get 60+ miniDV tapes for cheap? Also battery packs, etc......

 

[sygyzy]

RossMan - Give me a break. I've read every review of the two cameras, but it doesn't hurt to get insight from people who can answer my questions directly.

 

[aic]

&quot;Also, if anyone wants a great source for batteries for these suckers, let me know, I just picked up my parents a 4 hour 20 minute extra battery for this camera for $75 shipped.&quot;

Tell me.

$75 = good?

 

[RossMAN]

Give me a break.

Sorry I'm all out of kit kat bars but here's some of that &quot;insight from people&quot; which should be helpful.

Epinions.com (3.5 out of 5 rating)

C|Net.com (100% rating, 13 out of 13 thumbs up rating)

Here's a Home Theater Forum thread which mentions the Panasonic PV-DV400.

 

[karbon4]

<<$75 shipped>>
Valkyrie. Hooks me up with the information! $75 for a 4.5 hour battery is amazing... Wait, did you say that it was compatible with the PV-DV400? If so I would greatly appreciate the info. I haven't started price matching for batteries yet, but the info would save me some time.

<<sygyzy>>
For that price range you could get many things. The questions you should ask yourself are what are the features that are most important to you in terms of what you will be using the camera for. Hi Res (680K)No night, Slow Shutter.. go with the JVC 805u/505u..Mid Res(570K), Nightshot, Fast Shutter (Panasonic 400/600).. Legacy Hi8, Decent Res(470K),xtra editin options, usb (sony 530/330) I don't particularly like the 520 (20series).. I think they're ugly and bulky. You might even want to check out the ZR10 form Cannon.

<<Rossman>>
...is right for pointin to the reviews. I relied on those heavily for opinions on the cameras. being a beginner user the dv400 was a perfect fit. Not too many options to confuse the heck outta me, but just enough to get what I wanted done... **just finished checkin out the stills from the Panasonic btw... 640x480 looks okay.. shrink it down to 66% and it looks great... This is a dope piece of hardware.. I'm very happy. The night shot works great in complete darkness too! blah blah blah... you decide.

 

[valkyrie]

Ask and ye shall receive.

Battery Bank

Great prices, best around...at least for the Panasonic camcorders (trust me, I looked EVERYWHERE!)

If anyone can beat $75.64 for the LIP-320 battery, I'd be REALLY impressed.

It's only $4 more than the 3 hour version, the LIP-220. They also have the OEM panasonic battery too, but the Lenmar ones work just fine too.

Hope this helps you all. Feature for feature, I have to say these panasonic camcorders look great.