Hi again, long time no visit, sorry about that.

My first camera was a Canon MV630i, my second which I just bought last week is a Panasonic NV-GS500, partly as a result of reading about 3ccd and it having a fairly okay lens. This should be a step up from my first camera, I just wondered if anyone is regularly using one, what they've discovered from using it they didn't know, good points and bad points, maybe help a sista out fumbling with its many auto settings trying to get the best from it. Thanks x

Hi Bluebelle

I used two a couple of years ago for weddings. Good points are the chips have a genuine 16:9 footprint so your widescreen footage is genuine widescreen. Yes, it has a nice lens and good resolution but I found that because the chips have to use so many effective pixels to create a 16:9 footprint the low light performance left a lot to be desired. Give the cam a reasonable amount of light and will leave you with a smile on your face!!!

Forget about trying to use the "Super Nightshot" facility!! It's worse than useless. Being totally menu driven, I found that it's annoying having to go thru countless menus to set a simple task that could be done with an external control but you do get used to it. The mic has brilliant sensitivity controls and you can turn off auto gain too!!! Set up your audio to "Manual + AGC" for best results and you won't go wrong!!

The only really bad thing is that the camera has no headphone jack!! You cannot monitor audio unless you hook up the special GS500 cable and make an adaptor to fit the RCA audio out terminal.

Otherwise you will get some brilliant footage and better than expected results

Hope this helps

Chris

Hi Chris,

thanks for the reply, I changed my audio to Manual + AGC and it sounded pretty good, has a visual meter that you can increase or decrease the gain, fairly easy to use.

I tested it earlier today indoors and it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. My Canon would go blurry with changes to zoom in low light while this kept it fairly consistent, admittedly true colour wasn't really achieveable in low light of a pub/small venue music event, and as I read in other places it is tricky to balance in one hand (I think I read the GS400 is slightly smaller and easier to use).

I might get around to some editing tomorrow and my opinion could change but will be sticking with this to learn more about videography before spending lots£££ more

thanks again,
Adele (bluebelle)

Hi Adele

During recording, the level meters give you a pretty good indication. The great thing about Manual+AGC is that your initial level is set manually and the "AGC" part only clamps the audio if it goes more than +6db so you still get great audio without the "pumping" effect that normal AGC does with soft and loud bits of audio (wedding vows are like that!!)

The GS500 is actually lighter than the 400!! The 400 was Panasonic's "flagship" with a better build and bigger LCD and important stuff like headphone jacks. The 500 is sadly a downgraded version of the 400 but still an awesome machine.

Chris