New camcorder
Jul. 10th, 2007 09:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
johnridleyAs covered in this post, I ordered a new camcorder last week.
It came in yesterday. The biggest worry was that I'd ordered an "open box" from "Warehouse Deals" which is Amazon's scratch/dent store. Not a problem. The thing had obviously been opened and screwed with, one of the cables had been removed from the plastic bag and put back in, there was a fingerprint on the LCD screen, the parts weren't carefully placed as you usually expect, but everything was there, and after spending a couple of hours last night reading the owner's manual and exercising all the features, everything's fine. No scratches or anything broken at all. Imported some video through the firewire and that works fine too.
I'll certainly be checking for "Warehouse Deals" as an alternate seller in the future. Buying the open box knocked the price from $270 to $210, which paid for an aftermarket big-ass battery, a clear protective filter, and a pack of tapes. There were a couple a few bucks cheaper but they all indicated damage to the box, which made me nervous.
It's a Panasonic PV-GS85, BTW. The main feature to me up from the 80 is that it has a video light. Not much, but it's something. Combined with the gain-up feature, you can do a little shooting in the dark. Not the IR nightshot of the Sony, which is pretty cool but weird green and everyone's eyes are fully dilated and glowing; this one gives some color.
It's not a feature-rich camcorder, but it's got everything I think I need. Build quality I'd have to rank as "adequate". It's not a brick, but it's not crap either.
I don't know why they bother putting still image capture on these things. The quality isn't really any better than you can get by just capturing a still frame from the video. In fact I think it's worse. Maybe in a few years the HD camcorders will have decent still modes.
I need to try it out in windy conditions and see if velcroing a bit of foam over the mic will help the wind blast problems I've had at Berzerker in the past.
Anyway, it's here well in time to capture Lexi's concert on Friday, and to come to Berzerker with us next week.
It came in yesterday. The biggest worry was that I'd ordered an "open box" from "Warehouse Deals" which is Amazon's scratch/dent store. Not a problem. The thing had obviously been opened and screwed with, one of the cables had been removed from the plastic bag and put back in, there was a fingerprint on the LCD screen, the parts weren't carefully placed as you usually expect, but everything was there, and after spending a couple of hours last night reading the owner's manual and exercising all the features, everything's fine. No scratches or anything broken at all. Imported some video through the firewire and that works fine too.
I'll certainly be checking for "Warehouse Deals" as an alternate seller in the future. Buying the open box knocked the price from $270 to $210, which paid for an aftermarket big-ass battery, a clear protective filter, and a pack of tapes. There were a couple a few bucks cheaper but they all indicated damage to the box, which made me nervous.
It's a Panasonic PV-GS85, BTW. The main feature to me up from the 80 is that it has a video light. Not much, but it's something. Combined with the gain-up feature, you can do a little shooting in the dark. Not the IR nightshot of the Sony, which is pretty cool but weird green and everyone's eyes are fully dilated and glowing; this one gives some color.
It's not a feature-rich camcorder, but it's got everything I think I need. Build quality I'd have to rank as "adequate". It's not a brick, but it's not crap either.
I don't know why they bother putting still image capture on these things. The quality isn't really any better than you can get by just capturing a still frame from the video. In fact I think it's worse. Maybe in a few years the HD camcorders will have decent still modes.
I need to try it out in windy conditions and see if velcroing a bit of foam over the mic will help the wind blast problems I've had at Berzerker in the past.
Anyway, it's here well in time to capture Lexi's concert on Friday, and to come to Berzerker with us next week.
