Panasonic MiniDV Camcorders

tsinc80697 · 14 Oct 2006 at 19:12

Been looking into getting a camcroder recently as i need one for university.
After reading through a few reviews it seems that the GS300 or GS500 are decent for their price, shame i cant get hold of the GS400 for the same price though!

Does anyone know if the extra £100 is worth it going from the GS300 to GS500?
I would be using the camera in day and night time, so a decent low light camcorder is needed.

Are there better cameras for the same price or less? As i have been put off the Sony camcorders slightly due to the touch screen LCDs which i find irritating.

Thanks for any help

ps.
Is there any difference between different miniDV tapes ? Is one brand better than another and can you tell any difference in a £2 tape than a more expensive?

tsinc80697 · 15 Oct 2006 at 00:04

Been looking through that site all day, all you get out of it is that the 500 is not as good as the 400, but obviously as theres around a £600 difference.

Just wanted to know anyones opinions if they own one and if its worth the difference, ill look into getting some Sony miniDV tapes at around that price then, thanks

tsinc80697 · 15 Oct 2006 at 01:01

Yeah gonna pop down Jessops tomorrow, they prob have the 300 in stock, but the 500 it says it only stocks in the warehouse, so i might have to phone up and say i'm interested

tsinc80697 · 15 Oct 2006 at 04:15

Cheers nomore, i'll probably be ordering the camera on monday then, just need to get a tripod and tapes with it aswell.
Found 2 nice sites to order it off, one was selling it for £533.99 but it turns out their stock is based in Hong Kong which would be a pain to return if needed, so the cheapest ive found the GS500 for is £594.95.
Just got to find a decent Tripod to go with it, hopefully ill be able to pop into Jessops or somewhere to have a look at it tomorrow

tsinc80697 · 16 Oct 2006 at 12:29

took the plunge and ordered one, £610 with 5 tapes delivered.
Just gotta find a nice tripod, Velbon ones seem in my price range ^_^

tsinc80697 · 20 Oct 2006 at 19:34

The gs400 is hard to get hold of, they seem to crop up in random shops for random prices, was after one but the normal price is waaaaaay to high for me at the moment!

Ill have a look into the panasonic tapes being better for this camcorder, dont want to screw it up obv! Never heard anything like that before though.