Panasonic NV-GS180B review

Budget camcorders

Although at the budget end of the range, you can still expect great image quality and a healthy range of features

A decade ago, when consumer digital camcorders first arrived on the market, they cost around £2,000. But these days, you can pick one up for under £300. Despite the price crash, these budget models are still capable of better image quality than some of the first premium units to arrive.

When shopping for a camcorder at any price, there are a number of key features to look out for. Megapixel ratings are only relevant to still photo abilities, as DV (Digital Video) is a standardised resolution of 720 x 576 in the UK. More important for video quality is the physical size and number of CCDs. Larger sensors capture more light, so will perform better than smaller ones in darker conditions, while having three CCDs instead of one triples the colour resolution for much better fidelity.

Models with a microphone input and accessory shoe let you add an external or wireless microphone for better audio, or you can use the shoe for a video light. And don't be taken in by the size of digital zoom, as this will be unusable. Instead, look for a larger optical zoom.

A tape mechanism that loads from the top or side is also preferable. If you're using a tripod, bottom loading will force you to remove the camcorder to change tapes. But compared to models that record onto DVD, tape camcorders are a pain since you have to wind them to the position you want and then wait in real-time to transfer footage to your PC. Panasonic's VDR-D150 records onto 8cm DVD-RAM, DVD-R and DVD-RW discs. If you use a DVD-RAM disc, you don't even have to finalise the disc before simply popping it into your set-top DVD player. DVDs also allow you to copy footage quickly onto your hard disk for editing.

Panasonic NV-GS180

The NV-GS180 cost at least £100 more when it first hit the streets. Even then, it was the cheapest three-CCD camcorder on the market. But now its lower price makes for an even more promising package. The NV-GS180 is based around a trio of 1/6in 800,000-pixel CCDs, which are ganged together for still images at 1,760 x 1,320. It doesn't have a built-in flash but, despite its low price, the NV-GS180 boasts mic and headphone jacks with an accessory shoe. Tapes load from the top too.

The plethora of features extends to a comprehensive range of manual controls. Aside from the five auto-exposure modes, you can manually adjust the shutter from 1/50th to 1/8,000th of a second, aperture from f/1.8 to f/16, and video gain from0-18dB. However, we don't like the fact that the menu joystick is also used for manual focusing, as no lens ring is provided.

With the three CCDs, the NV-GS180's colour performance in good outdoor lighting was nothing short of exceptional. Colours were spot on and the image sharp. Under worse illumination, colour fidelity was still good and, with some additional video gain, even better. In really low light, though, Canon's MVX460 maintained a slightly superior definition with less grain thanks to its larger single CCD.

But considering its reduced price, the NV-GS180 provides an unbeatable combination of video quality and features for the hobbyist. It also offered the only credible still-image performance this month. If you only have £300 to spend on a camcorder, Panasonic's NV-GS180 should be the one.

Author: Jim Martin