The most obvious disappointment is the NV-GS37's widescreen features. If you shoot in widescreen, the only option available is letterboxing, where the camera crops the top and bottom of the image. The LCD screen is shaped in the traditional 4:3 aspect ratio too, so it's not ideal for composing widescreen pictures. The camcorder has an unusually low and wide shape because of its side-loading tape mechanism, which made it hard to hold.
The battery protrudes at the back, but the viewfinder extends further so you can get your eye to it. The battery lasted for an impressive one hour and
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45 minutes. The camcorder is controlled by a simple dial and joystick, both of which rest under your thumb. The menu system is clearly labelled and easy to navigate.
The lens is protected by a standard lens cap, which is a pain to remove and replace every time you want to shoot video. A video lamp helps when shooting in very dark conditions, but it's only useful at short range. There's no memory card slot for storing still images.
PERFORMANCE
The NV-GS37 couldn't quite compete with Canon's MV930 for video quality. Footage shot indoors was acceptable but lacked some of the MV930's sharpness and suffered from more noise. In low light the noise level increased massively. Colours were very washed out and detail vanished in dark areas.
Things improved considerably outdoors, and there is little difference between footage from the NV-GS37 and the MV930. The 30x optical zoom is great, but it's outdoors that you'll most miss a proper widescreen mode.
VERDICT
The NV-GS37 records decent video in well-lit conditions, but with no anamorphic widescreen mode most people would be better off choosing the MV930.
By Seth Barton
SPECIFICATIONS:
MiniDV cassette storage, 30x optical zoom, 800,000-pixel 1/6in CCD, 2.5in LCD screen, FireWire out, USB interfaces, A/V out
