Panasonic PV-GS80 MiniDV Camcorder with 32x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

The Panasonic PV-GS80 is a good low end Camcorder, But it's big brother PV-GS85 is a much better buy. You can take pic's and save them on a SD card, It has more features than the 80. Don't buy the 80, buy the 85

We purchased this camera for our Daughter and her husband for Christmas last year because we were expecting our first grandchild in January. It has continued to please them and the ease of use and picture quality is great!

This is my first video camera and I am happy with it. I bought it because of the band name combined with price and reviews. It isn't the best, from what I understand, but it does everything I need it to do. Don't expect to go make a movie with it but it will capture your important moments just fine.

I am thinking about upgrading to an external mic but I can't seem to find the right one for the right price. So for now, it does just fine.

This is a great little camera. We bought it a week before we left for a road trip. It is really easy to use. It's light and small, and takes a good picture. We used it both in the car and outside in the wind. It picks up voices really well and doesn't get a lot of road or wind noise. It has a good zoom and the LCD screen is really helpful. We travel a lot and are really glad we got this camera!!!

First the good. It's solid, built really well. If it weren't for the lack of buttons/controls on this thing you'd think it was a more expensive camera. I like the "square" design much better than the vertical design of some consumer cams. The inclusion of a cold shoe is a nice idea, but what can you really use here other than a cheapo light. If you need a cheapo light you can just buy a GS85 instead. REAL easy to use. Turn it on, decide if you want to shoot widescreen or oldschool style (pick widescreen, it's just the way of things).

The major problem for me was... the colors weren't always on point. I mean, it looked decent, they just weren't accurate. When filming in my well lit kitchen, my blue wall looked grey. I understand this is a budget cam, and for some people that'll be no big deal, but for me I couldn't live with it.

Also, it fits really strangely in the hand. You really need to have a FIRM grip on the top of the cam with your fingers, if you let go, the thing will flop right down due to the location of the handstrap. All in all, I wanted a better camera for what I wanted to do (short films, etc.)

Again, I must say that If i was going to get a point and shooter or recommend one to someone, I'd tell them to get a panasonic for sure. I liked the build, I liked the design, I liked the joystick, and I like the zoom control. The eyepiece even pulls out on this which can be useful. Sometimes when framing a scene, looking thru the eyepiece rather than the viewfinder helps your creative mind do it's thing.

I ended up returning this, as I felt I "outgrew" it in about a week. But perhaps my needs were just out of reach for this camera.