Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #104829 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Panasonic
• Model: NV-GS17B
• Released on: 2005-03-08
• Dimensions: .90 pounds

Manufacturer's Description
24 x Optical Zoom Compact Digital Video Camera

Breathtaking zoom and ease of use with Panasonic's new range of digital camcorder

The 24x optical zoom means that friends and family can wave to the camera from far away and be recorded sharply and clearly. With such intense details being captured, pictures will hold more depth and their beauty can be treasured forever

An array of modes

The range offers an exciting choice of modes, for example, soft skin mode renders complexions with exquisite beauty whilst colour night view makes it possible to capture colours even in the darkest of scenes-a feature of all the new Panasonic models. With this new range encapsulating such a fantastic bundle of features, shooting modes can be tailored to fit your exact requirements. When filming beautiful moments, whether of family, friends or scenery, these new camcorders will ensure that footage looks as fresh as the moment it was taken - meaning nothing is lost.

Customer Reviews

Best Picture and Sound Quality you can get for that price.
The NV-GS17 (B // EB) offers a very good picture- and sound quality and resolution. The pictures is clear, the colors are crisp and there is no tape motor noise on the sound recordings. Also amazing is the zoom. You won't find 24x optical and 800x digital zoom for that price anywhere else. The camcorder is very small and with only 410 grams very light. The basic model from Sony is 3 times heavier and twice as big. The NV-GS17 offers many manual setting which is very unusual for a camcorder in this price level.
However there are some cons:
You will be reminded that this is the basic model all the time: No cables delivered (except power supply cables), no CD ( you have to download the drivers), no CF card slot (pictures are saved on the tape), no video light, no recording LED, no sound in port and so on.
Not only I find it incredibly cheap from Panasonic not even to deliver a CD and a cable for the computer connection (what does this cost? 2 Pounds?) , the manual is not even describing the possibility of connecting the camcorder to the PC! They want to keep the buyers of this camcorder as basic as possible, but of course you CAN connect it to the computer. You need a IEEE 1394 Firewire PCI card and a firewire cable (6 to 4 pins). You can get both for under 10 pounds at Amazon.co.uk Marketplace. Many users of the camcorder report problems with connecting via USB cable. I have not tried it myself, because a firewire connection is faster and more comfortable, anyway.
Conclusion:
If you are looking for good picture and sound quality for a low price and if you are able to download and install drivers and if you don't mind to have a basic camcorder without fancy features, go for it!
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Panasonic NV-GS17B MiniDV Digital Camcorder
This is a great little camcorder. Although almost the bottom of the panasonic mini-dv range it appears to have all the important features of its more expensive stablemates without the frills. (no memory card slot or usb cables/software supplied, mono chrome viewfinder)
Firstly, in normal daylight filming the picture quality is incredible for an entry level camcorder although its low light ability is not that special. The (semi-)manual low light setting improves things. (this camcorder has no extra subject illumination facilities or cold shoe for an add on movie light).
In full auto mode it's capable of providing 95% of your everyday filming needs. Colour balance and auto focus seem accurate although there are extensive manual facilies to suit most needs.(don't be fooled by what looks like a knurled focus ring around the lens, it's just for show) The 24x variable optical zoom is a knock out! I recently filmed a pair of souring buzzards and was able to keep them in almost full frame. Incredible. If you want a capable "holiday" camcorder with the ability to go a bit further when special conditions arise I thoroughly recommend this little Gem.

Pros
-very, very good picture quality for price (for both sharpness and colour)
-accurate autofocus
-excellent optical zoom (I don't use digital zoom)
-full manual control on focus, shutter, iris, gain, white balance.
-compact and light weight
-doesn't come with any useless cables and software (see cons)

cons
-you have to read the manual because most features are controlled by the thumb joystick and one other button.
-Low light (60 watt bulb room light) picture quality just acceptable.
-You'll need to buy a data cable and software to edit on your PC (an AV cable is supplied) I bought a basic 4-6 pin firewire cable and a £6 firewire PCI card and use PowerDirector for down loading and editing and burning onto DVD. There is no noticable loss of quality when playing the DVD on 28" TV.(That should be in the "pros" above!)

Panasonic MiniDV Camcorder
This really is very easy to use. I've never had a camcorder bofore and with a USB cable and Windows Movie maker I was editing videos and putting them to music within 10 minutes. The quality of the pictures, even indoors, is great. The manual is easy - but it doesn't do itself credit as far as linking up to a PC with Windows XP is concerned.
I'm going to get firewire too, but I'm very happy with what I have for the moment.