Panasonic Palmcorder Multicam PV-GS180

Great 3ccd mini-dv camera!!-one of the few lower priced cams to keep the mic jack and the headphone jack which adds tremendous value to the camcorder.Picture quality is very good in regular and widescreen mode! Stills taken in sunlight are also very good; however, they are lousy for low light situations,and forget about shooting video in low light with this camera,the 1/6' 3ccd's require ample light.I have found a video light mounted on the cold shoe on top of the camera works wonders with cameras that have a hard time in low light situations.
Controls are fairly self-explantory and are very,very easy to master. Outdoor stills are very acceptable; you can produce them while shooting video which is nice when you see something that you know will make a good still. With a large SD card, you can shoot 1000's of pictures. The battery does not last to long so I recommend a backup or two. Make sure you also get a firewire cable if you want to download your videos to your computer as the included usb cable is for the transfer of pictures. Overall, I'm extremely pleased with the camera; it's just what I was looking for. Great camera if you are looking for great video results and on a budget.

I'm not an expert on digital video cameras - I mainly use this as a playback deck for transferring film footage to the computer. However, I find the picture bright and colorful compared to my old canon z10, which recently broke. The firewire connection to my mac is reliable as well. I don't know how this compares to more professional cameras, but it seems to be a great camera so far and I'm happy with the purchase.