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Panasonic PVDV51 MiniDV Digital Camcorder

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Panasonic PVDV51 MiniDV Digital Camcorder

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The PV-DV51 is a Digital Video camcorder that offers precise image quality and color accuracy. The superior quality of digital video resulting from higher horizontal resolution yielding sharper picture detail and component color sampling preserves more color information than analog.PV-DV521 delivers 12 / 16-bit audio, 16 bit offers one set of stereo tracks and achieves the same quality as CD, while the 12 bit mode creates two sets of stereo tracks, audio dub is possible when recorded in 12 bit mode. Panasonic invented the Digital EIS to compensate the unintentional hand and camcorder movement to stabilize your recordings. You can use the Dual D-EIS technology even in the playback mode to remove the jitter from previously recorded video. PhotoShot Built in Digital Still Camera allows you to use your digital camcorder as a digital still camera by capturing six seconds of stills with audio in VGA (640 x 480) resolution onto the mini DV cassette. Using the industry standard IEEE-1394 PC interface, you can connect the digital camcorder to a compatible computer for advanced editing. Also allowing you to produce duplicate copies of your recordings without any loss in picture quality with similarly equipped camcorders or VCR's. Equipped with an optical zoom that magnifies the image up to 18x by increasing the focal length of the lens, the zoom acts like a telescope to produce close up shots with extraordinary clarity, and with the 300x digital zoom you will be able to bring the objects up to 300x closer by electronically magnifying the images. 2.5" LCD Color Monitor provides excellent viewing clarity in full vivid colors, rotates 270 degrees allowing you to hold the camcorder at many different angles. A built-in speaker allows playback with sound.

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Product Details

Product Width:	3.3 inches
Product Height:	4.2 inches
Product Weight:	1.5 pounds
Package Length:	11.3 inches
Package Width:	8.2 inches
Package Height:	6.8 inches
Package Weight:	3.68 pounds
Average Customer Rating:	based on 10 reviews

Features

MiniDV camcorder
18x optical, 440x digital, zoom with digital image stabilization
2.5-inch color LCD monitor
Records still images onto tape
Uses the included lithium-ion battery

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review: 3.5

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1 of 2 found the following review helpful:

not a good value for money Jan 27, 2005
I am using this camcorder for last 2 and half year (well, I don't use it much). And for some time facing the problem of picture geting split into several small rectangular squares, which is very difficult to watch. And recently this camcorder broke where the plastic hooks with the hand strap (you can see a very cheap plastic being used).

6 of 6 found the following review helpful:

poor product Jun 17, 2003
I purchased eight of these cameras last July 02 and they have been a huge disappointment. I have many of the precursors to this model, the pvdv-101. There are two issues with the Pvdv-51. Out of eight cameras, three of them had case breaks in the exact same spot, just where the hand strap connects to the rear section of the camera. I am a teacher and use these in a high school setting. With the first camera break, I blamed student negligence. However with the third that happened (in my hand!) it's clear to me that there is an engineering fault. I suspect the grade of plastic used isn't strong enough but that's only speculation.

The second major problem has to do with the video heads. From the first week of use, these cameras have been plagued with head clogs. I use only Sony Premium tapes (do not mix brands). Again, I have other Panasonic cameras that I use and they do not have these problems. The dry erase tapes will work for most clogs though sometimes the tape has to be run through many many times to clear the problem. Some clogs have not been fixable and are waiting to go out to have their heads "professionally" cleaned.

...

Finally, Panasonic's customer relations has been poor with this issue. I have had no success on the phone or in print resolving my problem and will be switching to another similarly priced camera when replacing these models. I've been testing a Canon ZR-60 and am pleased with it's performance. This camera also has an external mic input which the Pan does not.

Over the years, I've invested more than 100 grand in equipment in Panasonic and this is my first major disappointment.

2 of 2 found the following review helpful:

Think again before you buy this!! Sep 20, 2002
I bought Panasonic PVDV51D camcorder about 5 months ago and it is already giving several problems. The picture gets split into several small rectangular squares and it is very difficult to watch it. I called the panasonic service center and they said it would cost me 149$ (plus 12$ shipping and handling)flat rate service charge no matter what the problem is! ( about half the price of a new camcorder). I would strongly recommend not buying it or buying extended warranty since the warranty that comes with the new product is deceptive i.e. though it covers parts for a year, they would charge you too much in the form of LABOR charges.

6 of 6 found the following review helpful:

Transfer to PC Mar 11, 2002
To tranfer video to a PC you need a Firewire port on the PC(I use the one on my sound card) and a firewire cable. I got the cable at Circuit City when I bought the camera. If you have Windows XP, Movie Maker will open by default when you connect the camera. If you want to purchase DV editing software, Pinnacle's Studio DV comes with a firewire card.

Great video but no info on what cable to use for still pics Jan 24, 2002
If Celia reads this review, I would like to know what specific cable you bought from Pinnacle to use to transfer still pics to the computer. I can't seem to find any info on that. Amazon has cables but I don't know which one I need. It would be helpful if on the despcription of the product, there was a despcription of the accessories and what you need, not just a list.

the video is very good on this one and I find it very easy to handle. I'm just frustrated about not being able to get the still pics on the computer.

Another big note. We have had this less than 2 years now and we had the same case break by the handle that the guy had mentioned above. Not happy with this camera at this point. Going to move up to a DVD camcorder and not panasonic(if they even make them!)