Panasonic NV-GS500 review

Performance
In general, the Panasonic NV-GS500 performs adequately but no better. Although it can react quickly to manual inputs, its menu-based manual controls are so cumbersome that responsiveness becomes moot. Autofocus can be sluggish, and autoexposure and white balance, while accurate, can also be slow to respond. Battery life is also fairly mediocre, with the small bundled battery typically lasting for only about an hour.

The sharp and contrasty lens offers a respectable 12x zoom range, though its wide end is on the long side, equivalent to approximately a 40mm lens in 35mm-camera terms. This limitation -- typical in small camcorders -- makes it difficult to shoot wide shots in cramped interiors. On the plus side, the manual focus ring and zoom slider are generously sized and easy to manipulate.

The flip-out LCD is reasonably bright but rather small, and it did not perform well outside of a narrow viewing angle. As much as we appreciate the NV-GS500's proper display of both 4:3 and 16:9 video, we miss the much larger LCD of the NV-GS400.

Sound performance with the built-in mic is typical for this class of camcorder. It's adequate when near the subject in a quiet environment but less acceptable in more challenging conditions. Unfortunately, the NV-GS500's audio design is a significant step down from that of the NV-GS400 -- its new mic position is more susceptible to camera-handling noise, and its lack of a headphone jack is inexcusable.

Image quality
Since it incorporates the same lens, sensors and image-processing firmware as its superb predecessor, the Panasonic NV-GS500's image quality is essentially identical as well. Like the NV-GS400, in well-lit situations, it offers state-of-the-art standard-definition video quality, approaching professional standards. No doubt due to its three CCD chips, the NV-GS500's video is bright, colourful, accurate and detailed -- and because it uses 1-megapixel chips, the 16:9 mode is excellent, with no noticeable loss in sharpness.

In low light, the video compares favourably with that of other consumer models but is noisy and somewhat muted by professional standards. The still-photo quality is also middling, being acceptable for a camcorder, but competitive with only the lowest level of dedicated still cameras.

Edited by Lori Grunin
Additional editing by Kate Macefield