Great value/quality for money
Pros:
Great quality, loaded, manual controls, video quality preserved on transferring to PC
Cons:
Additional accessories needed to transfer video to PC
The Bottom Line:
If you are willing to pay $600, this is probably a great deal. For transferring video to PC you need to get something like Pinnacle Studio DV Firewire kit
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
I researched for about 4 months to get a good camcorder without paying the premium. I see-sawed between Sony and other brands. For comparable features, Sony seemed to charge a premium of $100-200. I was willing to pay that until I read in a review for Sony models - "video becomes dark after transferring to PC". That decided for me that I was not getting a Sony since the video on PC was a big deal for me. Then I started looking for loaded camcorders within $800. When I read the reviews for PVDV901 and saw how much people had paid for it 1 year ago my mind was set on it. Only one concern remained - no clear details were available for video transfer to PC (and I was a novice to the technical details). Now I have first hand experience and I can share it.
I was getting it for $570 at a store with average reputation ( $30 shipping) and $600 at BH Photo Video ($12 shipping). I chose the latter for their reputation and the prompt delivery and product quality vindicated my trust. I believe that this camcorder is worth $800 or more. I list the feature below with my comments.
Still Pictures
I have taken more still photos than video with the camera. I go with the high quality ones only (1M) since transferring pictures to PC is a breeze with the USB card reader. It's just drag-and-drop. However, without a flash lighting becomes critical for good photographs (this observation is true for any camera). The auto-exposure settings allow you to compensate for various lighting conditions.
The other thing to remember is auto-focus will focus on the center-point of the view and if the subject is not center, auto-focus is no good. Thankfully, there is manual focus. One thing I have learned about manual focus is - zoom in max; focus; zoom out as needed; shoot - for best quality pictures.
LCD/Viewfinder
Great large LCD when you have the power connected. Color viewfinder preserves the quality while conserving energy on battery.
Size
Fits nicely in the palm and I am not reminded that I am carrying something in my hand. The commonly used controls (power, record, photo-shot, mode change, zoom) are accessible via the same hand.
Usability
It's easy to get started with. However, in order to use it to its potential and get the best quality picture/video in various conditions you should read the manual. The details are all there.
Zoom
The best advice I got was to ignore the digital zoom as it comes at the cost of quality. I haven't needed the digital zoom yet. The 10x optical zoom is at par with most of the camcorders out there.
Other Features
In addition to the features I use most, there are others like digital effects etc, which I largely ignore as they can be done outside the camera as well. However, features like auto-white-balance are useful for getting true color.
16 MB SD card is good as well.
Price
I think for the features and quality it offers, it is better value than similar models from other brands.
Transferring video to PC
You will need to get a firewire kit (or another similar hardware) for transferring video to PC. Because of the size of data generated a fast connection is recommended and firewire serves the purpose well. I use Pinnacle Studio DV 8 which also includes a great video editing package.
