great video camera
I was torn between Sony and Panasonic (the Canons seemed to have many recurring complaints especially with the decks) and after reading several reviews became gradually partial to the Panasonic before ever having used one based on customer loyalty and consistently glowing testimonials.
Well I've never used the comparable Sony's JVC's or the Canon XL2 (some limited experience with the GL2) but as best I can tell without personal comparison this camera does in fact deserve all the great reviews.
The image quality is excellent and in many cases looks about as good as broadcast TV video (nonHD) and the camera allows a tremendous amount of image control--manual focus ring aperture (iris) gain adjustment shutter speed zebra control for overexposure white AND black balance adjusting daylight filters etc. The electronic viewfinder can even be focused via simple diopter. There are six preprogrammed but customizable settings for image control so the user can simply dial in whatever setting they need based on the shooting/lighting conditions. So for example you shoot occasionally under weak flourescents lights--you adjust the white balance and the gain and the detail level accordingly save it as a particular "scene file"; whenever you return to that same location or a similar shooting environment you can click over to the saved settings in an instant and start recording. The first four are factory set for video 60 frames; the last two are 24 fps for a more film-like quality which this camera handles beautifully.
What actually sold me on the camera in terms of hardware were the two XLR jacks--comparably priced models didn't seem to offer this. The XLR jacks allow the user to attach professional shotgun mics and bypass the mediocre factory one taking fuller advantage of 16bit 48khz stereo recording. I use a fairly inexpensive AZDEN mic and the improvement in sound quality is tremendous. If you were willing to invest in finer mics the audio quality would be better still. Having two XLR inputs means that in addition to recording live audio (like a mic) you can also mix in input from another pre-recorded source--all in the camera!
The lens by Leica is also impressive--it is a bit wide and is not interchangeable (although I believe there is an adaptive telephoto for $$$). I prefer shooting wide but if you have need a wide selection of lenses or don't enjoy the look of wide angle look to Canon.
The drawbacks are minor--the camera is rather cumbersome--and would certainly be tiresome for handheld use as it isn't designed for shoulder-mounted use. I shoot almost exclusively indoors with a tripod and so neither of these issues are relevant for me. Also irrelevant for me are reviews I've read which have indicated lackluster battery performance--again shooting indoors I always have it plugged in and thus haven't noticed any battery problems. The little menu joystick control button used to toggle the menu screens as well as the VCR playback options can be frustrating when you're tired but that is an extremely trivial concern really.
This camera is expensive even in the $1500+ prosumer class it tends more to professional range but I feel it is a great value considering what a fine piece of equipment it is and the wealth of features it offers. It is much much more than enough camera for the consumer and probably a little more than I need actually--I've used mine for a few months and I'm still learning how to wring better and better shooting from it. Once you've used it for a while it becomes clear why this particular model maintains a devoted following. If I have to replace this camera--provided I can afford to--the next camera would definitely be a Panasonic and probably be its big HD brother the HVX.More detail ...
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