Still a great value in the 3-chip market

I had been looking for a 3 CCD camera for quite some time. Having used the Canon ZR10 for several years, I had been strongly considering the GL2. However, over the past year, my Canon started to give me more and more problems and the price of the GL2 had gone up considerably. Therefore, I chose to look at other manufacturers. Then I read about this camera.

The PV-DV953 was approximately $1200 from B&H, so I was immediately suspect. How could you get this much camera for the price? After receiving the camera and running a test tape, I was convinced. This is a lot of camera for the money. The picture is very good. Significantly better than the one chip cameras I have used and every bit as good as other 3-chip footage I have seen. The Leica lens is a real asset of this machine.

More than the 3-chip image quality, the PV-DV953 has some very valuable features that make it an excellent low cost production camera. First off, it offers the "zebra pattern" to insure correct exposure. The LCD screen is huge compared to many camcorders out there making shooting easy. The lens also features a real focus ring. This may sound like a minor thing but many cameras in this price range have the dreaded thumb-wheel for manual focusing. The camera will also allow you to set the exposure in actual f-stops. Again, nothing to do cartwheels over but a nice feature if you are shooting more than birthday parties. All in all, it has everything that you need to shoot with more control than the run-of-the-mill camcorder truly giving it the "prosumer" status.

Some reports have indicated that the auxilary microphone input does not work during shooting and can only be used for over-dubbing. I want to inform those considering this camera that this is FALSE. The aux mic input works just fine which allows the user to add higher quality mics to their palate. However, the placement of the microphone and other aux inputs (including the wired remote) is poor as it is directly next to the lens. A minor, but valid complaint.

Another area of trouble is the still camera feature. Using the still mode is easy enough and the images look decent on the LCD screen. However, downloading the footage to the Mac is a problem as the included software does not seem to have the correct aquire module. Perhaps a little diligence on my part will remedy this snag. I have read some reports that state that the stills simply will not download to the Mac. However, the video mode works perfectly with the Mac and Final Cut. I had purchased the camera for shooting video so this is not a major problem but I can certainly see some buyers being upset over this.

I have have now been using the camera for almost 8 months and can still say that I am very happy with this camera. During that time, I have run about 50 hours of tape through it without a single problem. A recent job allowed me to compare it directly to my 1-chip camera. Low light performance is similar. However, this camera allows you to adjust the gain which means that you can effectively reduce the electronic "grain". Once you have any significant light to work with though, the difference becomes obvious. The color and contrast are significantly better and the image is razor sharp. In addition, the top loading of the cassette becomes a major advantage when using the camera in a job situation. However, I must say that the placement of the mic input is still annoying even after using it a little while. All in all, this camera has been everything that I expected it to be. If you are looking for your next video camera and don't want to break the bank, this may be the machine for you.