 I have owned this camera for 5 months now and have ... Strengths: DVD format and ease of use in conventional players.
Size of the camera.
Battery life is good.
Weaknesses: Quality and endless faults.
Picture quality is not brilliant.
DVD-RAM format only used by few other manufacturers.
Panansonic customer services (after sales)department.
Summary: I have owned this camera for 5 months now and have nothing but problems. It was purchased in September 2004 and within a month I was having problems recording onto DVD-R (Memorex) discs. The disc freezes with a warning of a disc error. Some discs have been repaired by the camera itself, however we have lost 2 discs with family videos - NOT IMPRESSED. This has occured on 95% of the discs I have used even though Panasonic have confirmed the make & model of the disc is compatible.
In addition to this, the light sensor began playing up after 3 months and slashed the light level down to about 5% whilst recording, thus creating 'very dark' footage. The camera was returned for repair and 3 weeks later it returned with a brand new fault!
Panasonic Customer service is far from exceptional and very impersonal.
Generally, the camera is a significant upgrade from my Panasonic DS50 (DVC tape)and the ability to watch the dvd in a conventional player is fantastic.
DVD-RAM is great, however very few other brands other than Panasonic also support the format, limiting your choice when purchasing a Recordable DVD Player. In hindsight, DVD-RW is a more widely and preffered format.
Pity about the after sales service, this is my second Panasonic camera and both have had major faults after a few months. Panasonic's customer service is pitiful where they are simply providing the 'bare essentials' in terms of support.
Good idea but I will defintately be purchasing another brand in future.
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