Customer Reviews
Easy to use, good price 
2007-12-28
Nice camera for a good price. Easy to use. I think it shoots well in dim light. Just using to capture the kids. The only downside is you cannot charge the battery while using the camera.
I LOVE this camera! LOVE IT! 
2007-12-17
I am so impressed! I LOVE things that just WORK! I have never used a video camera before. I bought this because I could afford it. I never dreamed I would get a product of this quality for under $300! Other than literally five minutes testing at home, my first use was to immediately record my wife's Ph D graduation in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, a VERY important event to us! Using the camera was totally intuitive and effortless! From my seat FAR away, I was able to effortlessly zoom in on my wife way down on the field, slowly zoom out for panoramic shots, then zoom in for clear closeups! I got everything! I used the still camera features to put lots of shots on the smart card! My 6 megapixel digital camera was very difficult to focus from such a distance, while the Panasonic GS85 was fool proof! They were flashing the names of the graduates in alphabetic order on screens way up in the stands, and it was a cinch to snap a clear photo of her name in the few seconds it was there. When I tried with my digital camera, I missed it and had to wait 30 minutes for it to come back around! From my seat in the second section up from the 35 yard line, I easily followed my wife across the stage on the fifty yard line! I LOVE THIS CAMERA!
Cheap but low quality MiniDV 
2007-11-24
I bought this Panasonic GS85 to replace my JVC GRD770. Compared the video quality, I have to say, GS85 is not as good as GRD770 especially when operating with LCD light on. I have to say the quality with LCD light is really bad. Lots of noise. GRD770 has noise with LCD light too but not that obvious. Another drawback is that on GS85, you cannot shoot video and still picture at the same time. You have to switch the mode. While with GRD770, you can do it. Other than that, compare with JVC GRD770, the control and menu is better. Size is a little bit bigger but kind of prettier.
Pleasing purchase - good recorder 2007-11-09
With all the choices you have when searching for a reasonably inexpensive camcorder, trying to find just the right one can be a little daunting. I was looking for something that didn't carry a huge price tag, but was of high enough quality to use as an every-day-events or catch-the-family-on-vacation type of recorder. Nothing fantastic, just something that was convenient and made good clear recordings. Well, I believe the PV-GS85 is a real winner. The image quality is impressive, better than I expected, and it's a real easy unit to use. Good optical zoom, good up close, good sound pickup. I haven't tried all the more advanced features yet, but I bought it for the basics. Glad I did. Oh, and it fits nicely into a number of the more generic camera/camcorder bags you can buy off the shelf.
Nice and Simple 2007-10-27
After much research and reading many reviews, mostly here (thanks everyone for the excellent reviews), I chose to get the Panasonic PV-GS85 over the Canon ZR850 for the following reasons:
- Claims of motor noise on the Canon
- Panasonic has Optical Image Stabilizer
- Panasonic has a built-in light (seems like LED technology)
Now that I have the camera and got a chance to play with it a bit, here's my review...
PRO's:
- Somewhat small (not the smallest, but not large by any means)
- Smooth zoom (either analog or it has many small speed increments)
- Optical Image Stabilizer
- Built-in light
- SD card slot for snapshots (although I don't intend to use it for that)
- Color viewfinder
CON's:
- Hand strap mounted too low and allows camera to pivot away from fingers
- Charger has cumbersome heavy-guage power cord (not easy to stuff into a small bag)
- Very few buttons -- almost everything is done through the joystick menus
- Menu and Light buttons can't be reached with thumb and require some dexterity to reach with index finger
- Built-in light is VERY weak (although it probably doesn't consume much power -- I think it's a small LED lamp)
This camera will probably make most home movie makers very happy -- overall, it's very easy to use. Features, such as Night mode or Fade, take a little effort to change since you'd need to shuffle through a few menus.
It supports USB photo transfers, FireWire video transfer to PC, and A/V out to a TV.
Overall, this is a very nice and easy-to-use camera.
This was the first time I've tried uploading a video onto a PC, editing, and burning a DVD. I used Windows Movie Maker (comes with Windows XP) and was VERY impressed by how easy it was to use and how robust it was for a bundled utility. It does a nice job of controlling the camera to transfer the video (keep the camera on Playback mode when transferring -- not PC Connection mode... took me a few minutes to figure that one out). Once all of the video clips are transferred, Movie Maker automatically splits up all of the scenes. So, just click-and-drag your scenes, trim unwanted pieces, set transitions, effects, music, and create a movie.
The tough part was managing the HORRIBLE DVD burning software out there! Roxio used to have good DVD software, but their last few releases of MyDVD are AWEFUL! They simply don't work.
I hope this last part helps newbies like me through the jitters of diving into the whole digital video realm.
x_hobbes
Reliable well thoughtout Panasonic product 2008-05-31
The PV-GS85 is one of many Digital camcorders I've tried in the last two years, and so far the one that has come closest to filling my need for a versatile consumer grade camcorder to replace my old Analog VHS PV-43 which broke after 13 years and 40+ hours of flawless service. Without going into boring detail, the PV-GS85 offers comprehensive manual controls accessible ( with some dexterity ) using one hand, and can even record stills to the SD card "while" shooting video. Low light performance comes close to matching my PV-43 something that was the norm on old Analog camcorders, but very rare on the new Digital models. It also uses MiniDV which uses a tape like the old Analog camcorders which to some may seem a disadvantage, however it provides the least compression artifacts in a lossless form that you can archive and label with a pen just like the old Analog tapes unlike DVDs where the ink migrates into the media. It also has Optical image stabilization, a very large field of view, a battery which will last as long a tape, as well as an external battery charger which is included. All in all a nice well executed camcorder. Panasonic even offers an optional 10 watt video light ( at extra cost ) that mounts on the cameras cold shoe.
This cameras not perfect, it doesn't have a microphone jack or manual focus ring like my old PV-43, nor are the stills of great quality ( only one of the camcorders I tested took decent, not great stills and had a flash - it's best to stick with a dedicated camera for stills )but it does provide possibly the best compromise available today. As always, do some research an try out different camcorders and have a clear idea of your expectations before deciding to buy and you'll be happier.
Very good cam ! 2008-02-08
After searching for a while for a ~300 dollars mini-dv camera, i decided for this one and i dont regret it.
Has a very good video quality and a steady shot for photos, took pictures from moving cars or on the move and the optical stabilizers are quite good.
On top of that has a 32x optical zoom to match, those two allows you to take great pictures or film from very far.
Has decent low light capabilities.
That turn on/off function when closing the LCD is quite good.
Cons:
The light is not very useful.
Comes with a 45~60 minutes battery, larger ones makes imposible to use the viewfinder.
You have to remove the battery to access AC power, USB and firewire.
Cannot charge the battery while you have the camera connected to AC
Resuming, is a very good camera in the fundamentals and im happy with it.
Very good priced camcorder, Image Stabilization is the best 2008-01-18
My five year old Sony CCDTRV87 8mm camcorder quit working so it was time for a new video camera since I have small children. Did a lot of research and although most people are pointing to Sony for the product they like, I just couldn't buy another $600 camcorder from Sony and have to replace it in five years. This was the second camcorder from that brand that I had owned and quit after 5 years and I take very good care of them.
I have owned other Panasonic equipment and am very satisfied with their products so after reading great reviews on the PV-GS85, I ordered one. Very fast delivery from Amazon, only four days and it was here.
The Good: Light weight, great picture for sub $300 camcorder. Not as good in low light as the old 8mm. Battery life is 30 minutes with standard supplied battery. After playing with menus for a few days, it was easy to navigate to any functions needed for record or playback. Built in light is a big plus although only good for short range.
The Bad (atleast for me): During playback there is no date/time stamp on the video. I am used to seeing the date superimposed on the video at the beginning of each new recording session on a new day. The date would flash on for a few seconds so that you would know when the shot was taken. This camera has no such function and I assumed that it did since I have owned other brand camcorders (all the way back to 1986 VHS-C) and they all had that date/time function. I found that the date is available if you use the analog output (not in any part of the owners manual) but it is on all the time and is annoying to see all through the video. So if you edit the tapes and transfer to DVD as I do, you have to find video editing software to manually insert an overlay to display the date. And if the tape was shot over a long period of time, you will have to take notes to remember the dates the events took place. Very disappointing for me.
Nice camera for the price 2008-01-14
I am very happy with the Panasonic PV-GS85 MiniDV Camcorder,considering the price is around $250.00. I used it on vacation and was happy to have a digital tape for archive (as opposed to a compressed video to be transfered to the computer). Editing quality should be better. It is too bad MiniDV tapes only hold one hour of quality content. It would have been better if the camera came with a higher capacity battery and a firewire cable.
You get what you pay for... 
2008-01-12
I ordered and returned this item. Although the image quality wasn't as bad as the Canon ZR830 (which I also ordered and returned), the Panasonic was clunky to hold and had some odd limitations - which you learn all about if you read the reviews. The second I ordered it I wished I could spend $300 more for something HD...and that's what I ended up doing. If you're going back and forth trying to decide what's the best of the worst - this is it. But if you're going back and forth between SD and HD, stop wasting time and tell the old lady you're going to have to spend a little more for the quality of HD. Seriously.
