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For example, when using it to video the family building an igloo in the snow, it recommended using "smart contrast" and with a display on the screen, told me how to do that. We had one day to learn how to use it. This arrived just in time to take to a Robotic Competition our son was in with a team from school. The picture taking feature is very useful, however, the photos are not as good a quality as a camera. That was no problem, as this camera was easy to use. It has a lot of functions, but it also recommends which to use, and how to. It is definately more of a video camera. I would recommend it to anyone.
In the digital realm, software is inseparable from hardware (one is useless without the other), hence the entire package gets 2 stars. There are 100s of these scenes. The video taken by the camera is good, but doesn't stand out from that taken by any other HD camcorder. The software made it easy to import the videos to the hard drive, and to convert each day's recording into mpeg2 format (about 700 MB per 10 minutes of video). I apologize for sounding like an editorializing curmudgeon, but as both an engineer and a technology buff, I have a sore spot for shoddy design that needlessly wastes the user's time and/or money. The software gives you limited editing options and is next to useless for making DVDs from recorded video. Each scene in the recorded video is on average a minute long.
This is unacceptable, but there is a solution: you have to merge the scenes. The software (HD Writer 2.5), on the other hand, is outstandingly bad. By default, each scene becomes a DVD chapter, meaning the playback stutters for a few seconds between scenes. My father bought this camera and took hours of vacation videos. Now we would like to make a DVD. Unfortunately, in order to merge scenes, you have to do them one by one, and it takes 3 mouse clicks and 5-10 seconds per scene on a fast quad-core Intel Core i7 CPU with 6 GB of RAM. Based on my experience with this product, I have no intention of purchasing anything made by Panasonic.
This camera is small, has a GREAT quality picture, and is feature rich.Only gripe is low-light performance isn't so good.
After having used it for over a year, I can honestly say that it hasn't let me down once.The picture quality, the sound quality and the ease of use, have all lived up to or exceeded expectations.I have used many features on the camera, but a couple that I've found repeated use for have been:- Intelligent Contrast: Helps in difficult lighting conditions;- Pre-record: Commences recording a few seconds before you press record button and fantastic to prevent you missing that special moment.- Auto-modes: When conditions are detected which could benefit from a particular setting, the camera displays a recommendation about it and cues the command for you. Bought this camera when it was freshly on the market. Took something of a punt with it, but on paper it looked to be what I needed.My need was a device that could reliably capture the arrival of my 1st child. All you need do is press one button to accept.If you want solid features at a reasonable price consider this camera closely. I would be happy to consider it if I was in the market to buy again.
Easy to use to record pictures or video. Video of high quality even if converted to MPEG 2 format. Only concern is that the free editing software included is not real user friendly, but a free trial of a more advanced software is included.
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