Content area
Full text
Rick Rizner
(NOTE: Since this article was printed in the June 2004 issue of PC World, Panasonic has discontinued this model and replaced it with the PV-GS200. The DV953 should still be in stores through July.)
If we threw an Oscar night for consumer camcorders, the 953 would be insufferable. It sweeps all other contenders off the stage in many areas, from solid design to superior video to very long battery life and extensive still-image features.
For $980, your expectations should be high. The PV-DV953 is the priciest MiniDV camcorder we evaluated. Of the models we tested, it is also the only three-CCD model--meaning the image is captured by three separate CCD chips (one for each primary color: red, green, and blue). Small wonder that in our video taste tests the 953 stood out from the pack with its sharp images and deep, rich colors in both normal and low-light situations; it earned the top scores in our tests. In addition, the DV953 takes the highest-resolution still images of...