have used this camcorder recording my daughter jumping round a cross country course and it is fab – really easy to edit and download on to computer. Just great as so small, fits in pocket , no large bags to carry round. great little camera with loads of scope

Rating: 5 / 5

I was most impressed by its compact nature and lightness (like another reviewer I now use one of my old small digital camera cases to carry it around and it’s got room to spare). I also liked the notion that it could be set up to make videos which were easy to upload to YouTube. In terms of ease of use I found I was able to start using it pretty much out of the box. i liked the multiple face detection facility. The lanyard wrist strap worked fine for me – so long as you remember to tighten it. Charging is simple and not too lengthy. Getting the SD card in and out is very simple.

I would have liked to see clearer indicators of what each control button is – grey on black is not a brilliant way of communicating and is certainly not friendly to people with poor eyesight.

I’ve not used it for photographs (given that my camera provides a better result) but it’s nice to know I could if I wanted to. I’ve also used it in very low light conditions – filming a friend in a restaurant. She said the experience of being filmed using the piercing white light was rather like being interrogated – however the results were not bad and I’m very surprised that it coped so well!

However – and here’s the rub – when I got back home from holiday with a set of videos I wanted to share I found that the Videocam software supplied does not work with 64bit computers and I could not load it. Judging by other comments I’ve read on this site and others it would appear that the software that Panasonic is supplying is pretty basic and clunky – which surprises me as I’ve always thought of them as a manufacturer which would keep up with basic developments. My point is 64 bit machines are hardly new and they’re far from being rare – I’ve been using them for the last three years or so and I’m very surprised to find a camcorder with a specification which does not say loud and clear that its supplied software only works with 32bit machines. Truth told the specification doesn’t say anything at all – you have to start reading the tiny print in the manual UNDER the specification before you find out that it won’t work with 64 bit machines. So I’m not blaming the chap from John Lewis for not knowing that its software is very limited. You’ll also note that it says nothing about this aspect of the software in the product decsription above. To my mind it’s a trade descriptions issue.

I had a nice chat with a man at Panasonic who looked into it for me but was unable to help. He did however inform me that the software supplied with all panasonic camcorders will not work with 64bit computers. To me it’s a bit like supplying software which will only work with old versions of Windows – it’s out of date and of limited use!

Message to Panasonic – next time your product designers are upgrading the product line do please make sure that the software supplied keeps up with the marketplace in terms of computers – it’s a basic requirement. Also make sure that you say very clearly what your software will and will not work with ON THE BOX and IN THE SPECIFICATION! The product is the total package – not just the camcorder.

I’m now making movies using Windows Movie Maker which comes supplied as part of windows Vista Home Premium.

I still don’t know what to do about using the YouTube button. Plus I’m also trying to work out whether or not I need to buy new software to ensure I get the most out of it. If I do need to buy new software, then it means that this product starts to look rather more expensive than I’d bargained for.
Rating: 4 / 5

Increasing the MPEG encoder Quality settings from 10 to 15 (Slow/high quality) makes no visible difference – I’d even go one stage further and say turning the quality down to 1 (Fast/low quality) seems to make little visible difference too!

After two weeks I got no closer to a solution for the poor output quality using their “Support” team. I have been informed that “The loss in quality could be due to several factors…” but was only offered two possibilities – neither of which made any difference.

Editing on-screen is amazing and there are some excellent transitions to give the presentations a little bit of zip. If all you intend doing is create and upload to YouTube this might be the package you’re looking for: but if your goal is to create “Perfect presentations on TV” (as it claims on the box) using DVD I’m afraid you’re going to be VERY disappointed with the results.

Basically a fun and easy to use product, HOWEVER, software should be judged on results and as far as DVD output is concerned MEP is sadly lacking. Save your money and put it towards a more competent, if more expensive, product.
Rating: 1 / 5

Pros: – you need 2 hours to understand the principle, after that VERY easy to use

- great deep in functionality, you can build your own effects, create pro looking DVDs…

- youtube upload is fun

- cheap price for high quality

- after all I tried BEST VALUE

Cons: – user interface is different than other video applications

- some German words in translation

Summary: This product is a deal. After I tried Pinnacle and Sony Movies Studio, this is the best choice. I am totally happy with the results and the product works very stable.

Concerning DVD burning I had no problems and my player was able to playback all DVDs I made.

Rating: 5 / 5

This product is extremely cheap for what it is capable of. I have produced commercial presentations using Movie Edit Pro. and I am a perfectionist. I would be very disappointed with a product that did not give the clearest finished result.

The tracks are very intuitive to use. My 79 year old father uses it too and although I do get quite a few phone calls here and there, he has produced very good results.

There is a wide choice of input and output settings which I can only imagine the other user has used wrong, the default settings produce very good results in my experience. However once you get to know how it works there are some of the advanced settings which are worth getting to know.

It saves a huge amount of time learning the one key editing facilities like pressing t to cut etc and the magnetic group button is very worthwhile for sliding movies backwards and forwards without everything getting jumbled up.

I would recommend the plus version personally for the extra ten pounds but my previous version was the 2004 edition and it produced great results so either way you can’t go far wrong.
Rating: 5 / 5