Panasonic VDR-D310 DVD Camcorder (3CCD, 10 x optical,USB 2.0) Camcorder Best Buys

good quality video & stills - 05 Mar 2008

12 out of 12 found this review helpful.

i purchased this camera for my daughter several weeks ago, having originally purchased a JVC GZ-MG175EK hard disk camera from comet at £249, which was taken back as the video quality was very grainy with low resolution.I am quite impressed with this camera, as the quality of video footage is very good & stills seem comparable to a dedicated sony 2.3mp camera we own. The sound recording quality is also excellent. Given the asking price on amazon(includes free tripod & bag which are good quality) i would say this is a very good buy for those who want a quality camera at a budget price. this camera seems to retail at over £400(argos £439).
for more reviews i would look on amazon.com as this camera seems to have been in the US for a while. This is a dvd camera & you may have read about problems with transferring dvd files to pc for editing. This has been no problem for me with this camera. here's how: all you do is plug the camera into your usb port.The camera now appears as a seperate drive. now just open the files within this drive till you see the vro file( this contains the mpeg2 movie).Now copy & paste the vro file to a folder of your choice on your pc. Next open windows media player & open the vro file. media player will state the file type is not recognised but select to play anyway. once the box is checked you will not be asked again.once the video plays, stop it & save the video with a name of your choice and the file ext name .mpeg. This can subsequently be recognized in most video editing software inc windows movie maker. as for down sides, the camera is a little heavier & more bulky than hard disc cams, but i find the weight better to keep the camera steady. there is no dedicated night vision facility but the camera video quality is good at even low light levels.