Customer Reviews
Good value for the money
I purchased this camcorder with a lot of hesitancy because of the reviews it received here on Amazon, but for the price I got it for, it was hard to refuse.
First, the camera is very lightweight and sturdy in construction. If handled delicately, I don't foresee any spontaneous operational issues appearing. If you drop it and kick it around, then sure, it's going to break and not function correctly.
I am very pleased with the quality of film that it has produced. I am an amateur photographer and videographer, and I have no complaints personally about this particular model. It functions well in all light, and I was especially impressed with how it did in low-light. I found that reading the manual thoroughly and understanding the cameras functions helped me immensely to avoid problems.
Overall, I am pleased with it and am glad that I chose it. I have full faith in this camera, and that is why it's going to be used on an Alaskan cruise, and to film my wedding this summer. It's a great camera for the price.
Now, I do have a couple of rants about it.
- When in a specialized mode while filming, the display is very slow. So I haven't been able to have "real time filming" and when I am shooting something, and I see it on-screen, it's already happened and something else is going on.
- The camera does not come with any extras, which meant that we had to run to the store to get the Mini DV tapes required to start using it immediately.
- The BIGGEST issue that actually caused me a lot of frustration and anger was that with this camera you CANNOT transfer your film to your computer through USB. With my other cameras, I have always been able to transfer all digital images (movies and stills) over USB. Not with this. You have to have a special cable (Firewire 4 pin to 4 pin) AND you have to have the port for it IN your computer. Most average computer users do not have this port (I have a new Dell Dimension) So, I have to go and buy the Firewire port ($14.99), open my computer case and physically install the hardware. The firewire cable itself is really inexpensive. For someone who doesn't know about computers and needs this port, it could honestly cost you quite a bit to have it installed for you. It turns into a lot of hassel, which isn't very appealing for todays technological consumer.
Overall, I rate it a good camera for the money, but I do not like the issue with the firewire cable.
Good for web publishing
I initially wanted to buy the GS-150 since it has 3CCD. Then I decided to try this GS-31 just to see if the quality is acceptable. I took it home and at first could not make heads or tails out of the controls. So I sat down and took a few minutes to read through the manual. That made it easier. Soon I got the hang of it and liked using it. I like the built in light that this model has. (I chose it instead of the GS-29 because of the light). The feature that allows me to tape city lights is also very cool. The camcorder becomes extra sensitive and picks up any light and amplifies it. So now I have a video on soldornot. I tried making use of the manual controls and it works great. But after a while I got lazy and just use the auto controls which in some cases came out even better. For web publish, a must have with this camcorder as with any camcorder are a tripod, firewire, and Windows XP (if you are using a Windows system). Windows 2000 has firewire support but does not have Windows Movie Maker. I was pulling my hair out trying to capture the video from my tape to my PC until I switched and used my brother's Windows XP system.
Disappointingly fragile (or poorly constructed)
I've had nothing but bad luck with this item. Had to return the first purchase because -- right out of the box -- blue bands appeared on the recorded video. The second unit I had was OK for three months, but then it also exhibited the "blue bands" effect. One day within the 90 day warrantee period (whew!), took it in to get it fixed -- heads were out of alignment. Now, after six months of owning the camera, a pin in the Firewire connector pushed out through the back, and now it won't connect up to my computer. Sigh. Repair or dump?
