I purchased eight of these cameras last July 02 and they have been a huge disappointment. I have many of the precursors to this model, the pvdv-101. There are two issues with the Pvdv-51. Out of eight cameras, three of them had case breaks in the exact same spot, just where the hand strap connects to the rear section of the camera. I am a teacher and use these in a high school setting. With the first camera break, I blamed student negligence. However with the third that happened (in my hand!) it's clear to me that there is an engineering fault. I suspect the grade of plastic used isn't strong enough but that's only speculation.
The second major problem has to do with the video heads. From the first week of use, these cameras have been plagued with head clogs. I use only Sony Premium tapes (do not mix brands). Again, I have other Panasonic cameras that I use and they do not have these problems. The dry erase tapes will work for most clogs though sometimes the tape has to be run through many many times to clear the problem. Some clogs have not been fixable and are waiting to go out to have their heads "professionally" cleaned.
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Finally, Panasonic's customer relations has been poor with this issue. I have had no success on the phone or in print resolving my problem and will be switching to another similarly priced camera when replacing these models. I've been testing a Canon ZR-60 and am pleased with it's performance. This camera also has an external mic input which the Pan does not.
Over the years, I've invested more than 100 grand in equipment in Panasonic and this is my first major disappointment.
