I have been using mine for about 2 months now. The picture quality is very good. I purchased a Sima light as an add on. It enhances the pictures even better. The still pictures are amazing too. I was trying to decide between Sony and this one. Finally decided on this one because of the picture quality.

I reviewed many DVD camcorders over a 4-5 month period and feel this was the best choice. I almost purchased the Sony DVD405, but color was one of the first priorities on my list of wants with this new camcorder. Although the Sony has a better chip, the fact is that the Panasonic, with 3 chips, according to many reviews I had read had better color. The ease of use is nice also. Finalizing DVD's takes only a few minutes and not really a big deal, my only issue so far is the fade control which requires the operator to select it via the joystick control each time you want to use it. Selecting this control while recording requires a steady hand so that the camera does not shake. None the less, it puts my eleven year old, 8mm camcorder to shame. Love taking videos again.

I was completely floored by what it took to get the g-d clips onto the computer, too. It took some careful reading and searching around the web, but now I can do it. (It still is not particularly convenient.) I am on an iMac G5.

(1) First, you have to format the disk and record in the "Video" format (not the "VR").

(2) When you are ready to dump to the computer, you must use the power supply (not the battery) to power the camera. You power down the camera, remove the disk, and power up just so that the software can tell you to put the disk in.

(3) You must use the Pixe VRF Browser EX software to get the camera's disk drive to be seen. This software is a piece of _ _ _ _. But, you just use it to transfer your file to your computer.

(4) The resultant file is not muxed--sound and video are separated. So, you go out and obtain MPEG Streamclip from www.squared5.com. This is a truly elegant and useful program for video conversion and other tasks. You bring the file into Streamclip and then save it in the format of your choice, paying attention to other parameters when you do.

The result is a muxed file, with video and audio together, ready to use in Final Cut (for instance) or any video editing software. There is more to say about burning DVDs from the Mac for use in DVD players, but that is not the camera's problem.

HTH

This is a fine camera for home use and I will suffer through for a while in certain projects that I need to do, but it's clear that I paid about one-third of the price of a decent pro-level camera, and got about one-third of the Sony camera I eventually will have to buy. This is my first experience with a Panasonic camera and the way they leave you out in the cold with poor documentation and lousy software, I have learned all I need to know about that!

This is my first DVD camcorder and I absolutely love it! It's also my first 3-chip video camcorder. The image quality is just really good, like the other guys said. The machine is also apiece of cake to use. I e-mailed "gadgester" and he recommended TDK 8.cm dvd-r blanks from amazon, so I bought them and now I just pop one in and go! No formatting needed. Finalization in the camcorder is needed to make the dvd-r compatable with my Sony dvd player at home as well as my Thinkpad.

One gotcha to look out for is the slow start-up times, from power off to on. It takes anywhere between 5 and 10 seconds for the camcorder to be ready to record, after you insert yoru dvd-r. If you use dvd-rw, the manual says it might take up to 20 seconds! Other than that, I have no problems with the camcorder. It's high quality, and I just love the conveneince as well as image quality.

I received my Camera yesterday. I like the camera for its compact size. The quality of both motion picture and still picture is really good. But i don't like the fact that for charging, the battery needs to be removed and put into the seperate charger. Also to connect to the A/C power the battery needs to be removed. Otherwise everything seems to be OK.

The D300 is easy to use it takes great video outside, and is very good in low light. It also takes very good pictures,and the battery last a long time. I would buy it again.

We are pleased with our new Panasonic camcorder. We have only used it a few times at Christmas, but was pleased with the picture quality. We knew from looking at different models in a store that we wanted the joystick operation that only Panasonic seems to use. It could not be more simple to move between and choose options and functions. The image stabilizer works well and image looks good even at 10x zoom. As many reviews stated, under very low light conditions you will loose picture quality, but we have found that to be the case with lots of cameras that friends of ours have. We are having to upgrade our computer drive to read the mini DVD-Rs, so I cannot comment on the software yet. But we love the menu funtion on playback, no fast forwarding or rewinding, just shoot, finalize, and put it in the DVD player and choose what scene you want to watch, it is very simple. To us the simplicity and not having to convert over from tapes every time is worth the cost of mini DVDs and the short record time (about 20 minutes per disc). We are very happy with the camera so far.

The picture quality is exceptional and it is very easy to use. So much nicer than punching the screen for menus like the Sony 405. Who wants to worry about finger prints and scratches all over the screen with those touch screens? It is also priced better than the Sony 405. We researched these cameras a lot before settling on the Panasonic, with picture quality being our #1 objective. We are more than pleased with our purchase!!

I've tried several other Camcorders and returned them to the store. This Camcorder is easy to use as well as being easy to download to my computer.

This is a great little camera. We had an Olympus 3.2 meg still camera with a 10 time optic zoom and it was a great camera although it was a little slow to focus and had a small LCD. This panasonic is real fast as a still camera and has a much larger LCD It also has a 10 time optic zoom
and doubles as a video camera that record to DVD. It is real easy to use and we love it.What more could you want? Amazon had a great price and you can trust them.

Hi,

I have had the VDR-D300 for about 6 months now. I have never gotten a recording session to last more than about 20 min. The camcorder constantly locks up, usually after about 10 min. This is on a full battery - the unit never gets even to a battery alarm. Several times the reset button nor the reset proceedure per the manual works. I must have a faulty unit. I'm investigating repair. The unit has a great lens, camera, and video image, but my unit is not stable at all.

When it works, it's great. However each time I go on a research trip to Europe or N America (ie. costing me a lot of cash) an intermittent fault occurs where the image (in still mode or video)drops out the red range, so the recorded image has a blue cast. I am an art historian, so bringing back faulty data is not good for my research. And dealing with Panasonic Australia is a nightmare. Neither the shop, or the repairer, or the company will take final responsibility. I have sent it away twice, and today send it back for another test. Even when you provide them with the hard evidence of the fault, the camera comes back just as it was. Next stop the small claims tribunal...

purchase this for christmas gift 12/6/06. not used unitl 12/26/06. camcorder eject door stopped working 04/06/07. emailed Panasonic for warranty repair- no reponse 3 wks-called 800# in manual and was told to ship to Bigston Corp for repairs-BIG MISTAKE-DO NOT SHIP ANYTHING TO THEM-
Bigston rec'd camera 5/10/07. 5/14/07 Bigston called and said repair not under warranty- would cost 207.50 to repair expect repair 2 wks., i okd that and they charged my cc 5/16., 6/4 called Bigston, no idea regarding repair, now they say add'l 85.00 for rear assby, i okd-then they charged my card 119.23, said 3-4 days for repair. June 18 i call Bigston no idea why my camera still is not repaired, could not get manager to call me back
6/19 they called said they had to order part!!!then they shipped camera back with an invoice that says i am due refund of $12.50. when i called them they said the invoice was wrong/mgr changed it after shipment!!!!!
i paid $ 326.73 for repairs on a camcorder that cost 500.00 4 months ago!

If one takes a fairly good video that needs no editing, a TV presentation is very simple but limited to about 18 minutes, which is the capacity of one side of the mini DVD-RAM disc (which I prefer to use!).

Computer download, editing and ultimate burning to a normal-sized DVD is done with the bundled, two-part Pacman-style software whose manual is large but not very explicit or user friendly.

I recommend that one use only re-writable DVDs for the in-camera media as for burning presentation discs unless one is in need of shiny coasters...

I teamed up with another user and we help each other with computer-related problems. The quality of the camcorder's video output itself is excellent.

This is a five-star device with three-star software.

The camcorder came from the manufacturer, broken....and the company I purchased it from, was not customer friendly....as of today, I am still waiting for it to be fixed.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RH769ADHN9DGW Here's a sample of what this little camera can do. Believe or not, I shot my daughter's recital from about 30 yards (using the zoom feature, of course) and in a dark auditorium. Notice how the lens picks up all available light and the sound is clear. I had the camera sitting on my knee and the video (even with the zoom maxed out) is very smooth. I LOVE this camera...imagine how bright and clear the picture is in the broad daylight! It really is a clear picture.
I like the option of burning immediately to a DVD. Sometimes if I'm at my family's house I will shoot some footage and now I'm able to burn it and leave it with them.
I've had no trouble getting the video files from the camera to my computer...because I'm using the USB cord that came with it. I'd rather use my own video editing software, as I didn't like what came with the camera. I use AVS Video Editor, which does a superb job. I can create videos in just about any format. As with any new piece of technology, it takes some getting used to. I've used the camera with both Windows XP and Vista and I've had no compatibility issues. Enjoy!