It's taken long enough, but three-CCD MiniDV camcorders have finally fallen to within a price range that's affordable for home users - and the Panasonic GS120 is leading the way. Before we look at the rest of the GS120's features, we probably ought to briefly qualify what we mean by 'three-CCD' and just why it makes a difference.

In basic terms, more is better. Most consumer camcorders only have one CCD sensor - a single photosensitive chip to process all the information seen through the lens and convert it into pixels. Video cameras with three CCD sensors, however, share primary colour duties between them (red, green and blue, respectively), thus making for better colour reproduction. Until recently, three-CCD cameras have remained exclusively the domain of the professional crowd, and buying one would have set you back anywhere between £1,200 and £12,000. But, at only £650, the GS120 makes the technology available to the mass market for the very first time.

The quality difference is instantly noticeable, as well. Colours recorded by the GS120 are rich and vibrant. The trio of CCDs can be thanked for most of this quality boost, but there's little doubt that the superior image is also helped along by the excellent Leica Dicomar 10x optical zoom lens.

Panasonic has managed to implement the three-chip system with surprisingly little impact on the camera's size. The GS120's pleasantly rounded body fits snugly into the palm of your hand and it's very light, even with the battery and cassette loaded.

While image quality is likely to be high on most buyers' lists, many will be looking for adaptability as well. Thankfully, the GS120 doesn't disappoint here, either, offering a variety of genuinely useful supporting features. Its 1.7-megapixel still shot capability will make those looking for a two-in-one product happy. While that figure might not sound particularly high when applied to dedicated digital still cameras it's still a pretty respectable resolution in camcorders terms. Still photos can also be saved to SD memory cards to keep them separate from your moving images. An interesting additional feature we hadn't seen before is the GS120's ability to take photos at the same time as filming video.

Into the bargain, the GS120 also comes with an image stabiliser, a two-way DV input/output for video editing, a speedy USB 2 connection and even a webcam function, so that you can plug it into your computer for video conferencing.

Naturally, the GS120 isn't perfect. We'd question, for example, the wisdom of including the slightly gimmicky colour night shot feature over something like a progressive frame mode, which would have boosted the possibilities of shooting at high qualities even further. We were also disappointed by the 'Cinema' mode. We had hoped that this would allow for filming in 'true' widescreen - in other words, re-shaping the recorded image to a movie-like 16:9 ratio. Instead, all it does is clumsily crop off a slim layer of pixels at the top and bottom of the image to give it a letterbox look.

Overall, however, we were really impressed by this very capable little camcorder. In terms of quality it's a massive leap forward for home video enthusiasts and its connectivity means that you can get the maximum benefit from teaming it up with your PC, too.

Contact: Panasonic 08705 357 357
www.panasonic.co.uk