JVC GR-DA30US MiniDV Camcorder with 30x Optical Zoom

great buy for a great price

If you're looking for a good camcorder but BUDGET is keyword...look no further. This is one of the lower priced cameras out there and it doesn't lack in design or quality. The ability to tape in 16:9 is a plus too. I love the rear facing LCD screen...just a neat design that sets this camera apart from the others. The only thing I would suggest to JVS about this product is for them to have made a cover for the viewing screen while not in use.More detail ...

JVC GZ-MS230 Camcorder (Black)

Just hat to put it down

Just too msny ways to enjoy this camera. Weighing in at 8ounces it's extremely easy to handle. One great thing... NO TAPES!!! This is my first tape free video camera. The firt feature I used was the time-lapse recording of me laying track for my railroad. The advanced stablization is awsome. I am rather unsteady from my disability. You'd never know that from the videos. Even from a moving car.



My only complaint is the supplied software implies some editing abilities. Only one. String clips together. The manual that describes the SW is not current with theactual software.



If you want a lightweight easy to use affordable camera then this is it. If you wantto edit you vidoes for DVDs to share get a decent editing package. Personally I use Pinnacle.



More details in a later review.More detail ...

JVC GZ-HD500 80 GB High Definition HDD Camcorder

GZHD500 (good if you find it for $400 or less)

Cons:

Any photo shot (it is have 2 Megapixels) inside is extremely grainy even in the daytime.



Recording longer than 23 minutes it is breaks into 23 minute segments.



Its a good camera if you are using it outdoors. This cannot be used

in doors even with bright lights. The video is dark and granny.



The "laser touch" feature looks cool but actually using it is awful. It's really nothing more than an up / down slider that glows blue and is terribly inaccurate.



Not have light no remote control.



The battery life is poor.



Not have a menu setting to get out the words in the display.



The snapshot and zoom buttons are a little uncomfortable.



The software is very poor.



Pros:

Full HD 1920x1080 Recording videos (outside only)

HDMI out put port is 1080p.

HDMI® (V.1.3 with x.v.Color(tm))

24Mbps High Bit Rate Recording

Advanced Image Stabilizer

20x optical zoom.

The camera size is comfortable unless you have a great hand.

Advanced Image Stabilizer

1.37 Megapixel CMOS Sensor

24Mbps High Bit Rate Recording

Konica Minolta HD Lens

80GB Built-in HDD

micro SD/SDHC Card Slot





Recommendations:

Use UXP resolution option always.

Use a category 2 HDMI cable always.



For full specs visit: [...]More detail ...

JVC GZ-HM300 Dual Slot High Definition Camcorder

Excellent camera for the price!!

I am an amateur when it comes to cameras camcorders and the like. I'm basically a point and shoot type of customer that wants a good quality camcorder for recording our families activities. This is an outstanding camcorder for the money! First and foremost it takes very good quality videos. While I'm sure the videos aren't the highest of hi-def possible keep in mind this is a $300 and change camcorder. The video quality far outshines your standard camcorder. The two other features - the time elapse and the motion detection both work very well although outside of surveillance I'm not sure what the use of either is. The motion detection might be handy at something like a basketball game where you would point it at one end of the court and only capture the action when it's on that end. The only con I had with the camera wasn't really the camera's fault. I couldn't get the Patriot 16GB memory card to work consistently. I bought the Transcend cards and they work perfectly.More detail ...

JVC Everio GZ-HM200 Dual SD High-Def Camcorder (Black)

Plug and play HD for this Mac user

It's been a number of years since I had a camcorder. It was a tape unit and after the initial infatuation with the new toy I found that I never used it. Recording was a chore (juggling tapes and batteries) uploading was tedious and the quality wasn't all that good. For quick ad hoc recordings my various digital still cameras could grab a few seconds of good-enough video. The camcorder disappeared from my life.



A few years later things have really changed. I received the Everio GZ-HM200 snapped in a couple of 8GB SD cards charged the battery and I was ready to go. We took a day trip to Mount Rainier; the weather was perfect and I took a lot of video of photogenic glaciers and waterfalls.



When I got home I wanted to upload the video into my computer. The Everio comes with software for Windows PCs and Mac users are hardly mentioned in the documentation. I had searched the various on-line discussions of Mac video and there were many cautionary tales about compatibility issues with the Everios. I anticipated problems.



I was wrong. I connected the USB cable to my Mac Mini started iMovie (part of iLife '09) and opened up the camcorder. The USB menu opened and I chose the "Upload" option. iMovie detected the camera asked me a few questions (video quality destination whether to check for stabilization issues) and then imported the video clips. It was trivially easy - just the way I like it.



The Everio has a "Snapshot" mode to take still images and I had tried it out. This meant that while I was working with iMovie iPhoto also started up and offered to import the photos I'd taken. My verdict: it's OK for casual 1x use but no substitute for a real digital camera. The problem is that the Everio's autostabilization mode only works for video not for still images. This meant that a couple of 20x zoomed images while impressively magnified were hopelessly blurred. I'll stick with my Panasonic DMC-TZ4 for the still shots.



The JVC Everio is a tremendous little camera: compact easy light and producing excellent HD video. (Yes my Mac Mini feels a little underpowered for working with this.) The dual slot SD card design is excellent; the camera will automatically switch from one card to the next during recording and you can swap cards on the fly. In XP mode (17 Mbps VBR 1920x1080) 16GB is good for 2 hours of recording which feels about right. (You can crank it up to 24 Mbps which will give you 1 hr. 20 min. or drop down to 5Mbps at which point you can run for over 7 hours!) No more media juggling.....



There are tons of additional features in this camera and sometime I may try them out. But for the basic job of plug-and-play HD video this is hard to beat.



Recomended.More detail ...