JVC Everio GZMC100 2MP Digital Media Camera with 4 GB Microdrive & 10x Optical Zoom

Rating:
Summary: Best Mini-Digital Video Recorder Yet
Review: I have purchased 3 digital recorders in the past 10 months - the Fisher FVD C1, the Panasonic SV-AV100, and now the JVC. My goal was to find a small, compact camera that provided me with decent photos and decent video quality. I purshased the Fisher for $700 (on sale) and while the size was great, it quickly became its only redeeming factor. Video was terrible - they claim DVD quality, no way, it was very poor. If you were capturing video to transmit via email, fine, but for any events you would like to watch on TV forget it. In addition, the photo quality was sub par with little flexibility (no red eye altering for example) and the slightest movements would yield blurry photos. I sold the camera privately and took a chance with the Panasonic.

I found an SV-AV100 online for $650 and was pleased with the results. Video quality was far better - this is closer to DVD quality - perhaps not an exact match but close. And for the size of the camera, I was quite happy. The downsides include poor photo capabilities (<1 megapixel), and the fact that you need additional SD card memory - and lots of it (each 512 card holds 10 min of highest quality video). Costs of SD cards have decreased substantially, but the costs certainly do add up.

While online a few weeks ago I noticed this new JVC camera, and as soon as it was released I placed my order. I have only had it for a few days, and I am still experimenting, but thus far, I have been very pleased with the results. Although the video capability closely matches the Panasonic, I have found the resulting video to be better. It is crisper and reacts better to low light situations. The 2 MP photos are as good as can be expected for a 2 MP camera and I have been very pleased with the results. There are many focus and effects options, including the ability to include a red-eye flash when desired. I am giving it 4 out of 5 stars since I have only had it a short time, but it is easily the best camera of the three I mentioned here, and I look forward to taking full advantage of the many improvements I found in this camera in the months/years to come.

Rating:
Summary: Great Travel Camcorder - Good Picture/Great Sound
Review: I recently purchased my JVC Everio MC100 at Fry's for $999.99 plus tax. It is the first camcorder I have owned in ten years. So, I wouldn't call myself a camcorder expert. This said, I travel a lot and have stuck to stills mostly because of weight. When I saw the MC100, I was intrigued. Could I really have DVD quality and a lightweight device? My answer is yes; but it will cost you.

Because Fry's has a 14 day return policy, I've really put the MC100 through its paces over the last 12 days. I first went out in the backyard to take a few test stills and movies. The stills were fine. But, because the MC100 takes 8 seconds to power up, I wouldn't recommend it as a replacement for your still camera. I wife continues to enjoy still photography, so between the two of us, we have both covered. Again, the quality of the stills are fine (for a 2 megapixel camera). If the power up speed doesn't bother you, you should be OK. The MC100 has a flash.

The movies? At first, I was underwhelmed. When I played the movie back on my PC, it looked like it was dropping frames. This was especially noticeable when I panned (moving the camera from left to right or right to left quickly). I became worried. Since the MC100 comes with a S-Video/Audio cable, I plugged it into the front of my 60" Sony big screen. The dropped frames problem went away! The problem was my computer (1 GHz with 512MB of memory and an onboard video card). I burned a DVD with my clips from the backyard and played them back on my DVD player. Honestly, I couldn't tell the difference between Interlaced (through the S-Video cable) and Progressive (though the DVD player). Most of the pictures were solid. While playing a clip from by DVD player, I did notice some jagged edges on the wings of a jet flying over my house. But this was a full zoom (10x) and a moving target.

I noticed another reviewer had a concern about the MC100 in weak light. He said that the colors were pale. I noticed this too. My first movies were taken at roughly 7am in the morning. I noticed that the greens were pale. However, I was able to make an adjustment during editing to brighten them up a bit - they looked fine afterwards. I was also able to try out the MC100 inside at my children's Christmas musical. (One thing I can guarantee, the MC100 will generate a lot of interest at your children's events... lot's of questions from the other dads!) The colors looked quite vivid. But, of course, there was lots of light. I was able to zoom in on my kid's faces from approximately 30 feet away thanks to the 10x optical zoom. My daughter was off to the side, so she didn't have the spotlight. I was pleased with the results. There is also manual white balance mode that helps to improve the colors in low light. But, I haven't had the camera long enough to really get into this. Overall, I would give the picture quality an 8.

The MC100 boasts not only DVD picture but DVD sound. For those who know their stuff, the sound is taken at 384K bits/second. Yes, there are two microphones on the MC100. So, you get stereo. I will cover the software in the box, but PowerProducer encodes the sound using Dolby Digital. There wasn't really any sounds record in my backyard (with the exception of the air traffic), so again I had to wait for my kid's performance to test the sound. Bottom line - the sound is good. In fact, my oldest had a problem with her mic (it didn't work at all) and I had no problem hearing her on playback (she has a strong voice... she was about 15 feet away). Finally, I didn't notice any hiss on playback of their performance. But, if you go into your bedroom (or some place quiet) and take a short clip, you will notice some hiss upon playback if you turn up the volume about three times normal volume to here much of anything. Of course, there is no tape (the MC100 uses a 4GB Hitachi microdrive), so there is no tape sound. The zoom is nearly silent. There is no noticeable noise is generated during focus. Over all, I am quite satisfied with the sound. I would give it a 9 1/2.

Another viewer mentioned the battery life. Honestly, this is a concern for me because I travel. Power isn't always available where I go - remote mountain villages in India for example. One reviewer said that the battery life is 30 minutes. This hasn't been my experience. It is more like 60 minutes - which is all you can record on a single 4GB microdrive at the highest setting anyway. A second JVC battery will set you back $73.12 (yikes). However, I found an aftermarket battery on eBay for $22.80. The charge time is roughly 30 minutes (not bad). The MC100 automatically stops charging once the battery is charged. I second microdrive is costly. It will cost you a whopping $567.33 on the JVC site (rip off). I have found the same Hitachi 4GB drive on Amazon.COM for $219.88.

In the past, I have used Pinnacle Studio to edit my slide shows as well as to edit the silent AVI movies from my still camera. I was unable to get Pinnacle 8 to accept the MPEG-2 movies produced by the MC100 so I upgraded to Pinnacle 9. Sadly, this didn't work either. (This isn't a review of Pinnacle, but since many people us Pinnacle, be warned it won't accept clips from the MC100 without downconverting them to Interlaced.) The MC100 comes with two programs: PowerDirector and PowerProducer. They are "Express" version so there is limited functionality. In PowerDirector, I found it added a transition in the middle of a clip. I saved my work and rebooted and the problem went away. I also encountered a bug with the SVRT feature (saves time during the rendering process). I turn it off and this problem also went away (though it takes double the time of the original clip to render the final movie... at least on my PC). Overall, I am happy with software. It allows me to burn DVDs without loss of quality.

Bottom Line: The smallest DVD quality camcorder on the market. I'm keeping it!

Rating:
Summary: Don't buy this!
Review: I was intrigued by the prospect of a small, lightweight camera with no tape. I bought it at the first opportunity. However, having used it for a week, this is a huge disappointment. The battery lasts for meagre 30 minutes or so, and the picture quality indoors is very poor. Colors are pale in weak light. I guess most potential buyers of this camera already own a mini-DV camera of decent quality. Well, compared to my 5 year old Sony TR-V 8 I was greatly disappointed. Stay away!

Rating:
Summary: Great product....but not perfect
Review: It has all the perfect features, but one down-site is Zoom noise. The noise appear when you recording at a quiet place and zoom in/out fast. I think the mic is too close to the lens motor.

Rating:
Summary: Clever little thing
Review: Pros:
Tiny, take-anywhere size. Smaller than my palm, just fits in my front pants pocket.
Controls well-positioned, intuitive, and one's not apt to accidently invoke unwanted functions.
The Microdrive - works well here (and the 2 GB versions have been working well for laptop backups for awhile now).
Built-in multi-mode flash for stills.
Dual media: one slot holds one Microdrive or Compact Flash card, and another holds one SD card - you can direct video, pix, or voice recordings to specific slots.
Video quality under normal conditions is good, handles lighting and focus transitions well.
Quiet operation, no noise when zooming, good sound pick-up, special wind-noise reduction feature.
Transfer to PC with USB cable or just swap the Microdrive (btw, you'll need a Compact Flash adapter that can handle the thicker Type II format).

Cons:
Start-up: takes a few extra seconds (longer than our Sony DCR PC100 MiniDV tape cam).
Faded colors in low light conditions (not as capable as the Sony for video, but better with stills).
For us older types, you'll need your reading glasses - but that comes with the tiny form factor.
File naming: each video produces two files, one with extension .MOD and a small file of type .MOI. Rename the .MOD file on your PC to .MPG and Windows Media Player will handle it fine. Don't know if/how the bundled applications use the .MOI files.

Conclusions:
Overall, I'm pleased with the gadget's performance. I find I'm using it more than our previous machine - now five years old and small for that time, but twice the size of the JVC. Won't be shooting video in the dark or even when the light gets dim with the JVC, though. If convenience is a high priority then this machine is a good choice.

Rating:
Summary: New Era in Video Recording
Review: Wonderful product ... sharp and stylish!
Got one as a gift ... I already have one. Check out my ebay auction # 3869544960 .

You will be amazed with this machine.