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JVC GRDVL120U MiniDV Digital CyberCam Video Camera with 2.5" LCD & B/W Viewfinder

JVC GRDVL120U MiniDV Digital CyberCam Video Camera with 2.5" LCD & B/W Viewfinder

List Price: $599.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Decent camera, except for one "thumb-wearing" problem.
Review: I think this is a decent camera for the money, except for one annoying design that will probably cause me to return it. The switch to turn the camera on is EXTREMELY difficult to move with your thumb. The design is for your right hand to go through the hand strap, and your thumb to be able to rotate the On/Off switch.

Unfortunately, the switch is circular with no protruding edges to facilitate turning it (which my Sony Hi-8 has). Hence, it requires a significant amount of thumb pressure and friction to move, and often I find myself going right past the Off state into the Play state. Since I have to use this feature everytime I use the camera, poor design here is unacceptable.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Caution - try the camera out in a shop
Review: I would highly recommend playing around with this camera in a shop before ordering online. ...but when I received it, I found a lot of defects that finally made me return the camera for a refund.
It started with the weird design of the On/Off buttons. It was so tight that I broke my nail trying to turn it around. I tried some recording with zooms, and the time taken for the camera to focus sharp on a zoomed object was slow enough to blur the zoomed object. The camera is light, but the shape is weird with a pointing lens. When I switched to playback mode to review my recording, it took me 3 minutes for the 2 minute recording to rewind to the beginning of the tape...

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good value
Review: I would recommend this product for beginning/amateur video enthusiasts for the ease of use. Although because it is limited by its price range, some features are cut out or needed, which is obviously placed in JVC's higher models. I use it to edit simple home movies using the IEEE Firewire output to my PC and it runs great on most software. I have only one problem with it though: I actually DO a lot of editing and I have to plug the AC adapter to the camera everytime, but the problem is, the plug in the camera is in the wrong place forcing the AC wire to be in this obtuse position bending the wires out of shape. It's not in a real bad condition yet, but i'm predicting in a couple of months or so after use, it will probably be damaged to a higher degree. JVC needs to place the AC outlet somewhere on the side in order to get rid of this problem. But other than that, its a good camera.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Avoid this product
Review: I've had one of these for about 18 months...after a year of ownership it started eating DV tapes. I've had three destroyed when rewinding...you get an error message and the next thing you know your tape is in ribbons. Fortunately, I found a place that will repair them but it is expensive ($30 per tape).

I contacted JVC about the problem...they were aware that their camcorders have this kind of issue but because mine was outside the warranty period they declined to do anything for me.

If you do buy this camcorder (or already have it) try getting a separate miniDV rewinder for around $20. I've only had the tapes get eaten while rewinding.

If you're still in the market for a camcorder...don't buy this one!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: do not buy!!!!
Review: it broke the third time we used it. no power, nothing. now the labor warranty is expired and the tape is stuck inside! do not nuy no matter how great the deal. you will buy buy a peice of excretory waste.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Searching for another camera
Review: Its funny hearing all these reviews on this camera. The problem listed in earlier reviews about the camera having focusing problems. I too have had similar problems. It almost seems like the video feed stalls slightly when panning out, or tilting the camera to one side or downward. I received my first camera and right out of the box it was so bad it did not function. My replacement I have had for about 3 months, and now similar problems are arising. After contacting JVC they said they had no idea about any kind of problem and said I would need to pay to ship the camera and get it evaluated. I asked to speak to the representatives supervisor and was promptly hung up on. Now I am the last person to cause any kind of fuss in a company and rarely do anything like this at all. But this has left such a bad taste in my mouth, that I will never again deal with JVC as a company.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good value for money
Review: Its good value for money... Picture quality is good. But view finder does not looks good.
I was expecting battry charger seperate from camera. But We can charge battry from only camera, I personally does not like this. But I am happy with this.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Searching for another camera
Review: Overall this camcorder is very good.

Pros-
1. Video Quality
2. Ease of use
3. Price

Cons-
1. No USB capability
2. Video takes up much memory on computer.
3. Quality in low light.
4. Battery Life.

If you plan on buying this camcorder, make sure you get a firewire card. Next, If you plan to to do a lot of shooting indoors or near a power supply the battery is fine. If you will be in the great outdoors, make sure you buy an extra or better batter. The battery that comes with the camera, lasts only for about an hour.

If you plan on doing editing, make sure you have a good program on your computer. The software that comes with the camera is very bad. Also, if you want to take digital pictures with your camcorder, you dont want this one.

Although there are many cons with this camcorder there are also many pros. I use windows movie maker 2 which I donwloaded for free from microsoft.com. It films great movies, but they take up a lot of memory. Also, the optical zoom is great. It is 16x, which is awesome. Overall I would recomend this camcorder to any amatuer filmaker or person who just want to record and edit home movies. If you are a very serious filmaker, you should buy a more expensive camcorder.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: GR-DVL120U camcorder has its ups and downs
Review: Overall this camcorder is very good.

Pros-
1. Video Quality
2. Ease of use
3. Price

Cons-
1. No USB capability
2. Video takes up much memory on computer.
3. Quality in low light.
4. Battery Life.

If you plan on buying this camcorder, make sure you get a firewire card. Next, If you plan to to do a lot of shooting indoors or near a power supply the battery is fine. If you will be in the great outdoors, make sure you buy an extra or better batter. The battery that comes with the camera, lasts only for about an hour.

If you plan on doing editing, make sure you have a good program on your computer. The software that comes with the camera is very bad. Also, if you want to take digital pictures with your camcorder, you dont want this one.

Although there are many cons with this camcorder there are also many pros. I use windows movie maker 2 which I donwloaded for free from microsoft.com. It films great movies, but they take up a lot of memory. Also, the optical zoom is great. It is 16x, which is awesome. Overall I would recomend this camcorder to any amatuer filmaker or person who just want to record and edit home movies. If you are a very serious filmaker, you should buy a more expensive camcorder.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: BATTERY
Review: Please send- my battery for my DIGITAL CAMARA MINI DV
JVC BATTERY CODE BN-V408U OR BN-V416U


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