Camcorder Reviews

Was lucky enough get in on this one for $219 during last weeks Friday Sale, and good thing I did, as it didn't last long! Works great out of the box, EXCELLENT quality and deals with low light situations nicely. Can connect it to any VCR or computer with S-Video connection (or analog RCA). Still, I probably wouldn't have paid $349 normal price. But it's really nice and very comprable to DV's. And I got a free case, tripod, and cleaning kit!

I bought this camera thinking since it was VHS it would perform better in low light (as did my older 8mm)than a digital one. WRONG. It also will drain the battery in 15 minutes. Resolution is poor with VHS mode and svhs tapes cost too much. Noisy tape makes me weary. Don't waste your money on this old"last of the mohicans" format. Just get a digital camcorder and buy a light.My $299. digital Sharp blows it away. I can't hardly give it away. Want mine for $150?

At first the camera looked like it was just a odinary one until i tried it. Wow everything was just so great 700X digital zoom could almost take any distant shot with just a click of a button. This Camera is fully loaded with image stabilizes and inbuilt light the rotatable lcd was simply facinating and it was very clear to me that this camera could take evryshot very clearly especially the image stabilizer comes in handy when you are travelling in a RV or a Car toshoot the outside Nature.
WOW THIS CAM IS REALLY WONDERFUL.

This camera does a GREAT JOB for the price. It has all kinds of great features and effects. The only negative I can think of is that it makes a slight noise when zooming in and out.

This is the first video camera I've purchased, and I'm completely satisfied with it after several months of use. I've found it to be affordable (important initial consideration), lightweight(important if you're brave enough to let the kids record), simple to use(important if you let grandma borrow it to record the other grandkids), and the recordings to be top-notched. These basic features and an excellent brand-name should make any new purchaser feel confident with this camera as his/her initial choice. One caution, the camera's package includes everything you need but a blank VHS-C tape (something experience camera users are aware of, but novices are not, hence the 4 stars, not the 5).

We love this new camera because it is the same features we had in our old camera.. We wanted a new one that had the flip out screen and for the price it cant be beat... BUT we cant believe they took away the personal title generator where you could type your own title in instead of using the 7 or 8 presets they have... It was a must ~ now we will have to learn to do without.. Still a great buy for those not willing or ready to go to digital and still wanting the top features...

This is the first camcorder I have ever used that looks good on an HDTV. No... Let me correct that. It looks great!!!

Have you ever wondered why a normal camcorder looks so bad on an HDTV? It's because an HDTV is very high resolution. When you connect a traditional camcorder (even a Mini DV), the TV sees a much smaller, comparatively low resolution picture and must scale it (digitally enlarge it) to fit the screen. It doesn't matter if you have a $400 low end cam or a $4000 high end cam... Scaling the picture on virtually any HDTV will ruin your camcorder picture.

JVC solved this on the GR-HD1 with the world's first consumer HD camcorder. Basically, it's the first consumer camcorder ever that makes a picture which correctly fits a widescreen HDTV. It records a picture with 720 x 1280 dots, compared with 480 x 720 dots for a normal camcorder.

The result? The detail & resolution is simply phennominal! The colors look great! The video is much more appealing to watch in widescreen because it more closely matches your natural field of vision.

The only thing you need to be careful of is the frame rate. This shoots 720/30P. What that means is it takes video at 30 frames per second. As a result, if the camera uses too fast of a shutter speed you may see a "jitter" in things that move on-screen. The fix is really easy: Simply take the camcorder out of the "auto" mode and lock in a 1/30th of a second shutter speed. This eliminates the vast majority of the jitter. What you are left with is a superb high resolution video with a subtle "film-like" quality.

You don't have to be Stephen Speilberg to appreciate this. This is the ideal camcorder for any type of family video. Think about the great stuff happening today that you'll want to be able to watch 10-20 years from now, and still be happy with the quality.

If you own an HDTV, no other camcorder else even comes close!

My new camcorder works as fine as expected and delivers everything I need : high-quality video, easy-to-use functions, compact design with incredible size and weight, 3" LCD color display, editing software (Pixela Image Mixer with VCD)...

However, one drawback : the quality of still images recorded on the provided memory card (8 MB MMC) is lower than I expected. But that's not a problem : I have a Canon PowerShot digital camera for this.

To sum it up :

If you want to use this camcorder as a digital still camera : don't buy it. If you want to make great videos : BUY IT.

Thanks Amazon for the fast shipping & delivery (even with Free Super Saver Shipping).(...)

A satisfied customer from France

I have the camcorder for about a week. works great no real down falls to this cam. everything you'd except in a small compact camcorder priced nicely too.

Wanted to say that the picture quality is somewhat lacking. Could have been better. And to state that there is NO analog to digital pass through feature on this camera. You can record from an analog source to the miniDV tape on the camera but it is NOT pass through. Thats all...the rest of the functions are up to par with what they have advertised. All in all a pretty good package.