JVC Everio GZ-MG670 80GB HDD Camcorder (Black)

by JVC

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 2.1 x 4.5 x 2.7 inches ; 10.9 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B001OMH1N2
• Item model number: GZ-MG670BU
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,755 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 7, 2009

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The JVC Everio GZ-MG670 features a 80 GB hard disk drive and a 1/6-inch 800,000-pixel CCD image sensor. It also uses a Konica Minolta lens with a 40x dynamic zoom and 800x digital zoom. Dynamic zoom achieves up to 40x magnification by using nearly all of the CCD’s effective pixels without any picture quality degradation.

For sharing, the Everio MG670 makes it easy to watch videos on an iPod or iPhone by exporting videos to the user’s iTunes library with the new One Touch Export function provided by bundled software for Windows. This joins the One Touch Upload function for uploading to YouTube, for 2009 a feature available on all Everio camcorders, and One Touch DVD Creation function for easy archiving and sharing by disc, a long-time Everio feature.

Everio Features

All 2009 Everios make sharing and watching videos easier than ever. New for this year is the One Touch Export function that allows Everio videos to be imported into iTunes and loaded into an iPod or iPhone. All 2009 Everios also offer One Touch DVD burning and the One Touch Upload function that JVC introduced to users in 2008 as a new and convenient way to upload videos to YouTube.

To use any of the three functions, simply connect Everio to a PC using the supplied USB cable. Then, the user chooses one of three buttons on the Everio: UPLOAD, EXPORT, or DIRECT DVD. Pressing the button will launch the appropriate Windows PC application that comes bundled with Everio, and the user simply follows the simple on-screen prompts. With just a few mouse clicks the process of uploading to YouTube, exporting to iTunes, burning to disc or transferring to an external hard disk drive will be completed. For uploading to YouTube, the user can perform an in-camera edit of any length video to fit the 10-minute YouTube limit.

For disc based archiving, there is an alternative to using a PC. JVC offers the CU-VD50 Direct DVD Burner/Player as an option, which allows burning of Everio videos to a DVD disc without having to use a PC.

The new Everio MediaBrowser software supplied with all Everio models is a Windows application providing an easy-to-search calendar-type graphical interface for indexing and finding video files. Thumbnail images of recorded videos and stills are superimposed on the calendar so it’s easy to see when any scene was recorded. The Everio MediaBrowser also allows easy playback, simple cut editing, and "Decomotion" to spruce up recorded footage with animated graphics for upload to YouTube. It also supports Export to iTunes, Upload to YouTube, burning to disc or transferring to HDD.

Another new feature found on all Everio camcorders is Digest Playback, which offers an easy and entertaining way to check the content residing on Everio’s HDD or SD/SDHC card. The function automatically selects highlight scenes from among the recorded content using JVC’s proprietary algorithm and plays back what looks like a "coming attractions" trailer for a movie. Sixty minutes of footage is condensed into five minutes of highlight scenes.

Other Everio features have been enhanced for 2009. Laser Touch Operation has been updated to allow control of zooming and recording using either the Laser Touch scroll bar or buttons next to the LCD screen, as well as by the standard zoom lever and REC button. And as before, Laser Touch makes it easy to browse through thumbnail images of recorded scenes and access menu selection. Power-linked operation, long offered by JVC, goes a step further this year. Simply opening the LCD monitor automatically opens the built-in lens cover and powers up the camcorder. Closing the LCD also closes the lens cover and shuts down the power. With Quick Restart, recording can start in about one second after the LCD is re-opened.

In addition to performance and convenience, the 2009 Everio line offers plenty of style and shooting comfort. A new design features elegant curves, a silver-framed LCD and a comfortable angled grip with a new dual use strap. The strap can be used in the usual camcorder fashion, supporting the user’s hand when shooting, or it can be extended and used as a wrist strap like the type on most digital still cameras.

Product Description

Ultra-compact HDD/microSD hybrid camera featuring 80GB HDD for up to 100 hours of recording with KONICA MINOLTA LENS, 40x dynamic zoom, and HD up-convert with HDMI(TM) for 1920x1080/60P output

1/6-inch 800K -pixel CCD

Up to 832 x 624 still resolution size

KONICA MINOLTA 35x optical zoom and 800x digital zoom

80 GB Internal Hard Disk Drive

14 hours and 10 minutes recording at the highest quality (Ultra-DVD Movie)

Micro SD card slot

HD Gigabrid Prenium Engine

Primary color filter

Up to 9999 digital stills at the highest quality

Easy Operation & Convenience

Laser Touch Operation

Auto LCD Backlight Control

Auto Flash

Advanced Photo Functions including Auto Exposure Bracketing and Histogram Display

Color mode select (vivid, natural)

Aperture/ Shutter Priority

Power-Linked operation with Quick Restart

Built-in Lens Cover

Multi-Language English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Japanese and Korean.

Easy Archiving & Sharing

Software provided for Windows (Pixela MediaBrowser (Windows))

Easy File Management

Easy Playback

Built-in Picture Titles

Upload to YouTube

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

70 of 77 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Fine camera--BUT BEWARE..., March 18, 2009

By 

Timothy Kenyon "ryewhiskeyjoe" (Dover, NH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: JVC Everio GZ-MG670 80GB HDD Camcorder (Black) (Electronics)

This is a decent camera for the money. Large HD and easy to use laser-touch controls make using the camera a breeze. BUT--the camera records the video files in a file format called .MOD. This is different from the standard .mwv/.avi/.mov files which are supported by most media players and video editing programs. JVC provides a very sub-par program which allows users to download/manage/edit/convert the files, but because this camera records in this MOD format, users are stuck, forced to use the JVC-provided software. This software is fine for very simple home use--uploading to YouTube or converting to iPod, but if you want to do anymore than that (like use the files in Windows Movie Maker) forget it. They won't work. To get these MOD files into a usable format, there are a few MOD file converters out there, but be prepared to try each to find the one that works for your needs and then shell out additional $ for the software.

My taking the time to discover all this was more of an inconvenience than anything else, but buyers need to be aware of what they are getting with the Everio BEFORE they buy.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars don't be mislead......, August 10, 2009

By 

Video Game History "Gamer 4 life" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: JVC Everio GZ-MG670 80GB HDD Camcorder (Black) (Electronics)

The ease of use, and quality for the money CANNOT be disputed..... I have been using this camera for a while now, and all around, it's great.

The software is well rounded and refined, and the features are second to none. I bought this, and have NO regrets whatsoever. Don't be put off because of the movie file extensions, as it is not a problem like the guy in the other review said. If you are not computer literate, then buy the VERY handy dvd burner that is directly compatible with this camera, also made by JVC, which is Everio/hd Share Station Portable DVD Burner, model number CUVD3. Just type that into amazon and search, easy as pie.

overall, a fantastic camcorder, and VERY EASY to use... even I figured it out without the instruction book.

Awesome system, just get it and don't get bogged down in the complications of the other camcorders available....

5 stars, my highest recommendation.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not the mother of all beasts, but exceeds epectations for the price, December 17, 2009

By 

D. Repenhoff - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: JVC Everio GZ-MG670 80GB HDD Camcorder (Black) (Electronics)

I've had this camera for a about a week now, so far it's exceeded my expectations. Here was few points of criteria for me:
1. Trying to stay around the 300 dollar budget (factoring in the cost of flash cards vs. built in hard drive allowed for a leverage of going over). 80GB = 19 hrs of recording time at the highest level settings, more then enough for vacation, christmas, babies first step and then some! I look at it as a plus, how many people do you know or how many times have you used a tape and re-recorded over some event, accidentally...
2. Good lens, provides good zoom range, plus some sort of stabilization (digital seems to work fine for me), would of preferred optical stabilization though.
3. Low lux, this camcorder, based on the reviews I read, had better then average for standard def video against camcorders at the same price point. Most HD camcorders at this price point performed very poorly.
4. HDMI output, what's not to love about being able to use 1 cable to hook up to the tv?

If you've gotten this far, and done a little research on this camera, then you've read the complaints about movie file format. Well, they work fine in windows 7, plays them fine, right off the camcorder with windows media player, and can be edited by windows movie maker, only issue with it, is that is doesn't read time & date stamps that are associated with each .mod file.


Pros:
small, price, hdmi output, recording time.
Cons:
no mic input, not sold on the laser touch functionality.

I've included a link below for the review site that helped me in my decision.
[...]