JVC Everio GZ-MG680 120GB 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: B001OMH1NM
• Item model number: GZ-MG680BU
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,929 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-MG680 features a 120 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 MG680 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 60GB HDD for up to 75 hours of recording with KONICA MINOLTA LENS 40x dynamic zoom Laser Touch Operation and convenient "One Touch" buttons for easy sharing and carrying. Black

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Happy, January 27, 2010

By 

macman "macman" (Princeton, NJ) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: JVC Everio GZ-MG680 120GB HDD Camcorder (Black) (Electronics)

Great camcorder. Compact, relatively lightweight and easy to operate. Searched the Web for a better deal, couldn't find it. Amazon had the best price and and free delivery with Prime! Been using it for about a month or so... Vast improvement over our last one (Canon). No fuss or worrying about tapes or disks. Would highly recommend.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous camera, October 17, 2010

By 

David Miller (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: JVC Everio GZ-MG680 120GB HDD Camcorder (Black) (Electronics)

This is a fabulous camera. Great photos, great video, good sound even in crowded rooms. It's compact and so easy to use my technophobe wife loves it. She packs it around in her purse. I also purchased an extended battery and external recharger. Between the stock battery and the extended, she can tape an entire multi-hour community meeting. The disk space is phenomenal.

The accompanying software is not exactly intuitive, but it's not terrible. Use it to get it off the unit and then use something else to catalog photos and convert the video.

5.0 out of 5 stars Good camcorder, October 27, 2011

By 

AJ - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: JVC Everio GZ-MG680 120GB HDD Camcorder (Black) (Electronics)

I've owned this camcorder for a few years now and its a great product. The hard drive holds hours and hours of good quality video. I would recommend for someone who wants a great compact point and shoot camcorder.