Customer Reviews

JVC Everio S GZ-MS100 Flash Memory Camcorder with 35x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have had this camcorder for about a month. The main reason I bought this camcorder was for convenience. I have MiniDV camcorder as well, but I never got around to uploading video from camcorder to computer and then converting AVIs to mpeg to DVD. The workflow with MiniDV was too time-consuming and needed a lot of system resources (1 hr AVI takes about 13GB disk space!).

This camcorder was great. For around $320-ish, its great value. Its totally solid state, no moving parts. I use 16GB SDHC card (around $50-ish), that card can record about 3hr58min video in best quality. The battery lasts about 2 hrs. I doubt I will ever shoot more than 4 hr video in a day. you can always back up your video on a computer at the end of the day or buy multiple SDHC cards.

You can use the included USB cable or a SD card reader to upload mpeg files to a computer. You can upload video and burn a DVD in as little as 10 minutes (if you go straight to DVD and do not edit). You can also upload your video you-tube or other video hosting websites. It comes with included software that is supposed to make YouTube uploads easy for the user. I like to do it myself, have not used the software that much.

The picture quality of this camcorder is amazing. Its not a HD camcorder, so don't expect wonders on your HDTV, but picture quality is very good on SDTVs. The low light capabilities of this camcorder are great. However, auto white balance under light bulbs (indoors) is not that great. You will get better results with manual white balance. Recorded sound quality is OK, not great, but OK. It comes with 35X optical zoom, which is the best in its class. It has digital image stabilization which works very well. this camcorder does allow some manual controls for the enthusiast.

JVC has this new laser touch based interface. It sure looks fancy, but is not great to use. It takes a little getting used to and you never really get a hang of it. Its not very accurate. But this is a simple camcorder and most uses will use it in auto mode all the time. So, the laser interface is not a deal-breaker kind of a thing.

This is a very small camcorder. Its very light. Its easy to handle and feels firm and secure in my hands. It does not come with a neck strap (I just use the one from my previous MiniDV camcorder). It has a built-in lens cover, which is better than some pastic-ring-tied-with-thread lens caps which are annoying. The included battery lasts about 2 hrs. It can also take still pictures, though I have never used it to take still pictures so far.

Overall, I am very happy with my purchase and would definitely recommend this to a friend.

I wanted to get a camcorder that recorded onto SD cards so I could place the card into a media reader, download the footage, and edit in Sony Vegas. Here's what happened:

Forget about the camera's Quality settings for video. You'll probably want to set it to the highest setting, and never touch it. I get 2 hours of widescreen footage on an 8GB card at the highest quality setting. By not using any moving parts to record an image, camcorders like this are reduced down in size to (roughly) a soda can!

Having downloaded some test video to my Windows XP PC, I noticed that each video file has a separate 3K document that tags the video as being full or widescreen. Because this tag isn't included in the video, editors like Vegas will open ALL the video as fullscreen. However, look for a free program online named SDCopy which puts the tags in the files. Don't worry -- it happens as quickly as making a copy of the file. It's not like SDCopy has to "process" or "render". While I wasn't crazy about this extra step, I can live with it.

Now that my widescreen footage opens as widescreen in Vegas, I can say the image quality of the resulting DVD is outstanding! Footage shot outside was colorful and remarkably clear, and nothing looked cheap or pixelated. Footage shot inside (normal lighting condition) produced images on TV that look better than reality.

The Laser Touch feature works OK for me, and is a gimicky way to navigate though the settings. It also keeps the weight of the camera down. Battery life is good (no moving parts), but I'll be buying a 2nd battery and a changer.

I like that this camera has a built-in lens protector that snaps open and closed. The 35X optical zoom is a huge step over my last camera (also a JVC) which had a 16X optical zoom. The only complaint I have about this camera is that the door to the SD card compartment is more like a plastic flap that gets shoved closed. It feels like you may break the thing every time you go to open it. Also, like many camcorders made today, this camera has no optical viewfinder -- only the LCD screen. That may be something to consider.

Overall -- a very small camera that produces stunning video at the highest quality setting. And isn't that why you use a camcorder?

My wife and I are expecting so I started reasearching what cameras to buy. I was very confused at first with all the different models and options but eventually wanted something easy to use or else it might just gather dust. I settled on getting a camera that used memory cards because of fewer moving parts and the ability to easily transfer data to a computer. I visited stores in the area and I really liked the JVC Everio but the downside was there were only models with a hard drive. About a month later I found out there was a new JVC Everio model using SD cards and I quickly bought it. This camera is so easy to use it's great. I simply flip the viewer open and can start recording in a second. Great zoom, lightweight, and the lasertouch control panel makes it so easy to adjust settings. I just taped a two hour lecture the other day and it was easy. When I got home I transferred 4GB of data to my computer in minutes. My wife who has two left thumbs even finds it easy to use. Battery lasts about 2 hours so I will probably buy a bigger battery. I bought three 4GB Class 6 SD cards which each hold an hour of footage at the best resolution. I made the right chose and I am happy I didn't make a mistake on this as I have on other things in the past.

I ordered the GZ-MS100 to upgrade from an older VHS-C Panasonic cam-corder. Obviously, the JVC is head and shoulders above the older Panasonic. I did not need HD at this time, so I focused on hard drive vs. SDHC cameras. I opted for the SDHC due to no moving parts, quieter operation, and ease of file transfer and transportability. Also, the cost of SDHC cards are very low. The camera works as advertised. The unique menu interface (the slider bar to the left of the screen) was easy to master. I like the user interface since it is clean and avoids the many buttons, switches, and selectors that would have been the alternative. I also like the way I can switch between Auto and Manual mode with the push of one button, and the camers saves the last Manual set up mode I programmed into it. I use the MS100 for general video tasks, and for some dark and low light video using IR lights - a Sima SL-20IR and a Sony HVL-IRM. The camera records in total darkness using either or both of these lights very well - the Sima providing a "flood" type of coverage, while the Sony provides a "spot" type of lighting. The MS100 has a night mode setting that slows the shutter speed down and works with IR lighting, but I have found the shutter speed is a bit too slow for my liking - it produces jumpy video using IR light sources. Instead of the pre-programmed night mode, I use the camera's Manual mode and set the camera to black & white with a shutter speed of no longer than 1/15 sec. The exposure with IR lighting is still very good, and video is much smoother. When going from darkness to a lighted area, I simply go into Auto mode by pushing one button, and the camera is back to color with good exposure control; if I move back into a dark area I return to Manual mode - the camera remembers my last settings.

Overall, a very nice camera - small, light weight, silent, four video quality settings (so you can opt for varying qualities and associated recording times), and long battery life due to no spinning hard disk or moving parts. I also purchased a second higher capacity battery and charger so I can record for exended times.

I have seen comments about the mod files this and other cameras produce. I have found that I can save the mod file to my computer by pulling the SDHC card out of the camera and inserting it into my media card reader, then dragging the file onto a folder on my hard drive. Video and sound come across in the one file. I can open and play the mod file using Windows Media Player, but files recorded in widescreen format display in the 4:3 format, so the video is "scrunched". I did download the SDCopy utility, and it easily converts the mod file to a jpg file that WMP can read and display in widescreen correctly. As a side note, I also use Nero 7 Essentials, and its bundled player - Nero ShowTime Essentials - can display native mod files correctly, whether recorded in widescreen or 4:3 mode. Apparently, it correctly reads the critical aspect bit in the mod file, and WMP does not.

To close, a great little camera at a good price/performance point.

One caveat of note for the JVC Everio GZ-MS100 (and this may very well apply to other JVC models) the video files the camera produces are .mod files. These files are not read by XP Windows Movie Maker (JVC says VISTA has no problem with them, not confirmed by me) Also the software included is not for video editing and probably useless to anyone half way computer savvy. End result: without buying more software (maybe $70) you can't string together video clips, edit, etc. using what comes with the camera and XP. I'm using trial version of Cyberlink Director Pro but that will cost at least $70 if I want to purchase.

I couldn't seem to find this information when I was first shopping around for camcorders, so I just wanted to make sure any Mac users out there knew that this camcorder imports fine to iMovie '09. I'm not sure about iMovie '08 or earlier since I haven't used it with those programs.

I have been using this camcorder for a little while now and it's fairly sturdy. I had it in the snow on a relatively warm day and put it in my pocket of my wet jacket, but it seemed to be fine and worked without any problems. The sound quality is okay (not great of course, but still fairly clear). The video quality is pretty good, but definitely not HD quality or anything. The video is smooth and there's no jerkiness about it.

The only thing I don't like about this camcorder is that it has troubles focusing on things when zoomed in too far. It will automatically try to focus, but once it gets into focus, it will still continue trying to focus, then go back to blurry, then go back into focus. So, it can take a few seconds to get focused when zooming, which can be a little annoying. Also, this camcorder works okay in lower lighting, but I wouldn't expect much out of it in very low light conditions.

In short, you really do get what you pay for, but I would say that this camcorder should be fine for most people. It has great zoom, the laser-touch thing is somewhat cool, and it seems to work well with my Apple's Leopard operating system (including iMovie '09). I have no major complaints, but I'm also not wowed by this thing. The video is about as good as you'll get on a higher-quality digital camera, but with better sound and smooth motion.

Enjoy!

I bought this based on the reviews from amazon and also watching this product on HSN TV. This was the best deal I got from amazon for $180.00. I am using 8GB HC SD card on this and it runs about for nearly 2 hrs on the fine mode, which has an excellent video quality. The great thing being the SD card which makes downloading a whole lot easier. Although the recordings are in .mod files, you can still watch them on windows media player. I just drag all the files in my 'now playing' list so they run in one go and not clip by clip. I love this cam as it is very handy and practical. Zoom is good enough and the quality rocks while the touch screen feature is smooth.

Very impressed with this camcorder. It does pretty well in lower light considering how small the lens actually is. The f 1.8 aperture helps with that and it's much better than say the sony webbie which has an awful f 3.3 lens by comparison (which is a big part of the reason that camera is so bad in lower light). While this camera isn't HD like some of the newer competitors it offers a nice quality SD image at the ultra fine setting and it doesn't have trouble focusing which the sony webbie seems to have problems with (check out vids on youtube and you'll see what I mean). The 35x optical zoom is killer on this camera and is really overkill unless you are using a tripod since no amount of image stabilization will help at high zoom levels. Removable battery is nice and you can upgrade to larger batteries if you need longer recording time, unlike some other cameras in this class. This camera also accepts 30.5mm filters or wide angle lenses which is also a very nice feature you don't find on other cameras in this price range. The camera has many manual features as well such as manual focus, manual white balance, and shutter speed to name a few. The provided user manual is very sparse and doesn't explain many of the camera features, however I did find that the PDF manual at the JVC USA website for the camera was much more in depth than the printed manual that is included with the camera, so if you run into problems I recommend you download that manual. The night mode on this camera is pretty impressive but it uses a slow shutter speed so it's really only suitable for maybe filming a stationary object like a building at night or something similar (otherwise everything is a blur due to the slow shutter speed). The JVC Victor Japan website specs say the night mode is good for 1 lux sensitivity, while the camera using a 1/60 shutter speed and auto gain turned on (and all other settings default) is good to 12 lux. Funny how the Japanese specs list many important details that the USA specs do not (probably because the Japanese are camera fanatics). The included software isn't very good so I recommend using SDcopy which changes the .MOD video files to .MPG and also it flags the files for 16:9 so they play back properly as 720x480 widescreen format. Overall a great camcorder for the money and it's so tiny that you'll be surprised at just how small it is if you haven't seen one in person before.

P.S. This camera is identical in performance to the GZ-MG330, the only difference is that this model uses SD cards instead of a built in hard disk. So check out reviews for the MG330 also if you are considering this camera as there are way more reviews for the MG330 than the MS100 here on Amazon.

I think flash memory is the best feature of this camcorder. I have an 8gb high-speed card that works wonderfully. I can EASILY import clips into iMovie, which was my biggest worry prior to purchasing this camcorder. This is a great, no-nonsense camera for recording my little girl's every move.

Pros:
1. Optical Zoom
2. Can Hold a Fisheye
3. Easy to upload to your computer
4. It's Small
5. Easy to carry

Cons:
1. Sometimes the laser screen touch thing can be kind of annoying but it's still fine.


This camcorder is very good. You can zoom in and out while recording and it also zooms in very far. When I was looking for a camcorder, all I wanted was one that could hold a fisheye. So, I found this camcorder and it can hold a fisheye. It's great. It is also very easy to upload to your computer. Especially if you have a Mac. All you do is plug the wire in and open iMovie and upload it. Very easy, 5 Stars to that. The lens cover is also important and helpful. It comes with a built in one. It is also very easy to play back what you just recorded. Everything about this camcorder is just fantastic!
5 Stars!!
Thanks.