Customer Reviews

JVC GR-D270 MiniDV Camcorder w/25x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I spent hours on-line trying to select a camcorder from an overwhelming multitude. The important considerations for me were:

- PC connectivity
- Price
- At least decent video and audio quality
- Battery life, size and everything else

This JVC is a success in all these parameters.

- I had no trouble at all connecting to a wintel PC. I have a cheap no-name lash-up desktop box, a $15 firewire card, a generic $5 firewire cable, and XP. I am relieved to report it all worked first time, because connectivity problems are apparently common with all camera brands (including JVC).

- This is one of the cheaper miniDV machines, so the price was right.

- Video quality, for an uncritical amateur like me, is plenty good enough. And there is apparently wide-spread opinion that JVCs are better than average in low-light conditions.

- Audio quality, again good enough. There is definitely some motor noise breakthrough with the built-in mike that interferes with quiet pastoral scenes.

- Battery life with the supplied battery is approx 1 hour. Since JVC batteries are upwards of $80, I will be buying cheap generic knock-offs in the $30 range.

- The supplied USB cable is for downloading pictures from the snapshot and webcam mode. It is worthless for transferring video. Snapshots are inferior to my aged Canon Elph.

If a buddy could have told me here was a camera that worked OK with my computer, and was otherwise decent and affordable, I could have saved hours of research.

EDIT 1: Still 4 stars, but I would have exchanged some of that 25x tele for some more wide-angle. Also, the zoom mechanism is a bit abrupt, it is difficult to get a smooth zooming action.

This camera has a lot going for it...especially for the price. The video quality is good, it interfaces well to a PC over firewire, small size, decent controls, etc., etc.

But, I am returning it.

The motor noise on the audio is a killer drawback.

I have been taking videos of my 4 month old son but during playback it sounds like there is a locust invasion preparing to bounce during any break in his cooing.

I was wondering if I was being too picky so I compared the audio with that of the Canon miniDV I bought in 1998 (yes, 1998) and the Canon was sooooooo much quieter.

Too bad....'cos this cam was otherwise very nice.

This is my first Mini DV camera I was very exited intially but I found some of descripancies but overall it is good camera to begin

Pro :
1. Smallest possible
2. Picture quality excellant
3. Easy to Handle.

Cons :
1. Does not support download from Mini DV to PC by USB Note :- This is very important drawback so IEEE is only option if you want to download movie from mini DV to Laptop or PC
2. Sound quality is not 100% I would say 60% good
3. No remote control feature

We have been debating for a while whether or not to upgrade to a digital camera. Since we are expecting another child, we decided to go ahead and purchase this camera based on reviews and price. It all sounded so good. Luckily we tried it out in advance of our trip to the hospital. We were very disapointed. I was expecting a much higher quality picture, but instead it looked like your average webcam shots. Grainy/pixely (is that a word?) and the movement was mechanical. It seemed to be trying to focus constantly. We were inside with all the lights in the room and hall on and the camera light. Realistically, this is the environment the majority of our video will be shot. Pehaps it performs better outside in bright sunlight??? Regardless, it is making a trip back tomorrow. Now we are back to square one and have no idea what to buy! And this baby is NOT going to wait. PS the sound wasn't impressive either. And all the still shots were incredibly blurry. WHY???

This camcorder was bought in September 2005 and is still working well. I was talking a film class and didn't want to have the hassle of borrowing my school's $1000+ camcorder. Knowing full well that Canon and Sony, especially Sony, would be the best camcorder for people wanting their shots to look professional, I looked on Amazon and Circuit City to see reviews. I went into Stereo Advantage and well, walked out with a JVC due to the fact that it was a little less expensive then some of the other camcorders. So, the advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages:
1) It is pretty decent in low light. It does have a light on it and this does help.
2) I never noticed the motor noise mostly because when I film stuff and edit it on my Powerbook with Final Cut, I usually add music. I read reviews with motor noises but I guess that if there is complete silence in a room, you'll hear it.
3) Firewire cable and AV cables are easy to find and connect.
4) Easy to hold.

Disadvantages:
1) Firewire does NOT come with camcorder. You'll have to buy this separate. Best place to find firewire cables is online (Amazon, Ebay). You'll play way too much in stores.
**By the way, if you don't know what firewire is here is what it is. Mac computers almost always come with firewire outlet, just like PCs come with USB outlets. For PCs, you can buy a firewire card and insert it in your PC. The purpose of firewire is to transfer video from your camcorder onto your computer. USB plugs(which comes with this camcorder) just transfer photos.

2) Taking pictures on this camcorder does not turn out good at all. I would stick with a digital camera instead.

3) Battery is horrible. It lasts like 50 minutes fully charged. I plan on buying another one.

i bought this camera almost a year ago, but did not use it for about 4 months. when i finally used it, i only recorded about 5 hours of video before playback of video became blocky.

i took the camera to a JVC authorized repair shop, as the camera is still under warranty for parts (not labor). they wanted $300 to replace a $100 part. hello?! anybody home? this is more than the original price of the camera.

JVC tech support would not help, other than to cover the cost of the part. they did not even think it was unusual that the labor for the repairs cost as much as the camera. i said to the tech support supervisor, "i guess you don't stand by your products." her reply was, "we stand by our warranty." huh???

i asked JVC if they would send me the part that i needed, that way i could try to repair the camera myself. (what do i have to lose at this point? the camera is totalled.) JVC said they don't do that. i asked the repair shop to order the part. they said they don't do that either.

i have filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, but that seems like a lost cause as well.

JVC has made my list. you can keep them off of yours by not buying their products.

I purchased this camera from Amazon recently. The FIRST time around, the camera tape door wouldn't shut the very first time I opened it. I returned the camera and Amazon was great about replcing it promptly. The SECOND time around, the DV port worked once, and ONLY once. There's a short in it. There is a REASON this camera is so cheap. It's J U N K!! I will add that a friend of mine is on her second JVC as well. A fact I did not know until all of this came about.

For two stars, I'll say the video quality is good. The camera battery does hold a full 60 min. charge. I had NO sound issues what so ever. Background noise?? none here.
As for still pictures, if you don't know what you're doing as far as shutter speeds, back light, etc. FORGET IT. The still pictures are very grainy. If you want professional looking stills, do NOT buy a camcorder for this purpose.

JVC tech support is USELESS.

Camcorder comes with a USB wire to upload still only. As on ANY digital camcorders, you cannot upload video in real time on a usb port. You need a firewire. This does not come with one. Also, you need to check if you HAVE a firewire port on your computer.

I paid app. $25 dollars here on Amazon including shipping, for a port and firewire. It took only a few minutes to insert the port into my tower. It's no big deal.

Amazon has just informed me via email that they will not replace my camera a third time, only refund my money. This camera is now listed as $30 cheaper than when I bought it last month.

Overall, AMAZON was great about service and return, however, this particular JVC item is JUNK.

I bought this, 6 months ago, right before my wedding. Whereas this is not a bad miniDV recorder, it certainly isn't good either.

If you are lucky enough to have perfect lighting in your shots, the image (video) quality is impressive - especially for the price of this machine. However, most of us are not going to consistenly have perfect lighting conditions when taking everyday video. Then, what we get from this camera is dingy images. Clear but dingy - everything has an overcast look.

The camera is attractive, small, and comfortable in my hand. It is also quite simple to use. The menu navigation took a minute to get used to but then it was smooth sailing.

The battery life of 50-60 minutes is average or a little above average for this level of consumer miniDV.

The audio is not good. I read other reviews talking about the motor noise but I bought it anyway thinking, "How bad can it be?". It's not so bad that you can't hear other sounds but it's bad enough that it's noticeable and distracting - especially in quiet settings.

The LCD on mine is in need of repair. It does not function when flipped out in the normal viewing position, however, if you flip the LCD backwards, it works. Doesn't do me any good when it's backwards though. :-)

JVC's customer support is fairly awful. They encourage you to email rather than call. I sent them a detailed email explaing the issue with my LCD screen and listed several different ways for them to contact me. That was 3 weeks ago and today, I finally gave up, and called them.

It took me 5 minutes to navigate their voice menu and I think it was luck that I got a person on the phone. After keeping me on the phone for 15 minutes (ask my name - put me on hold, ask my phone number - put me on hold, ask my serial number - put me on hold, etc), I was instructed to mail the camera to Georgia.

I suggest buying something a little better. I wish I had.

I'm no camcorder expert, but i definitely argue that the JVC GR-D270 is a great camcorder. For my trip to Japan i was looking for a small camcorder that could fulfill the basic requirements. and this one does, and more.

Pros: First off, it is as small and compact as it looks, and it fits very comfortable into one's hand. When recording, all operations are able to be performed with one hand, which may not seem like a big deal except when you're having to hold onto a moving bus or fumble around with bags of souvineers. Next, the zoom works suprisingly well and the picture keeps its focus when zooming in and out. The playback is also very easy to use. playback can either appear on the LCD, viewfinder, or through an included camcorder-to-TV cable.

Cons: The battery life was a bit of an issue for me. I preferd to use the LCD screen instead of the viewfinder and the camcorder does use more power when recording through the LCD screen(about 60 mins of battery life). I frequently had to charge the battery to ensure i had enough battery life. Unfortunately, taking still pictures is not the camcorder's strongest point. While it does allow the user to store pictures on a small memory card, the user muct first change the setting from 'video' to 'memory' which is a bit of a pain. I also discovered that while you can take pictures in video mode, the camcorder includes the sound and noise of the location as well as the still picture(which ends up feeling like a slide show).

Extra Tidbits: the LCD screen can rotate 90 degrees one way and 180 degrees the other way; the camcorder uses Mini DV cassettes for video; also comes with a shoulder strap;

I highly recommend this camcorder for its small size, easy usage, and its relatively nice look.

I shopped around for a mid-range camcorder and this one was the best of the best and you can't beat the price. It comes with a separate memory card slot for taking pictures. The pictures are pretty good, but it's not a digital camera. The camera allows a good amount of manual operation which is great for taking pictures of strange things (like fireworks). Replay is very good and the screen is a good size for taping and reviewing. All of the controls are pretty easy to access, though the menu system is not as intuitive as I thought it would be.