JVC GR-DVF31 Digital Camcorder with 3" TFT LCD Display

by JVC

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 5 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00001R3W1
• Item model number: GRDVF31
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #56,674 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 4, 1973

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The JVC GR-DVF31 digital camcorder offers a wide range of advanced features along with the high quality of the digital format. It offers a 680,000-pixel CCD, a 3-inch color LCD screen, image stabilization, and 400x digital zoom. The PCM digital audio capabilities provide high-quality sound recording. The JVC GR-DVF31 also has a built-in automatic light, digital scene-transition and effects programs, and a digital snapshot mode. It comes with five software applications to help you edit and alter your shots as well as a remote control that makes random-assemble editing possible.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

134 of 136 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars JVC is becoming a formidable opponent., January 7, 2000

By 

Ed www.public.asu.edu/~ekishel/ (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: JVC GR-DVF31 Digital Camcorder with 3" TFT LCD Display (Electronics)

JVC is relay helping to foster competition in the digital camcorder market by giving Sony, Panasonic, and Canon a run for their money with this great model. JVC gives you more extras than any other manufacturer for the price; including the genuine DV format with terrific picture quality and sound, effects and scene transitions like dissolves and wipes, still capture, and computer software. What prevented me from giving it 5 stars, was the fact the battery lasts for only 35 minutes (and that's even without zooming) but this isn't so bad considering it charges up in about 25 minutes. Also, the tape door mechanism is so clunky and awkward, that I find myself having to be overly careful of damaging it. In addition, the 400X zoom is overrated and totally useless, for images at that magnification are unwatchable. And last (although arguably trivial) is JVC's habit of using an early 1980's silver color scheme. They should stick with black like the rest of the industry (but who knows, maybe different is good)? All in all though, for the price, the benefits far out-way my measly little cosmetic qualms, and this camera has made me the happiest little digital videographer around.

127 of 131 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Decent Camcorder, March 24, 2000

By 

"rspaz" (Connecticut) - See all my reviews

This review is from: JVC GR-DVF31 Digital Camcorder with 3" TFT LCD Display (Electronics)

This is my first and only camcorder. I wanted to get good quality still shots, which is one reason I went with the JVC. From what I read it had the best suite of software. I had no problem installing the software and getting the camera connected to the computer with the provided serial cable.

Capturing pictures is easy and fairly quick. (If you would like to see some sample pictures, go to www.pipeline.com/~vtfcu/car.htm). The tape does not start in the same spot after a frame capture, I find this annoying.

The playback controls on the camera do not allow slow motion play. The remote does, but it is at their preset speed. If you have your computer connected, you can also advance one frame at a time. This is necessary to get the exact frame you want to capture on the PC. The camcorder will only play back in slow mode for 2 minutes (I assume to protect the tape).

The camcorder has to be turned off when going from play to record. I find this makes it difficult to queue the tape to the exact spot for recording.

It seems the tape does not disengage when in one of the record modes. In other words, the tape is engaged when monitoring or leaving the camera on and ready to record. I don't know why this would be if you can only watch in slow mode for a short period of time. But it also seems to stay in pause mode for a long time, so maybe the head is not wearing away the tape when in pause during playback or record.

The snapshot mode is not what I expected. When the snapshot button is pressed, the tape continues to run and record the same picture for about 5 seconds then taping continues as normal. I was very impressed with the ability to focus up close. It even focused on the lint on the UV filter attached to the camera.

I'm not too sure about the sound volume yet. The quality seems quite good.

155 of 163 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Camera, Nice Display, Easy interface to PC, November 16, 1999

By 

JPL (Fort Collins, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: JVC GR-DVF31 Digital Camcorder with 3" TFT LCD Display (Electronics)

The camera takes great video, and the optics are astounding. (16x optical, and good video at 32 to 64x. The 300x zoom is nearly useless). Interface to PC for frame grab is easy over RS232 jack. Takes about 5 seconds to "download" a digital photo. The included software works well for photo editing. Need to buy a PC card if you want to download video. Mini-DV format is great. The tapes are tiny and should last longer than digital-8.