JVC GRD70 MiniDV Camcorder with 2.5" LCD, 16x Optical Zoom and SD/MMC Card Slot

by JVC

Product Details

• Item Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0000899R2
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,330 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 15, 2003

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The compact JVC GR-D70 is a stylish, go-anywhere digital video camcorder that incorporates all JVC's key camcorder technologies. This entry-level MiniDV camcorder is 50 percent smaller than previous models and features a 16x optical zoom, picture stabilization, a digital still mode, JVC's Night Alive feature, and a 2.5-inch LCD.

Optics & Audio
The GR-D70 offers a 680,000 CCD with 520 lines of horizontal resolution. Combined with JVC's super-hi-band processor, you'll be assured of capturing crisp, clear video. Equipped with a 16x optical zoom, the GR-D70 also features a 700x digital zoom that allows you to zoom in for incredible close-ups. You can also zoom in on any part of an image during playback with the 44x pinpoint zoom.

The GR-D70 also features PCM digital stereo sound in either 12-bit or 16-bit options. The 16-bit mode offers one set of stereo tracks and achieves the same quality as CD, while the 12-bit mode creates two sets of stereo tracks. Audio dub is possible when recorded in 12-bit mode.

Digital Stills
The still mode is capable of capturing crystal-clear still images of up to 1,024 x 768 pixels. The images are stored onto an optional MMC or Secure Digital memory card. You can also record still images onto the video cassette with a "shutter" sound effect in full frame or pin-up mode.

More Features

• JVC's Night Alive feature boosts light sensitivity for a bright picture, even in situations with minimal illumination
• A 2.5-inch tilting LCD screen for high-angle overhead shooting, low-angle shots, or even self portraits
• The Picture Stabilizer system corrects camera shake instantly, giving you smooth and stable pictures
• The Power Linked Operation feature prepares the camera to record simply by opening the LCD or pulling out the viewfinder
• The IEEE 1394 (FireWire) connections provides fast, loss-less digital transfer to a computer, or dubbing from or to another DV unit
• A built-in analog-to-digital converter that converts the analog audio-video signal to a digital signal, and can be recorded to a DV tape
• Remote control features include playback with special effects, zoom, slow motion, and audio dubbing-insert editing

MiniDV Format
MiniDV is the preferred format for personal and broadcast-quality video, highly regarded for its high audio and image quality. With up to 520 lines of horizontal resolution and minimum color noise, MiniDV delivers a 20 percent clearer picture than analog camcorder formats. This is all delivered on a cassette that's 1/12th the size of a standard VHS tape. A MiniDV tape offers digital recording time of 2 full hours--20 times the capacity of a CD.

Contents
This package includes the GR-D70 camcorder, AC adapter (AP-V13U), battery pack (BN-V408U), shoulder strap, AV cable (mini-3 RCA), USB cable, wireless remote control (RM-V718U), lens cap, and CD-ROM with Presto! ImageFolio and Presto! Mr. Photo 3 software.

Product Description

JVC GR-D72 MiniDV Digital Camcorder w 2.37-in. LCD

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

163 of 172 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as the specs would lead, but good for the price, February 24, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: JVC GRD70 MiniDV Camcorder with 2.5" LCD, 16x Optical Zoom and SD/MMC Card Slot (Electronics)

For the price, I would say that the camera is worth it.
There's not much else to choose from in the price range.

Pros:
Cheap, lightweight, small, 16x zoom.

Cons:
Grainy, especially in low light, menus and features could
be better, still picture worthless.

Details:
The video in low light is grainy. Even in bright outdoor
light the image shows grain. There are 3 gain options
-- none, AGC and Auto-A. Using none, there is little grain,
but colors are washed. AGC is unacceptably grainy, and
Auto-A is a little grainy, but colors are bright. I've been
shooting in Auto-A.

Stills are not only noisy, but resolution is poor. I feel
the packaging is very misleading in this regard. The camera
advertises a 680k CCD and 1024x768 still resolution. The
1024x768 still image, according to the manual, is actually shot
in 720x480 resolution and interpolated upwards. That's actually
only using half the available CCD pixels. They should have
used the full 680k for the 1024x768 image. This pretty much
means you will get the best results using 640x480 mode and
interpolating yourself (interpolating 720x480 to 1024x768 is
lossy, and there are better enlarging methods than what they
use).

The menus are too complicated for the features they control.
I would like to know how the arpature, shutter speed and gain
are being controlled, and control these myself for the best
image quality. The automatic settings for each of these don't
do the best job. It's also not easy to get to these settings
on the fly -- the single wheel control and menus are difficult
to traverse while shooting.

The image stabilization works well in bright light. It doesn't
seem to work as well in Auto-A (auto arpature) setting for some
reason. This is a problem because Auto-A produces a better
image than AGC or no-gain. I'd like to use Auto-A and get
good image stabilization too.

Night alive is almost useless. Basically it slows the shutter
speed way down to capture more light. When you use it you get
nothing but motion blur. I wish they had manual controls of the
shutter, arpature and gain because this would allow me to
produce a better nighttime image. I did use the Night Alive
setting to take a still photo in the dark using a tripod, and
this produces the least grain of any mode.

Compared to the 30U and 90U models -- I'd almost recomend the
30U since the still quality of the 70u and 90u is not good.
The 90U has a larger LCD screen but the size of the 30u and
70u is good enough. The 90u comes with an 8mb memory card,
but if you are going to use the memory card, you will buy a
larger one anyways and end up not using the 8mb card. The
70u comes with a remote control which I will use (so I can
be in the video -- like at Christmastime)

Wishlist:
1) Use the full CCD for stills.
2) Manual shutter speed (min currently is 1/60th, but if it
could be set to 1/30th this could vastly improve indoor
stills and video. 1/15th could work well for extreme dark
lighting.) Along this vein, an arpature and a shutter
priority mode would be nice.
3) Progressive scan video.
4) Direct access controls to arpature, shutter, and gain -
the menus are too difficult to fumble through and the
naming in the menus are not easy to figure out what they
do.
5) Titles and ***Date/Time*** capability on firewire capture.
6) Use full CCD for video capture -- this would disable the
stabilization, but could produce a brighter, more
accurate image.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars SD card issue, April 12, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: JVC GRD70 MiniDV Camcorder with 2.5" LCD, 16x Optical Zoom and SD/MMC Card Slot (Electronics)

I am happy with the camera but my experience was different from "An Electronics Fan" from Bend, Oregon.

I tried to use the camera with a SanDisk 128mb SD card. I the resulting image looked like video noise. I thought the camera was defective, but a replacement unit showed the same result.

I have since located a 32mb SD card, and the unit works fine with it. I am trying to find some 64mb cards, but it seems like retail stores are mostly carrying the larger capacity sizes. If you plan on making heavy use of the digital still capability, you might want to stock up on the lower capacity cards.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Good Camcorder until "condensation" problem, February 27, 2006

By 

Tom "Tom" (Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: JVC GRD70 MiniDV Camcorder with 2.5" LCD, 16x Optical Zoom and SD/MMC Card Slot (Electronics)

I have had this camera for about 2 years. Worked great until about 6 months ago. When i would turn the camera on I would get a message that said "STOP CONDENSATION" it would last for a little while then the camera would work OK. As time went on, the message appeared more often and lasted longer. Now, it's hard to even use the camera, it works 1 out of every 25 times i turn it on. JVC won't respond to e-mail's and i have done everything to fix it that i have read on the internet. I cannot take it to a service center because they want $100 to just look at it and i think I can get a brand new one that hopefully will work for about $200. But you better believe it won't be a JVC.