Customer Reviews

JVC GRDF550U 1.33 MP MiniDv Camcorder w/ 15x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have owned this camcorder for about 2 months and recorded about 4 hours worth of video on it. The picture and audio quality is pretty good along with the color quality, especially indoors. I've had no problems with firewire connectivity on my PC when making DVDs with the camcorder. DV navigation is the best special feature on the camcorder. It uses the memory card to store thumbnail images of recorded video scenes to assist in video playback. It works like a chapter listing on a DVD movie. You pick the scene displayed and the camcorder will fast forward or rewind to that scene and begin playback. The downside to the camcorder is the MP4 video recording. It is pretty choppy. The other downside is battery life. During normal recording, I normally got about 45 minutes of battery life.

This camcorder is excellent for a beginner! It has a lot of functions such as thumbnail through the SD card, low-light function (Megabrid) that works reasonably well (better with a tripod), color viewfinder. You can program it to take pictures at different intervals, it will only depend on the capacity of your SD card. It is not mentioned that you can record video in the 16:9 Wide mode. That is great if you want to commit to Widescreen! Tip: Use the "Squeeze" Wide mode, then edit it with Ulead, and you have a 16:9 DVD. It has also firewire, 1 CCD for video, and 1.33 Megapixel for pictures. I would say all that is fine for a $400 camcorder. Enjoy it!

This camera has a design flaw. The integrated microphone does NOT shut off when you use an auxilary microphone. It says in the manual that it is supposed to. I sent it back to JVC many times, and the service personal compensated me by disconnecting the internal microphone permanently.
If you want flexability in your audio, and you're an intermediate user, keep on looking. It's a shame cause in every other category, this is a great camera for the price.

I've been using the GR-DR550U without problem since around 2005. I have taken it on many vacations and it works well for the price with no problems ever. It is a great video camera if you are in the market for Standard Digital video recorder and are happy with that quality, however I am getting rid of it because I am ready to step up to AVCHD recording.

The features I liked were: 4-pin Firewire out, Mini USB out, mic input, 15 X zoom, easy menu, 12 or 16 bit audio recording, and added SD slot for video thumbnails & pictures - Note: at 1.33 Mega-pixel the pictures are better used for scene place marking rather than pictures to keep as masters (i.e. Bring your good digital camera too when traveling).

I bought this camera for inflight videos. It is one of the few cameras that has a mic input, a remote control, accepts the tape from the top, and has an appreciable optical zoom all in one package.

It works for recording videos from the cockpit as well as recording radio communications between the pilot and air traffic control. Makes a perfect accessory to pilots who want to learn from their experiences.

The downside is poor battery life, and LOUD hissing when using the onboard mic. If you want to use this for home video, use a separate mic.

I have had this machine for 2 years and it has always been very dependable and produces excellent results for a 1 CCD recorder. The machine provides lots of flexibility and I regularly receive positive comments about the quality of the image. The camcorder is generally used for some light travel and recording lots of sporting events. The machine also allows conversion of analog to digital tapes. This means you can record from a VCR to this machine (digital). It is also easy to transfer files to a DVD recorder. I am sure there are better machines out there by now but this has been well worth it. The camera stills are a bit small to be useful at this time (1.2 mp-seems small now but was pretty good when this was first released)

I researched and compared over a dozen minidv camcorders, and based on function and picture and price, this item was the far winner. And if JVC ever fixes it, I'll give another review; I've had it for four months, and I haven't been able to use it yet. It was broken from day 1, and I had to send it to their service center. They changed some parts and sent it back but must not have tested it because it had the same problem. I sent it to the service center again with an even more detailed note about the problem, and I got it back again today and it still has the original problem. I'm convinced that JVC doesn't QA the repairs that they perform.

In response to Mehul Bavishi, this is not a 3CCD camcorder. According to their literature, it is a single 1/4.5" CCD.